I have been a professor at BCC since 1988. I have taught English Skills, Composition 1 and 2. I also created and work in The Online Professor Program (TOPP), which helps faculty develop online courses and learn techniques for teaching online.

I earned my Bachelor's Degree in English from St. Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana. I earned one Masters in English from William Paterson University in Wayne, NJ and a Masters in English Education from Teachers College, Columbia University in NY, which is where I earned my Doctorate in English Education.

I pride myself as a lifelong learner. I have studied therapeutic acupressure and have a small practice in my home. I also enjoy weaving, gardening, and, of course, reading and writing. I exercise as much as possible and have a life goal of finding balance and harmony in my life.

I look forward to learning about you as you introduce yourselves, and we work together this semester.

• I can't learn you! You are the sole determiner of what you learn. I provide and structure experiences for you, but you are the one who engages the brain cells and pours over the texts (and computer screens!) to cause learning to happen. I will attempt to encourage you, support you, and coach you, but I cannot do the learning for you. Learning is hard work. It is especially hard in an online course, where you don't have my tone of voice or facial expressions to help you understand my words.

• There are no dumb questions. Always ask questions--of your peers and of me. Questions and curiosity are the core of any learning experience. If you can look at the works we read this semester and wonder about them, you will be making great strides.

• Always try to name your confusion. When you encounter reading and ideas that confuse you this semester, always try to write out what confuses you. Attempt to explain what doesn't make sense. In the mere act of trying to explain what you don't understand, you will make some meaning that begins to clarify your confusion.

• Always check-in and keep in touch! In an online course, the most successful students are those who check in frequently and who let me know what's going on. If I don't hear from you in a while, I start to assume you're no longer interested in the course, when in fact, you might have a legitimate explanation for your lack of participation. If you "lurk," that is, read and follow the discussions without making comments, I have no idea that you are participating. So come on in, participate, and make your presence known!

• I don't have all the answers! I see myself as a co-learner with you in this course. We will explore this topic together. I will provide some leadership in this mutual endeavor. I don't intend to feed you the information and then test what you memorized. Rather, I will look for how you will analyze and synthesize ideas from the reading and how you will share those ideas with others of us in the course.

My office is in Room L 334.

You can call me at 201-612-5335 where there is voice mail to leave a message.

Or you can contact me via e-mail through the course. If you cannot access the course, you can contact me at jdavis@bergen.edu