October 10, 2020

A man and a tree

 10 years ago, we lost one of my favorite college professors, Dr. Jon Wallace. He was the advisor for our student newspaper and guided me through my editorial responsibilities of hiring, firing, and managing a crew. When the University administration was upset at what I wrote in my columns, he called me into his office to tell me that more people were reading the newspaper than ever before. He pushed students in our writing courses. To this day, I believe I use more of the skills learned from him in my daily life than those from my biology professors, but please do not share that with them...

Just as I was graduating college, I noticed a unique photo hanging in his office. After hearing of his passing, I wrote this poem in a matter of hours. It is a true story about a man who meant a lot to me and many others, and a story about a tree and a photo. You can find it published in Cursed with Wings: and other Frustrations

Life is uncertain. Life is not fair. But we all leave our mark on the world, in some way--even if that mark is etched in the sky.

A man and a tree

I once knew a Man who took a photograph of a Tree.
The photograph amused me, as the Tree was near my grandparents’ house.
A tall Cottonwood on a hillside.
The Tree marked a corner where our car always turned toward town.

When I was young, the Tree had seemed enormous with leaves dancing in summer winds.
Cows swatted flies in Its shade and thought slowly about staying cool or moving to find water or grass.
I remember struggling awake from a nap in the car, but knowing where we were because I could see that Tree.

The Tree in the photograph had aged a bit, but so had I.
Maybe it was too many cows or too much rain or maybe trees just get old,
but the Tree had lost Its leaves, lost Its bark, and lost Its cows.
The smooth, massive truck stood stark-white against the lush grass of the hillside.
Chunks of branches lay where they had fallen, and the photograph captured the sun struggling to rise above the stunted arms of the great Tree.

It was odd to see that Someone Else had noticed the Tree, as it had always been something I saw but never mentioned to anyone.
One of those private markers along life’s paths, with no conversation value.  
But, there It was in His photograph.  
The Tree near my grandparents’ house, and a sun rise I had never seen.

And, this Man.  
I didn’t know He took photos, just as I didn’t realize He had ever known my Tree.
Odd.  But, I remembered Him each time I passed the Tree after that.  

Last month, I turned this corner and noticed the Tree was gone.
It had completely dissolved into the Earth.
Not even a stump; just an empty hillside.
But along the curves of the sky, I could trace where the Tree had once stood.
Branches straight and long, leaves green and quivering in the breeze.
It was still majestic in Its absence.
The Man and the Tree.
An Eternity carved into my mind, marking a corner of my world.

L. Powell, 16 October 2010
For Dr. Wallace


April 13, 2020

COVID-19: a student's perspective on remote learning

So far in this series, we have thought about things from an instructor's perspective. Of course, we need to hear from students, so today I did a Zoom session with a student near and dear to my heart: my son, Tristan. He was upstairs in his study area, and I was downstairs in my make-shift office.

Tristan really took my production and video editing skills to task, but he also shares some great ideas (and they were all his!) on what's going well in his classes and what is maybe not going so great.



By the way, Tristan is really good at editing video and he will eventually need a job. Please. Email me.

April 9, 2020

COVID-19 Teaching: group contracts for on-line projects

In today's 1.5-minute Teaching episode, I'm joined by Dr. Jason Headrick who shares some great tips on using student-generated, group contracts for your larger group or team projects. These are excellent to clarify everyone's expectations as students embark on these joint efforts. These are good for any group project situation (in-person or remote communication), but perhaps even more important now.

He also mentions carrier pigeons...see if you catch it.

April 8, 2020

COVID-19 Teaching: platforms for our groups to work together online


Today's 1.5-minute Teaching episode is about platforms for your students to use to complete group projects! How do we do this, now that we are online? Dr. Taylor Ruth from the Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication department in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln joins me to share her ideas from her course.

April 6, 2020

Quick trip to see the sandhill cranes

Before COVID-19, I had several plans to see the world-famous sandhill crane migration in Nebraska this spring. There was a crane festival to speak at, and a couple of other groups to assist with their viewing opportunities. We were going to make sure my mother saw the cranes in person for the first time. However, those were all canceled with COVID concerns.

But, I wanted to see the cranes. They were still there.

