Change the units of measurement from centimetres to inches in Word 2019 (PC version)

Even though Canada widely uses the metric system, we use the same type of standard letter-sized paper that Americans do for most business documents. If your installation of Word starts off using centimetres instead of inches, this can make setting tab stops at positions such as 4.25” inches (halfway across the page) inconvenient. Changing your software to the imperial system only takes a moment and can save time when you create documents.

Using Clipboard Commands in Word 2019

I still feel like the paste options are new (even though they’re old news in 2020). I rely on keep text only when I need to copy text from webpages that contain links to avoid the hassle of accidental clicks, which always seem to take ages to load from within Word when you’re busy at work.

How to Use OneDrive on Office 365 to organize and create Word files

Most professionals who have been using computers for at least as long as me feel comfortable organizing computer files in hierarchical folder structures. Today, many online systems take a different approach that offers typing to search for files (similar to how people interact with their email) rather than always having to navigate to them. This also makes it easy to share up-to-date online resources with colleagues (and even third parties) in a way that skirts email.

Creating a Template in Word 2019

I use template for my lesson plans and exercise handouts, but they are useful in any situation where you find yourself reusing old documents because they eliminate the risk of disclosing confidential information, even inadvertently.

Using the Font Group Commands in Word 2019

This is basic stuff for most users, but I’m always surprised about the number of people who never use keyboard commands (like shift + arrows) to select text.

UDL During the Pivot to Remote Instruction

Photo by Hello I'm Nik 🎞 on Unsplash

Community involves doing what you can to meet the needs of others.  Right now in my professional life, this means helping my students complete their studies despite our unexpected shift to a “teaching at a distance” model. Over the past month, I have aimed to avoid overburdening my students with unrealistic amounts of work while being mindful that I cannot oversimplify content because all of the learning outcomes in my courses are important.

Those who already think about universal design for learning (UDL) are well positioned to analyze how this pandemic has exposed inequities in higher education.  In a nutshell, UDL asks us to plan for the diverse needs of our learners.  Even though learning is a complex process, a fair amount of UDL simply relates to making thoughtful choices. 

Some strategies that worked well for my courses have been:

1.  Recording content for students to access at their convenience.  Many of my students are working people as well as parents, and they all have different schedules.  By posting videos of lecture content, evaluation instructions and software demonstrations, students have been able to learn on their own time.

2.  Making this content available through YouTube, which includes the benefit of automatically generated captions, and also posting the video files directly to our course website.  (The YouTube videos are unlisted so you will not find them unless I have shared the links.) Streaming is easiest for most students, but for those with limited internet access downloading files to view offline can be a better solution.

3.  Being available through multiple services.  Most people in my network on LinkedIn appreciate the pervasive “on-the-recordness” of email, and since you are probably one of these people, ask yourself whether it is fair to expect someone who has never worked in an office – or even set foot in an office like yours (Hi Bay Street BigLaw!!) – to feel the same way.  Integrating into our professional work culture that is obsessed with paper trails and accountability is something that my students are still training to do, so if it is easier for them to ask for help through a DM on Instagram I am happy to respond.

In all of these examples, I have considered what is useful for my students before turning my mind toward what would be convenient for me. I am fortunate to still have a job in our new new-economy.  Using my skills and experience to assist the realization of Centennial College’s mission statement, “Educating students for career success”, is both a privilege and honour.

Student Skills Bootcamp Part 2: Connecting with Your Professor

In this video I’ll explain how to start building a professional relationship with a college or university professor.

1.    Don’t Be Shy

As a student, it can be intimidating to meet professors because you can’t ignore the things that make you different from them.  Knowing that your professors are experts in the same field that interests you could stir feelings of inadequacy, but don’t let this stress you out.  Your professors understand that you’re still pursuing your education, and they don’t expect you to have mastered the content of their courses, especially during the early days of each semester.  The power imbalance between professors and students is also obvious.  Professors design the evaluations that will measure your learning and, if they grade your tests and assignments personally, they will determine your results in their course.  From a student’s perspective, it can feel embarrassing to know that your professor is aware of all of your mistakes, but there’s no need to feel embarrassed.  Instead, focus on figuring out the causes of these errors and how you can improve in future assessments.  Don’t forget: your professor’s purpose in the classroom is to help you learn about things you don’t already know so it’s normal to feel like your knowledge is incomplete.

2.    Your Professor is on Your Team

Given the differences between college students and professors, you might be surprised to find that you share similarities.  For starters, you’re both members of the same college community, which means you also live in the same city or region.  Think about normal customs for your area but be careful to observe appropriate boundaries.  For example, if you cross paths with your professor on campus say “good morning” or smile if you’ve recognized each other from some distance.  On the other hand, avoid entering your professor’s personal space in the way you would if you were to try to hug them.  Another thing you share with your professor is the specific course they teach.  If you attend lectures regularly and keep up with the readings and other coursework, your professor will be receptive to feedback about what is and isn’t working well for you. Sharing an insight you experienced after a particular lesson is a great way to demonstrate you appreciate your professor’s efforts.  You might tell your professor that the way they explained something really helped you grasp the relationship between other concepts.  When you offer constructive criticism to your professor, first be sure you are up to date with the coursework they have planned for you so they will not respond with something like “Well, if you had done the readings, you would already know such and such”.  Consider how it could be valuable to your professor if you were to say something like “In the earlier classes I didn’t understand what you meant every time you said ‘postmodern’, but after doing some research I think I get it.  If you have a few minutes in class next day maybe you could summarize the basics because I think it would be helpful for all of my classmates.”  Instead of thinking about your professor as a gatekeeper of grades, consider them as a professional who’s on your team.

