Tips, Advice and Tools

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Tips, Advice and Tools To Get You Through the Hustle

The Ultimate Survival Guide for Adjuncts

Table of Contents

Introduction………………………………….Page 3 Teaching Tips & Student Engagement…….Page 4 Time Management………………………….Page 10 Mentorship & Support……………………..Page 14 Finances……………………………………..Page 17 Inspiration & Motivation…………………..Page 19

Introduction
 
 The adjunct hustle isn’t easy. We’re proud of the hustle, but many adjuncts don’t have a choice. In order to survive, many have to teach at multiple institutions and work additional jobs. For those in the thick of the hustle, this ultimate survival guide offers tips and ideas to get you through your everyday.




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TEACHING TIPS & STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

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Teaching Tips & Student Engagement 1. Set the tone on the first day. Make a first impression that you mean business, but you’re open-minded and enthusiastic. Be genuine though, students will be able to read right through you.

2. Know the university/college handbook and your own processes and procedures.

Your students will likely have questions about adding and dropping courses and how you will grade them. University policy is one thing, but then also make sure they understand what your policies are. Figure out before class how you will deal with absences, grading, partial credit, late assignments, etc.

3. Take time to get to know your students. Remember their names, remember if they share something in class. Jot down a couple of notes about something they shared. If it’s appropriate, you may have an opportunity to bring it up again in the context of what you’re teaching, and show them you were listening.

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Teaching Tips & Student Engagement 4. Try an icebreaker. Some professors aren’t into them, but icebreakers can help you get to know your students quickly. Learning details about your students and having them interact with each other, will help connect your class and make them feel more comfortable about sharing and participating.

5. Show your students you are human. Sharing things about yourself, giving your opinion and making mistakes in front of your students can be difficult for some professors. Believe or not, you can have professional boundaries, build mutual respect with your students and still be human. If you’re able to laugh at yourself and share with your students, it humanizes you and can make your students open up too.

6. Do a debrief with yourself after class.

Take a few moments after class to jot down what worked, what didn’t and any standout moments. Did a piece of material grab students’ attention? Write down if there are any student issues. Read the notes before the start of your next class to remember where you left off.

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Teaching Tips & Student Engagement 7. Identify your students’ strengths and challenges.

Certain students will love talking and sharing their experiences. Others are better at expressing themselves through writing. Offering a fun personality test in the beginning of the class will get students (and you) talking about strengths and challenges. We like this one.

8. Give your students choices. Your students are adults and have full lives outside of the classroom. Offering reasonable choices when you can, like due dates, format of the final exam, project topics, etc., it allows for students to feel ownership of their experience.

9. Consider breaking your class into groups.

This may not work for all classes, but breaking your students into groups has benefits. By creating groups in the beginning, your students will have a built-in support system and get to know another group of students quickly. You can also build opportunities for the groups to meet on various projects and presentations.

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Teaching Tips & Student Engagement 10. Give your students an opportunity to teach. In the day of social media and technology, the traditional idea of a professor being the only one holding knowledge is less and less true. Instead of always being the one teaching and lecturing, give students an opportunity. Invite students to teach their fellow students a particular skill or concept.

11. Be a facilitator, not a lecturer. To expand on the above point, facilitate knowledge, don’t be the holder. Don’t assume you’re the only one with knowledge in the room. Create opportunities for your students to share and lead class discussion. This is what student empowerment looks like.

12. Make your material relatable and relevant to students’ lives.

Theory is fantastic, but offering students ways to apply it to their lives is valuable. Provide examples, ask how a concept might play out in real life. Bring in guest speakers who are working in the field the students are learning about. Watch films, add a social media component, make it interactive. Aren’t sure how to do it? Ask your students.

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Teaching Tips & Student Engagement 13. Rethink content. There will always be too much content to cover. Instead of worrying about covering everything, focus more on helping your students develop critical thinking and research skills.

14. Create a supportive and welcoming environment in your classroom.

This can start on the first day. Utilizing icebreakers, asking your students for their opinion and building a culture of respect are ways to create a supportive environment. Some courses, particularly in the humanities (but not always!) can bring up difficult and challenging topics for students. Remember that support and safety looks different for everyone.