This afternoon, I grabbed my son and we left Lincoln about 5pm in a quick trip out for the 8:06pm sunset extravaganza at the viewing platform south of the Gibbon exit along I-80. Per normal, at first I was worried perhaps the warm weather had sent the cranes northward. However, right at sunset, they started to fly over, finding sandbars and taking their last look at the setting sun.

Enjoy the photos--sound on with the video!






This guy landed 20 minutes before the others. Maybe he's 'social distancing'??



Sunset and the cranes start to circle the Platte River.



Piling into the sandbar for the night.



Amazing view--still lots of cranes late in the season.


April 3, 2020

COVID-19 Teaching: admitting what is happening around us

In today's episode of 1.5-minute Teaching, we go to my front yard. I was all set to sunbathe with my daffodils until I discovered something awful had happened. Snow! Do I stay the course and sunbathe, or admit things have changed? Of course, I need to adapt or I will freeze to death.

Our teaching should be the same way. Listen for some ideas about how to incorporate realness of the situation as you work with your students.


April 1, 2020

COVID-19 Teaching: a little empathy will go a long way in the next few weeks

To date, in our 1.5-minute Teaching series, we've covered how to get ready for online teaching. That's happening now. However, we are now starting to see the indirect and direct effects of COVID-19. This is not just taking our courses online...we're taking our courses online in a VERY unique situation. Our students may get sick. We may get sick. Our students may be working more hours to keep their families' afloat. People are getting laid off from work.

We can't keep teaching like the world around us isn't happening. Check out the video for some ideas on how you can adjust and work with your students.

March 27, 2020

COVID-19 Teaching: worrying about what might go wrong

As we prepare to teach online, it's natural to worry about all the things that might go wrong. This is new to most of us! But, my Grandma Powell had some good advice, and I hope you'll check the video to see how it applies to teaching with Zoom and other online adventures.

Keep Teaching everyone!  This is the last scheduled daily video, but who knows? We may be back in the near future with more teaching hints and ideas. Leave a comment here if you have an idea for a topic to cover!

March 26, 2020

COVID-19 Teaching: we meet my office mate

Today, Mr. Kudu (my office mate) reflects on what he's noticed during the last week of video-making.  Check it out. You also learn why I am not a ventriloquist, sound engineer, or cinematographer.

March 25, 2020

COVID-19 Teaching: structuring your online course materials

Today, we're going to think about the content for your new online course (lectures, assignments, etc.) and how to structure them. We aren't in the classroom anymore, Toto!

So, you can use this technique: Chop and Flow

Think about the flow of how you want students to work through material and chop it into accessible pieces. Check out some ideas here!

COVID-19 Teaching: moving exams and quizzes online (Part 2)

Today's video shares information that can help you structure your exam or quiz in your learning management software in a way that is challenging for students who are attempting to work together. Perhaps normally you would be watching the class take the exam in your classroom, or your Testing Center would provide oversight. However, that's not possible now. What can you do? Check out this short video for some key ideas.

March 22, 2020

COVID-19 Teaching: moving exams and quizzes online (Part 1)

If you are needing to give an exam or quiz online, now, your students are most likely sitting (unsupervised) in their home or dorm room. Today's video covers how to restructure that exam to assume it is open book. Ask higher level questions that don't have answers found directly in your textbook or other resources!

COVID-19 Teaching: moving labs online

If you teach a lab course and suddenly need to move it online, here are some hints from some of my colleagues at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln on how to modify and reshape the laboratory experience to fit online.

March 19, 2020

COVID-19 Teaching: Backward Design

If you teach at a college or university, you've joined a club of instructors who have made it through 2/3 of the semester and now need to restructure your class to be online or completed remotely. COVID-19 has forced students out of the classroom, and we're really starting a grant experiment to see how we can construct student learning opportunities quickly and in a completely different manner than we had planned.

I'm starting a new series of videos, called "1.5-minute Teaching" in which you'll find short but (hopefully) helpful ideas to help with teaching in this scenario. And, maybe the ideas will be useful later in the normal world as well!

First off, let's talk about Backward Design. Your first step is to figure out what you are going to do--you have to change the syllabus. What content can you keep? How do you redo this section of the semester?

Backward Design is a great tool for constructing your course. If you haven't used it before, here's a great chance to use it for a small piece of your course. Take a listen!