3.    Attend Office Hours

Did you know that professors expect at least some of their students to take the initiative to connect with them?  When a professor holds “office hours” it means they have already reserved time to meet with students.  Many professors plan for this time to be available on a drop-in basis, although some may prefer for you to schedule an appointment in advance. Check your course outline or webpage for this information.  The purpose of office hours is to ensure that professors are available to speak with their students in person.  Even though you might be able to get some questions answered over email, meet your professor in person if you wish to develop your relationship with them.  Sometimes students hesitate to meet with their professors because they feel their concerns aren’t important enough, they believe they would be bothering a busy professor or they simply feel shy; however, professors intend to use this time to meet with their students so there’s no need to worry.  If anything, your professor will appreciate that you are coming to them during the very time they allocated for this work, instead of another time that could be inconvenient.  You might need to speak to your professor to correct an administrative error (such as a grade being recorded improperly) or you could ask for further feedback on an essay to understand how your writing could improve in the future.  If you don’t have a specific issue and you’re not sure what to say when you see your professor, you could express that you are eager to enrich your learning experience, and perhaps ask them to recommend a book that is not assigned in the course.  (Just be sure to read it in case they ask you about it later on.)  Depending on your area of study, you might ask your professor to help you identify suitable part-time employment while you’re still studying.  If you make a good impression, you will likely be at the top of the professor’s mind if any opportunities come up.  Office hours are an underused tool for getting a professor’s undivided attention. Everyone in academia becomes more busy toward the end of every semester, so do your best to see your professor in the first few weeks before things get hectic.

4.    Inform Your Professor About Your Needs

You are the only person who knows what you need to be successful in college, so it’s up to you to keep your professor up to date.  Professors know that certain things benefit everyone.  As a matter of universal design for learning, professors should speak clearly instead of mumbling, and the sequence of topics in a course should be logical.  However, if you have particular needs that are related to impairment or disability, your professor likely won’t know about these unless you communicate with them.  Most colleges have formal procedures to implement accommodations for students who experience disability, but depending on the nature of your needs, it may be best for you to communicate them to your professor directly.  Your needs may not necessarily be related to disability. For instance, if you have to travel a long distance between classrooms on a large campus, it might be impossible for you to arrive on time.  In this case, you would definitely want your professor to know that you don’t intend any disrespect.  Your professor cannot read your mind, so make sure you communicate clearly. 

5.    Share a Unique Detail About Yourself

College professors do not always learn their students’ names.  This could be because the class has hundreds of students or because they don’t make the effort to do so.  If you want to connect with your professor and stand out from other students, you must introduce yourself in a way that will make you memorable.  Pick something unique about yourself that you can tell your professor.  Imagine how difficult it would be to forget someone who explained “I train 6 days each week for martial arts competitions, which really forces me organize my time for studying and writing.”  If you speak a language that isn’t very common in the place where you study you might casually mention something like “You know, I laughed to myself in class the other day when you were talking about that writer because their name sounds like the word for…” and then explain how the similarity was humourous in your other language. You are a unique individual with positive traits, make sure your professor knows who you are. 

6.    Don’t Stand Out for the Wrong Reasons

Lastly, you never want to stand out for the wrong reason in college or industry. Imagine you followed this advice and met your professor during their office hours to have a productive meeting. It would be nice to send a thankyou message to your professor the next day to express your appreciation for their time or to briefly relate why that meeting was useful for you.  Think of this as a chance to reinforce your professor’s positive impression of you as a student.  Just take care to ensure that your efforts are appropriate.  To give an example of how someone might stand out for the wrong reason:  imagine sending $100-bouquet of roses to your professor along with a thank you card. The intention is clearly positive, but the gesture would come across as overblown, unnecessary and awkward.  Your relationship is a professional one in which you are learning and the professor is teaching.  Focus your energy on doing everything you can to learn as effectively as possible to support your success in your future career.

I hope you feel confident to network with your professors this semester.  Please like this video and subscribe for future content.

Student Skills Bootcamp Part 1: Things to do at the beginning of EVERY semester

In this video, I cover ten things that you should do at the beginning of every semester before classes even start.  I can’t guarantee that you’ll finish your semester with straight A’s, but following these steps will increase your chances of success. 

If you’re new to college, you might be surprised to learn how much you can do before your first class.  If you’ve already started your students, see if any of these tips could help things go more smoothly next semester.