15. Be conscious of struggle. Try to give your students the benefit of the doubt, because you don’t know what they’re facing outside of the classroom. If you get a poor first impression of a student, or are confused about a behavior, think critically about how you will it address it. Take the time to reach out, offer office hours. Figure out ways to highlight your students’ strengths.

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TIME MANAGEMENT & ORGANIZATION

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Time Management & Organization 16. Back up your lessons and content. Back up your lesson and content.

Yes, we said that twice! You can spend hours and days on a lesson or lecture only to find it gone because of an expected computer issue. Google Drive, Dropbox, a flash or external hard drive are good options.

17. Define what organization looks like for you. Whether it’s using Excel spreadsheets, fun apps like Slack, Trello, Evernote, or different colored folders — take some time before the semester begins to play with different organization ideas to figure out what works for you. Each option has different functions and features that you may like better than others.

18. Make the most of your commute.

Once you get the route down, many adjuncts take the time to listen to podcasts and catch up on phone calls. Some even use recording apps to get down some thoughts that are swirling around about new lessons or to-do items.

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Time Management & Organization 19. Schedule your day effectively.

You may have multiple trips between institutions per day. Map out your course schedules and try to minimize the back-and-forth. If you have some downtime between classes, use your time wisely for something productive. Eat, grade assignments, read up for your next lesson, etc.

20. Utilize your adjunct office.

We know adjunct offices are not created equal. Many are overcrowded and lack privacy. Some institutions do offer decent office space though. Take advantage of this if you have it. When shared office space is not an option, meet students in the library, at a campus cafe or online. Some campus departments will allow adjuncts to use empty classrooms for office space as well.

21. When selecting a place to live, consider your commute.

Easier said than done, right? If you’re considering a move, take some time to see how this affects your commute and how long you will be from the institution(s) where you teach. People may get excited about a job opportunity before realizing the impact of a treacherous commute.

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Time Management & Organization 22. Have pre-written answers prepared for student questions.

Emails back-and-forth with students can be a time sucker. Many students will have similar questions about the syllabus, assignments or due dates. Prevent the headache by saving some automated responses to the “Notes” app on your phone or an online document.

23. Plan your home life.

Adjuncts spend so much time planning courses, commuting and teaching. By the time you get home, you’re exhausted and realize there’s nothing to eat and clothes aren’t clean. Try some planning — meal prep on your lightest day, laundry during a free evening, going to the gym on selected days, etc. These things will help you feel more in control.

24. Create a homemade adjunct survival kit. Buy a box that you can leave in your car with must-have items to prepare for a rough day: Band-aids, hand sanitizer, nail clipper, a comb, chapstick, deodorant, floss, a mirror, extra socks, blank cards, gum, snacks, toothbrush & paste, tissues, an extra change of clothes, different shoes, etc.

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MENTORSHIP & SUPPORT

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Mentorship & Support 25. Reach out to other adjuncts.

If you’re lucky, you may be able to find other adjuncts at your institution. If not, you can meet them online on Adjunct Hustle. Sharing your experiences with fellow colleagues and creating community can be a huge support system. There are some things that only adjuncts understand. Having a community to share and receive teaching strategies and ideas, vent and organize can help you get through your everyday.

26. Build a squad.

You know that professor who finishes up a course before you, or the one you always run into at the library? Introduce yourself — they could be future friends. It can be really challenging to meet other professors when you’re busy or don’t have an institution creating opportunities for you. If you do get the chance, connecting with fellow adjuncts will help keep your motivation up, answer your questions and may even lead to collaboration. Too shy to reach out in person? Create community online.

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Mentorship & Support 27. Find a mentor — in person.

Many professors hold an incredible amount of experience and wisdom (regardless of age!) and are open and willing to connect. Identify which adjunct or full-time professors you admire and ask if they’d be willing to sit down and talk with you. This person(s) could be a valuable resource for you as you navigate the adjunct hustle.

28. Find mentorship — online. By joining Adjunct Hustle, you can have access to adjuncts at different steps of the journey, from many different locations and experiences. In our exclusive online community, you can chat, ask questions, share resources and build community. You may also find out about job opportunities, events, and meet-ups. The possibilities are endless.

