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This week, I offer a look at why it's so hard for us to be happy, revisit my conversation with Jeanie Tietjen about trauma-informed practices, and get real happy about my Hollyland wireless microphones. I also wonder what new tool or habit you have adopted in the last year that continues to bring you joy. |
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Episode 626
Naming the Urgency: Trauma-Informed Practices in Higher Ed
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Jeanie Tietjen shared about the importance of us naming the urgency of trauma-informed practices on episode 626 of Teaching in Higher Ed. As Jeanie revealed:
There is still a very nascent and as yet relatively unarticulated understanding of how profoundly trauma, adversity, and violence adversely affect teaching and learning. |
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Jason Chatfield
Nice Followers You've Got There
On the indignity of letting an algorithm decide if your friends are allowed to see your art…
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The creator of New York Cartoons, Jason Chatfield, is a great person to follow. He is a comedian, artist, and author. In Nice Followers You've Got There, Jason warns us about the threat we all face by letting the algorithms dictate who we are able to reach. I'm looking at you, LinkedIn, who recently underwent a massive change in what shows up to us on that platform.
In relation to the algorithmic dangers, Jason outlines how we put our free labor into doing our thing, we do our best to promote it (including linking to where it "lives" outside the platform), and then have no one see it, because we didn't want to pay money to have it seen. Jason writes:
The uncomfortable, gritty truth of the matter is that the algorithm no longer serves creative people. At all. It hasn’t for a long time. It does not care about your art, your workshop, or your livelihood. It only cares about keeping a user’s eyeballs glued to a glowing rectangle long enough to serve them an ad for a drop-shipped posture corrector. Nice Followers You've Got There, by Jason Chatfield
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Recording Myself in a New Spot
Hollyland Lark M2 for the win
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I've been making some changes to my home office, so I can try to get better sound in the loft setting vs always having to coordinate with Dave to get into our podcasting studio (which is also his office). Don't get me wrong. Dave is always happy to figure scheduling out with me for our respective podcasts, but it sure would be nice to have better sound for keynotes I give, as well as when I teach online.
Today, I recorded myself using my AirPod Pros and then hooked up my Hollyland Lark M2 wireless microphones. Umm... It wasn't even close. Things sound so much better with the Hollylands, though I am still noodling about what it might look (and sound) like, to do some acoustic treatment in that space. In the meantime, I'm going to be super disciplined, going forward, about always setting up my mics...
Hollyland Lark M2
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Your Go To Songs
What do you like to play before class?
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Last week, I wondered about what songs you like to play before class starts. Here are some of what you shared: |
Tolu Noah
I don't have a specific song that I like to play at the start of every workshop, but I do have a website that I love going to for different options. It's called Bensound, and it offers royalty-free music in different genres. I usually try to find a track that matches the "vibe" of the session. They have a pretty good selection of free tracks.
Bensound
More from Tolu at her website: Tolu Noah
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Emily Baxter
One of my favorites is 'look up' by Joy Oladokun. The song's message resonates on multiple levels by reminding us to look up to see the good happening in our lives, and, by the way, let's look up instead of staring at our phones while waiting for class to start.
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Tiffany Morin
I play music before every class I teach on-campus. It is often upbeat, but if I can sense that students are feeling overwhelmed, sometimes I play more chill, relaxing music.
Some of my favourite artists to bring good energy into the room include:
I also have Halloween playlists (one specifically that a student made for class). If I know that some students are going to a concert, I’ll play that music. For example, I had about half of my class go to the Noah Kahan concert a couple of years ago, so we listened to his music for a few weeks.
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This week, I'm wondering:
What's a tool or habit you've adopted in the last year that's changed how you work?
Hit reply to share. I may include one or two responses next week. I'll use your first name, or if you prefer your response be anonymous, let me know in your reply.
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Whether to 'Optimize' My Happiness
And why it's so hard for human beings to be happy
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The Daily interviewed Dr. Laurie Santos and explored what works and what doesn't, when it comes to trying to 'optimize' our happiness. She cautions us against toxic positivity and reminds us of the importance of what are often considered 'negative' emotions:
When I talk to my students, the way I often talk about negative emotions is as a signal, just like other negative sensations. You put your hand on a really hot stove, it’s going to hurt. And the reason you have that feeling is it’s a good signal: Get your hand off that stove.
Many of our negative emotions are doing that for us. If I’m feeling lonely, that’s a signal that I need to seek out social connection. A big one for me is that if I’m feeling overwhelmed, that means I have way too much on my plate. If you had good vibes only, you couldn’t live a positive life, because you’d be missing out on these cues about where you’re going off track and what you should change.
Want to Optimize Your Happiness? This Happiness Expert Says: Don't.
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THIS WEEK ON TEACHING IN HIGHER ED
Janice McCabe tells us about how college students form and dissolve friendships and what that has to tell us about why that matters for student success. Through reading Janice's book and getting to talk with her, I also got to learn (and pronounce) two new words: propinquity and homophily. Time to get your ears on this week. It's a good one.
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Teaching in Higher Ed Podcast
Listen with us each week.
The Teaching in Higher Ed podcast brings together over 25,000 followers to conversations about the art and science of facilitating learning.
Get your ears on for the conversation. Listen through to the recommendations.
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Bonni Stachowiak
Committed to human flourishing through learning + teaching
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