1. Become familiar with your institution’s website and social media accounts

You probably already know your school’s main website, but if you don’t just Google the name of your college or university.  Bookmark this website because you will need to access it frequently while you’re enrolled as a student.  Often these websites will have locked areas that are restricted to enrolled students.  For example, your contact details and financial information might be in a password-protected system.  Find out your username and password for your school’s website.  There may be a procedure to create a new account or an account may have already been created for you.  Check the email address you submitted with your application as well as your paper mail to see if instructions were sent to you.  If not, see if a F.A.Q. is available or dedicated webpage for new students.

Your college probably has many social media accounts.  You don’t need to follow all of them but check out the services that you use the most and follow anything you think is relevant.  In addition to the college’s main account, you might also find specific accounts for departments, programs, classes, professors, clubs and sports teams.  I recommend following everything you find at first and unfollow later if you aren’t receiving useful information. 

2. Find your weekly schedule or timetable

Your weekly schedule is probably available in the password-protected section of your college’s website.  It lists all of your courses by name, code and section number.  Print this or save a screenshot.  If it fits easily on one screen, you might use this screenshot as your mobile phone’s lockscreen or wallpaper image since it will take a few weeks to learn your way around.  If you use other tools like an online calendar or paper agenda, transfer your schedule somewhere that will make it easy to find.  Double check that your schedule makes sense.  Do all the classes you expected to be enrolled in appear? Is anything unsual?  Some classes might meeting irregularly such as during alternate weeks or even online instead of in-person.  Are there any conflicts that would make it impossible to attend two courses at the same time?  Most systems won’t allow that to appear on your schedule in the first place, but on large campuses it is possible to have back-to-back classes that are physically distant from each other.  Regardless, find a map of your campus and plan your route between classes. Planning ahead will help save you from the embarrassment of arriving late on the first day.

3. Figure out your learning management system

A learning management system is like a prepackaged webpage that colleges buy from education technology companies.  Depending on your school, this might be the same or different as the password-protected website you already accessed in step one.  Some major developers are Desire2Learn, Blackboard and Moodle, but there are many more.  Your college likely customizes the default software to match its brand, which probably includes a specific name for the system.  Once you have access, take a look around to find the individual webpages for each course you will study this semester.  Hopefully you will be able to find the contact information for each of your professors in case you need to reach out to them about anything urgent near the beginning of the semester.  If you want to be notified when new content or grades are posted, you may be able to set up alerts by text message or email.  You should also check to see if your professor has asked you to do anything before your first class.

4. Analyze your course outline

A course outline or syllabus is the class-by-class plan for your course.  Pay attention to whether all classes are the same or different.  For example, many courses will be delivered through traditional lectures every single day while others may mix things up with lab activities or other types of experiential learning.  The course outline will often summarize the content of what you will learn during the course.  Later in the semester, if there’s something you don’t understand at all or don’t remember covering in class, you will definitely want to check in with your professor to see how you can catch up.  The course outline typically lists the evaluations – everything that counts for marks like tests and assignments – in the course, and it often contains other valuable information like the name of the textbook and other assigned readings as well as general course policies.  While some academic programs have the same rules across all classes, in college it’s common for each professor to be in charge of how their individual courses work.  For instance, some programs will have the same penalties for late assignments in all classes, but in others each individual professor will decide how these penalties work.  Professors always ensure that that most important details about their course are in the course outline, so make sure you check it before you ask your professor any unnecessary questions. 

5. Make a schedule of your evaluations

The dates for your evaluations are probably in your course outline, but if you can’t find them look for a separate document or possibly an online calendar tool.  You usually receive this information for each course separately, so it’s important to write it all down in one place.  You might use a blank piece or paper, a physical agenda or an online calendar to keep track of these items.  In some colleges you won’t know the exact dates of your exams until some future point during the semester.  If this is how your school works, you should be able to find the date this information is released as well as the last possible date any evaluation could be scheduled.  Do not make important plans or book travel until you are certain about your evaluation dates.  Once you have your complete list, review it to identify busy parts of your semester. Normally every professor is unaware of what’s going on in your other courses, and unless there is a specific policy against multiple evaluations on the same day, it’s possible that you will have two or more tests or assignments on the same day or clusters in the same week. Spotting these busy periods now will help you organize the rest of your life and work schedule around these dates. Can you work extra shifts when your school workload is lighter before or after crunch time?  Will celebrations like birthdays create time pressure for you this semester?  Or do you have religious observances that will require accommodation?

6. Get ahold of the textbooks for your courses

In recent years some academic leaders have made efforts to move away from traditional print textbooks, but old-fashioned textbooks are still very common in higher education.  You will usually find the name of the textbook in the course outline.  Double check that you have the exact name and whether there is an edition number.  Everyone knows that textbooks are expensive.  If you buy directly from your college’s bookstore, they will only have the correct editions in stock, and you can get your books right away; however, this is usually the most expensive way to buy your books.  Do some online research to see if you can find the same books for cheaper prices but be careful that you don’t have to wait too long to receive them.  Don’t overlook low-tech ways to find and buy your textbooks.  You might see ads posted on physical bulletin boards or if you can find students who are ahead of you in your program you might be able to purchase their used books.  Your college library and other libraries might also have copies of the textbook available.  These are often listed as short-term loans or reserve copies, which means that they might be available to check out for only a couple of hours or overnight.  This prevents any single person from keeping the book and limiting the ability of other students to use it.  Carefully check your library’s fine policy because the fees might be especially high for these materials. 