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FINANCES

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FINANCES 29. Search for online opportunities.

Teaching online courses are great options for professors looking to supplement their income and to save time on a commute. Teaching online is also a great option in the summer for professors who are busier in the Fall and Spring.

30. Consider consulting on the side. Adjuncts have an incredible amount of skills they often take for granted. Learn why adjuncts are perfect entrepreneurs.

31. Use a website or app to manage your finances. It can be challenging to keep track of your finances as an adjunct, especially when you are receiving multiple paychecks and sources of income. Look into apps like Mint or HelloWallet to help.

32. Consider a paid opportunity on Adjunct Hustle.

Adjunct Hustle offers paid opportunities to our members. We are always looking for great writers and content creators to help our website. Learn more.

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INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION

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Inspiration & Motivation 33. Look for positivity and enthusiasm.

Some adjuncts are understandably unhappy, exhausted and disenchanted because of the broken higher education system. Most go through waves of disappointment at points of their teaching careers. This makes finding motivation and inspiration that much more important. Finding colleagues or even your students, who are inspiring, hopeful, innovative and open to new ideas can make a big difference.

34. Inquire about professional development.

Some institutions are better than others — there may be opportunities like conferences, seminars and lectures offered at your institution. If there aren’t any formalized PD opportunities, look online for tutorials and free courses.

35. Write a teaching vision statement. Why do you teach? What brought you here? What kind of impact do you want to have? By asking yourself these questions, you can develop a personalized teaching vision. You can look back on your vision when things get tough and it can remind you of why you chose to teach in the first place. Get creative and brainstorm!

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Inspiration & Motivation 36. Journal!

Even if it’s just for a few minutes before or after class, journaling can be an excellent tool. It helps get your creative juices flowing and archive what works and what doesn’t. It can help remind you of questions your students’ asked, details about them and ideas you want to try.

37. Take care of your body. It can be easy to neglect your body when you’re deep in the adjunct hustle. Eating healthy, regular meals isn’t the easiest thing to do on the go. Take some time to do some meal prep, or identify healthy choices you can grab on the road. Make sure you’re getting enough sleep, drinking water and exercising to stay healthy and keep that immune system up.

38. Find something you love — other than teaching.

Although it may seem your world revolves around teaching, make time at least once a week to do something you love outside of work. Go see a play, go out with friends, rock climb, listen to music, run a marathon, create art. Not only does this make you a more well-rounded person, but you may be inspired by something you can bring into class.

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Tools e l d Doo

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Tools 39. Slideshare

Take advantage of online tools like Slideshare to get ideas and inspiration. Slideshare offers users the ability to upload their own presentations and see others. The public presentations can give you great ideas on how to make attractive presentation slides to keep your students engaged.

40. Doodle Doodle has two great features — a scheduler and a poll maker. The scheduler allows users to select time slots and invite participants to choose when they are free to meet. This tool could be used to schedule office hours. The poll maker allows users to create a poll questions and have multiple responses. It can be used to survey your students.

41. Canva

Canva allows you to create beautiful documents, presentation images and layouts. It’s very user-friendly and has drag + drop features. Some adjuncts use it to create graphics for class, to spruce up their presentations or for their side hustle. It’s mostly free with some premium features.

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Tools 42. PicMonkey

PicMonkey is a great option for professors who aren’t Photoshop savvy. This site allows you to upload your own photos, edit them with beautiful filters, add text and symbol overlays and more. This is a great tool if you want to edit photos or create fun graphics for your syllabus. Free to try but will prompt you to sign up for Royale membership.

43. Piktochart Pikochart is an awesome website to create infographics using drag + drop. Professors are being super creative and some have even used it to create an infographic syllabus! Piktochart has some free features and a variety of premium packages including one for educators.

44. Pinterest

Okay, we know you know this one. But, Pinterest is actually a great place to help you find beautiful content for your lessons, especially if you’re not the designer type. Create boards for each section or topic in your course, and then save articles, infographics and photos to the board. Students can follow your board or you can assign them to check out the links.

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Adjunct Hustle supports and empowers all adjuncts. Join Adjunct Hustle today!