Hi, folks,
As the new term awaits, I hope you all had a restful but exciting summer break. A highlight of my summer was a trip to Disneyland with our granddaughter, Ellen. Her dream come true was to have Mickey hold her hand and pose with her in a photo. In addition to her Mickey adventure, we walked to all eight sections of the Anaheim Disneyland Park and went on 22 rides together. That's right—22! My stomach was fine during the Mad Teacups and the Dumbo and Astro Orbitor rides, but the rollercoaster, even the scaled-down kids' version, was a bit much for me. Getting back to my writing was a welcome retreat after that workout! Ellen enjoyed every minute, of course, and her joy made it all worthwhile.
Want Help Teaching Business Communication Online?
As an increasing number of courses move to an online or hybrid format, many of you have asked me for advice in planning your courses. To help ease your workload and save you time, I have compiled a series of articles that provide practical advice for setting up and administering an online course.
Available at http://www.meguffey.com, these articles offer suggestions for getting started. Although the following articles are designed for courses using my Business Communication: Process and Product, they include helpful information and handouts for any instructor offering an online course.
• Using WebTutor to Enhance Your Online Course
• Setting Up Your Online Course and Organizing Chapters
• First-Week Activities in Your Online Course
• The Best Resources for Beginning Online Instructors
• Creating Tests
• Grading Rubric for Online Discussion Performance
• Recommendations for Oral Presentations
In addition to consulting these articles, I suggest that you also take a look at my Prebuilt Course, available at http://www.meguffey.com for more teaching suggestions and handouts. Good luck in presenting your online course!
Congratulations to Coauthor Carolyn Seefer, Voted Teacher of the Year!
Selected by her peers, Carolyn Seefer has been voted Teacher of the Year in the Contra Costa Community College District. Carolyn teaches business English, business communication, and other subjects at Diablo Valley College, a large community college in the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. This past spring she took a group of Diablo Valley College students to Florence, Italy, for a study abroad program. Carolyn has been working on my books with me for years, and she will be the coauthor of the 10th edition of Business English, coming out in 2010. Congratulations, Carolyn, on this outstanding teaching honor!
Most Annoying PowerPoint Habits
A recent survey, published by PowerPoint expert Dave Paradi and reported in The Office Professional (July 2008), revealed the three most annoying habits of PowerPoint presenters:
• Reading slide content to the audience
• Creating slides with full sentences instead of bullet points
• Using text so small the audience can't read it
To see Paradi's extensive online PowerPoint assessment checklist, visit his Web site, http://www.thinkoutsidetheslide.com and look for "Learning Resources for Presenters" at the top of the home page. Click "Effectiveness Assessment" on the drop-down menu.
Need More Writing Activities and Case Studies?
If you would like a collection of 20 mostly short writing activities for in-class assignments or homework, you may download them from http://www.meguffey.com (move the cursor to "Exercises and Handouts" and look for "Supplementary Cases"). You may also order this set directly from me at meguffey @ westwords.com. When you write, please tell me which of my books you are using, where you teach, and a little about yourself. I like hearing from you!
BC:PP, 6e, Now Available
If you haven't seen our excellent new edition of Business Communication: Process and Product, be sure to order a review copy by calling Cengage Learning at 1-800-423-0563. Remember that support for BC:PP, 5e, will continue only until September 1, 2008. For your fall classes, tell your bookstore to order the new edition. All the fabulous Web site learning materials are available to any student who purchases a new book.
Plan to Attend ABC in Lake Tahoe in October
Please consider attending the Association for Business Communication annual convention, to be held at Lake Tahoe, a beautiful mountain resort in Nevada. This year's convention is scheduled for October 30 to November 1. If this is your first ABC conference, let me know so that I can invite you to join my table at the President's Luncheon. Convention information is available at http://www.businesscommunication.org.
Wishing you the best,
Mary Ellen