7. Obtain your student identification card

In some colleges you will be able to collect your student identification before the first day of classes.  Do this if you can to avoid waiting in long lines during the busy first few days of the semester.  This usually serves as your library card and may be connected to your meal plan, if you have one.  Some colleges will take your photo for you and others ask you to submit it online. Research the requirements in advance to avoid any surprises.

8. Learn the WIFI networks and passwords

Today, most students can’t live without WIFI.  Research the wireless networks at your college to reduce your chances of having to deal with a poor connection or no service at all.  There might be no password or there could be a sign-on process. It’s also possible that there is more than one network.  For example a slower one for visitors and a faster one for students, faculty and staff. You should also review your college’s policy on Internet use to make sure you understand what is considered as appropriate versus inappropriate use. 

9. Locate Printing services

At some point in the semester, there will very likely be a time when you need to print something urgently.  Perhaps you thought a submission was to be made electronically but found out at the last-minute that your professor requires a hardcopy.  Identify the physical location of the printers on your campus and determine their capabilities.  Some might print only in black and white while others might permit colour printing.  Ensure you understand the price for printing different ways and check if you can save money by printing documents double-sided or with more than one page per sheet of paper.

10. Ensure that you have email access

Even though you might communicate with all of your friends through text messages or apps like Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok, your professors will consider email as the gold-standard for on-the-record communications.  Most colleges will assign you a new email address, which your professors will have access to.  Even if you used your personal email address during the application process it is unlikely that your professors will receive your personal email address unless you email them from it.  Check your official college email address every day because if something unexpected happens like your professor cancelling a class, they will most likely email you.  Some email systems can be clunky or unfamiliar, and you might already monitor your primary email address constantly.  In this case, forward your new email to the one you use daily to be sure you don’t miss any important communications. 

If you feel that these tips will help you start your semester with less stress, please like this video and subscribe for future content.  And if you’ve already started your college studies and have advice for other students, comment below.

How Teaching Circles Can Develop UDL Know-How Among Faculty

"Light CIrcle" by Louisa Mac is licensed under CC BY 2.0

At the Centre for Legal and Administrative Studies, within Centennial College’s Business School, we use “teaching circles” as a method of knowledge transfer among colleagues.  During casual one-hour meetings, professors share expertise on topics ranging from customer service to PowerPoint design.  This format has been effective for sharing useful information about universal design for learning (UDL).  Even though the comprehensive realization of UDL’s values in higher education is a complex project, teaching circles provide a simple way to share strategies and tactics.

Professors make thoughtful choices when designing their teaching practices.  These decisions must comply with legal requirements such as those contained in Ontario’s Human Rights Code, RSO 1990, c H.19 and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005, SO 2005, c 11; however, it is not realistic to expect all college professors to interpret the law in the same way that lawyers do.  In this area, it is appropriate for the college to task experts with distilling best practices for all faculty to observe.  Checklists are natural starting points for legal analysis, but they fail to capture the specificity of diverse student experiences across different academic programs. When it comes to UDL we must avoid becoming trapped by dogmatic attitudes (e.g., “UDL = technology”) because they can be counterproductive (e.g., “So now they’re saying I have to learnsuch and such technology?”).  Unlike the institution as a whole, each program has specialized needs that are familiar to the people who inhabit it.  This makes faculty the most suitable decision makers concerning how to deliver their course learning outcomes in alignment with UDL’s principles.  By working with our immediate peers, teaching circles allow us to disseminate this first-hand knowledge without the formality that legal compliance demands.  This approach also precludes criticism of advice that comes from elsewhere in the college, which can be easy for faculty to dismiss when they believe it does not apply to their classrooms.  Teaching circles are productive because they enable faculty to tackle their problems more precisely compared to blanket guidance from the institution.

Sharing among colleagues involves an affective dimension that may advance the paradigm shift toward UDL.  The deployment of online training modules can fatigue employees at large organizations even when these same people recognize the importance of such training.  Our appreciation of time’s scarcity predisposes us to receive information that is delivered by our peers more warmly than that which comes from impersonal online sources.  It is easy to imagine someone circumventing an online training session by starting a video and ignoring it or skipping directly to its embedded assessment tool, but no one would disrespect a flesh-and-blood colleague in a similar way.  While a teaching circle may require a time commitment that is similar to an online training session, meeting face-to-face affords intangible benefits like implicit trust of the facilitator and an opportunity to work as a team.  Teaching is a profession in which we are often confined in lonely laneways of subject matter expertise, and teaching circles offer a venue for human interaction that can persuade educators to try out various UDL techniques.

