Morning Office Hours ☕️ | September: Back to School with Gusto!
Sep 01, 2026 4:12 pm
Hello . Pull up a chair, pour a drink … here’s what’s on my desk this month.
☕️ Good day, Professor. It’s September 1st, and we’re back, baby! 😉
Whether you're reading this with your first cup of coffee or catching up between classes, welcome. Here, you'll find teaching tips, technology tools, connection builders, and joyful inspiration to help you design vibrant, memorable, and student-centered college classes.
THIS MONTH'S IDEA: Welcome Them In. Then Deliver on the Promise.
🧠 INSIGHT: Hospitality & Promises
In the middle of so much rapid change in education, I keep coming back to two basic concepts: hospitality and learning objectives.
Hospitality: you belong here.
Learning Objectives: this is where we're going.
September isn't just about pumpkin lattes, syllabi, LMSs, and assignments. It's about welcoming people into a learning environment.
Before students learn anything from us, they experience the space we've created for them. In an in-person class, the literal space is part of that. But so are our expectations, our tone, the clarity of our directions, how we invite participation, how we greet students, and whether they feel anonymous or noticed.
Hospitality helps answer one question: Do my students feel welcome here?
But there's another question I've been thinking about just as much: Am I delivering on the promises I've made about what students will learn?
Our learning objectives shouldn't just be words that live in a syllabus or course module. They are promises about where we are taking students.
I've attended plenty of workshops, webinars, and sessions where the description promises one experience, but the actual session falls short. I don't think that happens because anyone intends to mislead people. More often, I think we lose sight of the goal between planning and delivering.
I'm a person who cares deeply about keeping my word. So if I tell students that by the end of a lesson, assignment, or course they will be able to do something, I want the learning experiences I design to actually help them get there. That requires intention. And maybe that's one of the simplest questions we can bring into a new semester:
Are we creating spaces where students feel welcomed, and are we delivering on what we promised them once they arrive?
👉 TRY THIS: The Promise Check
Before your next class, lesson, or module, look at the learning objective and ask:
1. What am I promising students they'll be able to do?
2. What will they actually do during this lesson that helps them get there?
3. How will I know whether they got there?
Nothing in teaching is set in stone. We need room to adapt, respond, and occasionally toss the plan out the window when the moment calls for it.
But having something to aim for keeps flexibility from becoming improvisation without direction.
That's how we build trust: we welcome students into the space, tell them where we're going, and then do our best to take them there.
FROM MY CLASSROOM & CAMERA
This summer, I enjoyed leading a session for our Summer Book Club, participated in our Lecturer Faculty Community, joined a Community of Practice on Generative AI, and attended several mental health/self-care sessions offered through my university.
I also started joining the StreamAlive crew for regular livestream conversations with other power users.
Shoutout to TIIP, the Rutgers Institute for Teaching, Innovation, and Inclusive Pedagogy; Lyra Health; and StreamAlive for creating spaces for people to learn together.
Different topics, same lesson: I am much more likely to take action when I'm learning alongside other people.
Community doesn't just give us ideas. It gives those ideas somewhere to go and grow.
That's something I want to remember in my teaching, too. Students are often more willing to try, reflect, and persist when they have opportunities to learn with others, rather than always learning alone.
Note to self for this semester: Create more opportunities for students to learn with each other, not just alongside each other.
Click the image or link to watch this conversation on How to Start Your Live Sessions Memorably.
💛 PERSONAL MOMENTS
☀️ It's been a summer well lived and I am grateful.
That included plenty of miles, motorcycles, new places, time with family, good food, laughter, and opportunities to simply be present.
My husband and I traveled with our little travel trailer, spent time with people we love, celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary, and made some beautiful memories!
I'm so thankful for all of it. I know you can't see me right now, but I am smiling and a little misty-eyed because I'm a heart-centered softie when it comes to quality time and great experiences. That's partly why I had to include so many photos here. 😉
And now, after a summer well lived, I'm super excited to be back in the classroom. Let's go!
What’s Next:
☕ A little something brewing...
I've been imagining Tatiana Teaches as a café: a place where educators can pull up a chair, try ideas, talk about what worked (and what flopped), and leave with something useful for their own classrooms.
I'm still playing with the idea, but you may start noticing little pieces of the Tatiana Teaches Café appearing here and there.
More soon. ☕️
Next month, I'm also planning to share more about an engagement tool I've been exploring called Stormz.
💬 What's one thing you want your students to experience in your classroom this semester?
🎒☕️ Happy new school year! Until next time... Keep learning, inspiring, and teaching beyond the bland 💛
Warmly,
Tatiana Rodriguez ☀️ ☕️ 🧠
Creator & Educator, Tatiana Teaches
💌 P.S. Share with a colleague who might enjoy Morning Office Hours: https://sendfox.com/tatianateaches
