Weekly Reader

Henry Rollins: Empowerment Through Libraries
"I have come to regard November as the older, harder man's October. I appreciate the early darkness and cooler temperatures. It puts my mind in a different place than October. It is a month for a quieter, slightly more subdued celebration of summer's death as winter tightens its grip." -- Henry Rollins, LA Weekly Blogs,11/14/13

New Survey, Same Engagement
"In its 15th year, the National Survey of Student Engagement launched a new model that takes an updated and more qualitative approach to measuring students’ participation in a variety of activities -- from studying to faculty interaction to cooperative learning -- that are thought to correlate with higher learning outcomes. Results show that while many students engage in such practices – and report better grades for it – many others, whether because of their major or their status as online or first-generation students, don’t." -- Allie Grasgreen, Inside Higher Ed News, 11/14/13

Two Activities that Influence the Climate for Learning
"My colleague Chuck Walker, a psychology professor at St. Bonaventure University (NY), shared a collection of instructional strategies that illustrate how the principles of positive psychology might be applied in the classroom."-- Maryellen Weimer, Teaching Professor Blog, 11/13/13

5 Things You Must Stop Doing Today if You Want a Happier Career
"Working with mid-career professionals in major transition day after day for 10 years has given me a special window into what holds people back from building happy, fulfilling lives and careers they love. Speaking with a stranger, I can detect in under five minutes those hallmarks that reveal when an individual will not get unstuck, but will remain bogged down for all eternity in career mediocrity unless she steps up to embrace change in how she behaves, performs, and views her situation." -- Kathy Caprino, Forbes Leadership, 11/8/13

16 Creative Uses of Instagram Video
"Now that Instagram Video has reached the ripe old age of four months (about 600 years in Internet time), we're seeing mind-blowing, app-specific content on a daily basis. With just 15 seconds, you'd think it'd be difficult to create visually compelling videos, but more users are getting the hang of it every day." - Max Knoblauch, Mashable, 11/11/13

The Problem We're Afraid to Name
"In recent years, I’ve had to deal with parents much more frequently than I ever imagined I would have to as a college professor. One father even tried to blackmail me into giving his son easier work and higher grades so that he wouldn’t lose his football scholarship. I’m not alone: Many of my colleagues report hearing from parents more and more frequently in the past 10 years or so." -- Jill Silos-Rooney, The Conversation - Chronicle Blog, 11/11/13