In the traditional, so-called “factory model” of education, professors were gatekeepers of knowledge on a one-way street in a system that arguably met the needs of professors and their institutions better than the needs of students.  Today, in our 21stcentury classrooms, we must invite our students to share their experiences with us as their trusted educators.  Although this is perhaps unfamiliar – at least to today’s professors who experienced 20thcentury classrooms – this is easy to do. Personally, I prefer to have one-on-one meetings with as many students as I can to learn about their experiences of what does and does not work for them in a given semester.  Individual meetings can be time consuming, but it is time well spent since it results in more equitable outcomes for our students. Anonymous surveys could also be useful depending on the context.  Using teaching circles to share the lessons we have learned from students amongst colleagues amplifies the impact of our individual efforts to promote UDL in our teaching practices.

Using design thinking to enhance accessibility and inclusion in college classrooms is a tricky balancing act that demands collaboration between faculty and students.  The trouble with enumerating a hit-parade of best practices for UDL is that reliance on such lists could tempt us to become passive and complacent.  All experienced educators know that no two cohorts of students are exactly alike.  Accordingly, some efforts to promote UDL may be successful with some students and yet fail with others.  Professors must approach UDL in active ways because the spectrum of potential needs among our students is non-exhaustive.  Hence, I conceptualize UDL as a procedure that elicits data from students to inform my ability to teach effectively.  Working with colleagues, whenever it is possible, strengthens the validity and reliability of the iterative process of UDL implementation.   At the Centre for Legal and Administrative Studies, UDL-thinking has shaped our teaching practices, and teaching circles have been a particularly appropriate venue for cultivating equitable learning environments for our students.

Organizing Online Materials for Students’ Ease of Use

UDL is about making choices that privilege diversity over expedience. Whenever a student identifies a barrier, and shares this information with me, devising an accommodation is usually straightforward. Yet the responsibility for achieving the goals of UDL cannot rest with students alone. Educators must examine their teaching practices with vigilance to avoid marginalizing their learners.

The effective deployment of UDL principles requires empathy and imagination. Because I mostly teach courses that meet twice weekly during a 14-week semester, I used to always make 14 online folders labeled for each week ("Week 1", "Week 2”, etc.) inside of which I would name files for the first and second classes respectively (“Week 1.1.pptx”, “Week 1.2.pptx”, etc.). Organizing every single course in this exact same way satisfied my compulsion to be consistent. At first, I had imagined that my students would download the PowerPoint files ahead of class to familiarize themselves with each lecture’s key points, but I know only some students do this. Several students access these files for the first time when they sit down to study for a test. In this case, my week-by-week organization could present a barrier, since such a student who is too pressed for time to prepare ahead of class on a daily basis must wonder "what's on the test?". As professors, it is easy to say that the course outline or an online newsfeed item makes the content of each test obvious, but such a snooty attitude is not helpful for any student who cannot make sufficient time to study or review. Nowadays, in courses with a traditional structure (say 3 tests and an assignment) I organize the primary online folders in terms of evaluations (“test 1”, “test 2”, “assignment”, “test 3”). This helps all of my students figure out what is included more quickly and also prevents me from having to repeat what will be covered on each test. Although I know how I would study for the tests that I give my students, I cannot dwell in some idealized version of the past because I also know that my students arrive in my classroom with different abilities and constraints. UDL challenges all educators to think beyond their own experiences to effectively achieve their pedagogical goals.

How to Implement UDL in College Education

We kicked off the new school year with a faculty meeting about universal design for learning (UDL) with the aim of maximizing the accessibility of our teaching practices.

The ideological roots of UDL come from architecture.  Last century, people realized that staircases only really work for people whose legs allow them to climb stairs.  For people who use wheelchairs and other mobility devices, staircases are a barrier.  When architects incorporate ramps, escalators and elevators alongside or instead of stairs, more people can access places that would be otherwise inaccessible to them.  These designs are “universal” because they also help people who do not identify with impairment and disability:  people with strollers and wheeled-suitcases also enjoy barrier-free access.

The problem is less concrete inside the classroom.  Whereas elevators overcome the barrier that stairs pose for most people with mobility troubles (assuming the elevators are large enough and in working order), interventions in the classroom may not serve all students equally well.  It’s easy to appreciate how subtitled video presentations enable students with hearing impairments or language issues to access information, but what could help students with learning disabilities or negative affectivity?  The needs of a student with dyslexia are enormously different from the needs of another who experiences significant anxiety.  (I would probably expect a student whose dyslexia-related needs are overlooked to experience some degree of anxiety.)  In education, a persistent but tired-out trichotomy that classifies students as visual, auditory or kinesthetic learners obscures the true diversity of learning needs.

Even though it is always sensible to follow evidence-based best practices, the comprehensive implementation of UDL will not be achieved by diligently checking items off of a list.  Instead, it will be realized when our institutions develop procedures that detect and respond to the needs of each and every student.  This is a complex project, but the starting place is simple:  foster a learning environment that is conducive to communication and ask your students what they need.

Photo by Photo .org (CC0 1.0)

How to Combine PDF Files on a Mac

I love PDFs because what you see is what you get, even when you’ve shared your file with others.

When I was applying for articling jobs I often needed to submit electronic files that came from different sources. Attaching my cover letter, resume, transcripts and references to emails was tricky. Although I knew that I could produce PDFs in Word, I couldn’t get away from scanning my transcripts and references into separate files.  (It’s common to submit copies instead of original transcripts for some legal employers in the GTA.)

I eventually learned that the solution to this problem is dead simple. By bundling all of the files together I could be reasonably sure that my intended recipients would receive all the necessary materials inside of just one attachment. Why risk having something go missing when this technique is so easy?

Step 1:  Open your PDF files in Preview and change the view to “Thumbnails”

Step 2:  Drag the thumbnail image of the page you want to add on top of the first page

Step 3:  Repeat with as many pages as necessary, regardless of each page’s orientation

(n.b., I manually changed the filename before taking the screenshot)

Low-Tech Organization: The Hipster PDA

One of my favourite answers to the question “What is a hipster?” came from a friend during my first year of law school who explained, “You know, every T-shirt they own costs either $1 or $100.” What’s true for fashion in this case is also true for personal organization. While you could shell out hundreds of dollars for the latest smartphone and apps to organize your academic life, you might consider the more affordable option of getting a stack of index cards and a binder clip from a dollar store. You’ll also need something to write with – but that’s it.

This is an old idea that I first came across on a blog a called 43 folders. If you follow the link, you’ll see that the original post is dated Sept 3, 2004. (Yes, 2004! That’s why this is called the hipster PDA, not hipster smartphone.) The core of this concept is simple. You keep various index cards close at hand in order to monitor things that are important to you.

This semester my students have included:

15 white cards – 1 for each week of our semester, including reading week

8 blue cards – 1 for each quiz

2 yellow cards – 1 for the midterm + 1 for the final

1 red card for the assignment

While there are many possible ways to use the hipster PDA I’ve encouraged my students to do a few specific things.

1.  Sort the cards in chronological order

The weekly white cards form an obvious sequence, but I’ve asked my students to slot the blue, yellow and red cards that represent evaluations in the order that they will occur.

2.  Write down questions

I’ll only see this class for 3 hours each week, so I don’t want my students to forget their important questions.

3.  Note incorrect answers from quizzes

The quizzes in this course are essentially practice for the more weighty midterm and final. Correcting any misunderstandings before the big tests will help ensure no one makes the same mistake twice.

4.  Write down the main points from each class

Believe it or not, every class contains key concepts. If my students can identify them soon after class they’ll know they’re on track. If they can’t, they’d better have questions (step 2)!

5.  Plan when to study

I’m a fan of setting aside specific blocks of time for specific tasks. Even if it’s only a commitment to oneself, writing down a time and date can encourage you to stay on task. If something changes, just make a new plan.

Filter Your Email to Work More Efficiently

Achieving “inbox zero” might sound like an impossible dream to you if it seems that you receive emails faster than you can read and reply to all of them. Abandoning email probably isn’t a realistic option for you, yet having no system to deal with your inbox won’t serve you well in the long run. Email has become an indispensible part of our professional and personal lives, and there are many strategies you could use to cope with it, but today I’ll explain just one:  filters.

Why Filter Your Email?

By automatically applying user-defined actions, email filters can reduce the number of emails that demand your attention upon landing in your inbox. If you find yourself doing the same things to a particular type of message over and over again, then filters can save your time. Certain messages might even routinely distract you, in which case you should set up some filters immediately!

Note:  The specific options that are available to you may depend on your email service or third party client.

Example One:  Prioritize Especially Important Email

Hopefully you can say that an important message has never slipped by your eyeballs, but why take any chances? Lots of my messages are important, but I consider messages from my managers and students to be especially important. Using filters I can deal with these emails in a few different ways. I might tag (label) them as “important”, specify the priority as “highest” or add a star. I use filters to cause my email client (Thunderbird) to highlight messages from my managers and students in different colours. Additionally I set filters to ensure that all of these messages are never sent to “junk”.  

Example Two:  Storing Email in Folders for Later

I resisted using LinkedIn when it was new because I worried that it would become yet another account that I would have to monitor diligently. However, combining the notification settings for LinkedIn (to notify me by email when certain events happen) with a filter to move these messages to a specific folder has made it easy for me to catch up on content from LinkedIn whenever I choose to. Since my workflow is no longer interrupted as these email notifications arrive, LinkedIn has become a much more useful service.

Photo by Biblioteca General Antonio Machado (CC BY)

Start the New School Year the Friendly Way

I’m sure it probably has something to do with psychological conditioning since I went back to school every September for most of my adult life, but I love the feeling of having a fresh start at the beginning of each school year. On the one hand, you know what to expect because you’ve either chosen your courses or had a timetable provided for you, yet on the other hand you can’t be certain about what the future has in store.

Most advice that you read online or elsewhere about starting off on the right foot will focus on sundry things like organization and habit building (I agree these things are valuable), but don’t let such technical details come at the cost of human interactions. Your first day of classes can be overwhelming, especially if you’re starting at a new school. However, it’s also an amazing opportunity to meet new people.

If you think you don’t like meeting strangers or just don’t know what to say, remember that everyone around you is in the same program (or at least the same course). Classic small talk such as “where are you from?” or “what did you study before this program?” can help you discover more interesting points of conversation. Compliments also work well as icebreakers:  “I like your bag!”. If you’re technically inclined, maybe you can score points with strangers by helping them sync their email to their smartphones or even just connect to Wi-Fi. It’s a winning formula because people like being online and people like helpful people.

I couldn’t hide behind a smartphone when I started all of my programs (iPhones were new by the time I was starting law school), and I’m grateful for this because I count people whom I met on the very first day of each of my degrees among my lifelong friends. You have a golden opportunity to be someone’s first new friend on day one -- don’t waste it!

Photo by amira_a (CC BY)

What the Heck is "The Economy"?

The economy is a red-hot news topic right now.  Headlines about volatile stock markets, interest rates and youth under-employment are daily items.

How do you even begin to understand how the economy impacts your life?

Did you know that your actions impact the economy as well?

If “the economy” is a mysterious concept for you, or you would just like to review some technical details, please do spend about 30-minutes viewing this video by Ray Dalio:  How the Economic Machine Works.

The Internet Doesn't Forget, so It's Up to Us to Forgive

Two stories relating to the dangers of the Internet caught my attention this week: (1) the plight of Ala Buzreba and (2) the Ashley Madison data disclosure. Although they deal with different situations, these stories demonstrate how the consequences of personal decisions endure in the Internet age.

Young People Can’t See the Future

The CBC reported that the Liberal candidate in the riding of Calgary Nose Hill, Ala Buzreba, stepped down after some offensive tweets on her account @votealabuzeba were discovered by Conservative supporters. The tweets that Buzreba sent years ago as a teenager were surely tactless. (You can Google the particulars for yourself.) However, what interests me about this story is that Buzreba’s apology could not sufficiently remedy the damage that was already done to her political career. Everyone makes mistakes, and we ought to reserve some degree of leeway for today’s young people who don’t have the luxury of having their bad choices be forgotten. I would be less forgiving of, say, an adult’s gross conduct while in office. (Remember Rob Ford?) It takes a lot of guts for a young person to own up to her mistakes instead of disavowing them, and although I know realistically most people won’t treat Buzreba’s conduct as a mere gaffe, she deserves respect for being brave enough to open herself up to engage in federal politics in the first place.

Betrayal Isn’t a Laughing Matter

When news of the Ashley Madison breach broke last month, some doubted whether the hackers’ claims were true. Today, a massive amount of data proving the veracity of these claims has been released on the so-called dark web. Soon enough, it will become accessible to ordinary Internet users. I’m impressed by the depth of technical information about data security I’ve learned through my reading about this story, but I’m kind of (yet not totally) shocked about the lack of compassion in the Twittersphere. Heaps of boring tweets about how it’s a good day to be a divorce lawyer and how cheaters deserve whatever they get predominate. This is exactly the kind of sassy fodder on which Twitter thrives. However, I hope this isn’t representative of society’s general sentiments on this issue. Whatever their conduct, Internet users are real people with real lives and feelings, and we ought to remember that we’re not entitled to judge other people’s lives based on an invasion of their privacy. Profiting from marital discord is obviously shady business, but my fear is that this breach that many are taking as amusement for the time being has the potential to turn grave in the near future.

Photo by Takashi .M (CC BY)

Old Prof, New Tricks: Snapchat FTW

I might be just about the only person in Toronto who did these two specific things last week:  (1) I subscribed to The Globe and Mail in print (this includes digital access) and (2) I started Snapchatting.

I Like Reading on Paper

The next federal election is also the longest in modern times. (For a tight summary of the details read this.) Whatever the consequences, I count it as a positive that heaps of election coverage in the media will contribute to active political discourse. I already read a lot of non-fiction, but mostly on screens nowadays, so for during this campaign I’ll give my eyes a rest by reading from paper instead. (In case you’re wonder why I subscribed to the Globe, it’s because I already get the National Post and Toronto Star in print for free at work!) Besides, I found something else to do with my phone . . . 

Snap to It

If you know Snapchat as something that occupies your children’s time and you think that it’s completely stupid – then you might be right. To demystify:  Snapchat is a free app that sends self-destructing picture and video messages (snaps) to your friends. You can label your snaps with text that’s no longer than 33 characters (and you thought Twitter’s 140 characters was short!). That’s just for starters, you can also draw free hand (it’s more like “free finger”) as well as add giant emojis (stickers)! An alternative to snapping your friends directly is snapping to your “story”, which shows everyone who’s interested to see snippets of what you’ve been up to for the past 24 hours. Stupid as it may be, Snapchat offers something new – temporary social media – unlike Facebook, Twitter and Instagram where digital content is permanent. I’m old enough to think that (almost) everything to do with selfies is unbecoming, but I’m much more inclined to participate in this aspect of modern culture when I know the images will disappear shortly. To be sure, snaps are not perfectly ephemeral since they can be screen-captured or photographed with another device. This could be creepy for some people, but I’d be flattered if anyone cared to save my cheesy snaps! 

Two Time Management Strategies for Exam Time and Beyond

It’s just about exam time at my college again, and everyone seems to have more work than can possibly fit into each day. About a year ago I posted advice about organizing your schedule along with tips for responsible smartphone use. Today, I’d like to suggest two broad strategies for maximizing your efficiency during this always-stressful period.

1.  Get everything done as soon as possible

Lots of tasks fall into this category because you know you must do certain things sooner or later, even if you think you “need” to watch just one more episode of Orange is the New Black or engage in some other form of escapism. For example, you might have to complete multiple assignments that involve research, writing and revision or prepare chapter notes for your study group. This kind of work doesn’t get easier if you put it off until later. You will only have more time pressure the longer you wait to get started. Of course your life outside of school won’t conveniently be placed on hold, so clear your schedule (to the extent possible) so you won’t be stressed out if you have to deal with unanticipated events. Maybe you can’t refuse some unexpected overtime at work (because you have to pay for college!), or perhaps an old friend whom you’d love to catch up with will only be in town briefly smack in the middle of your busiest time in weeks. Be honest with yourself about how well you’re following through with your priorities because you may find that you actually have more control over your time than you previously imagined.

2.  Assign specific tasks to defined blocks of time

Some things don’t lend themselves well to the as-soon-as-possible method. When you study a complicated discipline like law, you could convincingly argue that you can never be completely done studying a topic because there’s always more to learn. Set aside specific blocks of time to ensure you study adequately for each of your exams. You may even want to reserve some unassigned time in case something turns out to be more tricky than you first judged. It’s important to take into consideration how much “brain power” you need to do these things and what your environment will be like. If I needed to edit a long essay, I’d prefer to do this early on during the day while my eyes are fresh, not right before going to sleep at night. Although it could sound counterintuitive, some people do their best studying during precious distraction-free hours late at night or early in the morning (while their kids and/or SOs are asleep). In contrast, when things are hectic you can still be productive by working on a low-brain-intensity task such as updating your to-do list. You might try allocating specific times of the day to catch up on routine tasks like replying to emails and text messages because being constantly interrupted during the day surely takes a toll on your productivity. (In some professional contexts you might always be expected to reply to your email asap, but I’m happy if my students respond to me by the end of the following business day.) Keep in mind that scheduling is just a way of making your intentions feel more concrete. You can always change your schedule as needed, but you will likely get more done with a plan than without one.

Photo by Chris Preen (CC-BY)

Describing the Paralegal Scope of Practice with Purpose

Doing the kind of work that I do, I say the words “paralegal scope of practice” all the time. Because they’re involved in paralegal education in some capacity, lots of people I interact with know this phrase has something to do with up to $25,000 and summary conviction offences … small claims court and tribunals. (Read the technical details here.) If you’re used to repeating these words mindlessly (psst … I’m guilty of this sloppy practice too), please reconsider the way you think about how paralegals fit into the business of providing legal services in Ontario.

It’s Really Hard to Understand the Legal System

Imagine you were blindsided by a legal dispute. First, you would probably call a lawyer, but unless you’re wealthy (or can get someone else to foot the bill) you might be out of luck. You could turn to Google to research your next steps if you knew what to search for, but reading legalese just makes you feel anxious and maybe stupid. Do you even know that some really important deadlines exist? Would you be surprised that no one in the legal system feels sorry for you because you didn’t read a notice carefully? If only you could afford to “retain” (that’s legalese for hire) a lawyer to tackle the legal system on your behalf, you might have a chance of sleeping at night.

Paralegals Are a Rational Alternative to Lawyers

Paralegals are well suited to handle many aspects of the limited range of legal problems that ordinary people face. Things like car accidents and sour business deals are way more common than disputes centred on oil spills and the intricacies of complex financial instruments. Everyday legal problems affect Canadians regardless of their affluence, so why should only the rich be able to handle them ­­punctiliously? It makes good sense for paralegals to serve the large part of the market that cannot afford pricey legal advice and representation, yet it makes no sense to leave these potential clients on their own when we know how impossibly complex the legal system is in the first place.

Rethinking the Permitted Scope of Practice for Paralegals in Ontario

Today paralegals can properly handle some matters, so why shouldn’t they be able to handle others in the future? If we stop repeating boring summations like “up to $25,000 and summary conviction offences … small claims court and tribunals” when we discuss the types of legal services paralegals provide in Ontario, then we may be able to come up with different language to describe why some (and not other) work is the legitimate domain of paralegal practice. From there, perhaps we could identify a principled way of extending the scope of paralegal practice into areas like family law that are presently restricted. As long as we’re truly committed to solving the problem of access to justice, we must not sideline paralegals and the valuable skills they have to offer.

Photo by James Jordan (CC BY-ND)