The educators enrolled in our asynchronous “Happiness for Teachers” course continue to stun me with the extremely high quality of their responses to the assignments. They go WAY beyond what’s necessary and are clearly and deeply committed to not only their personal growth, but also to the growth of their students, family, and friends. Seriously. When I read their assignments, I immediately have more hope for the world . . . and I think to myself, “I want to be your friend!”

But, teaching an asynchronous course is weird. I feel detached. I want to be more connected and more involved. On the other hand, we’ve got hours of video lectures we’ve produced and so the students might be getting more exposure to me than anyone really should bargain for. Maybe I’m too connected and involved? Funny thing how everything often boils down to a dialectic. Hegel (the philosopher) would be so happy he wouldn’t need a happiness course.

Despite the weirdness, our educator-students keep giving us great feedback. Here are a few anonymous examples that have popped into my email inbox without any solicitation:

“I’ve truly enjoyed the material thus far in the class. . . . I hope your class becomes required for all teachers at the EDU dept for certification. It’s the real deal.” S.S.

“Loving the course! Thanks for providing it!” J.E.

“Thank you so much for sharing this video. Just watching it Brings me joy. I love the contributors and all the great things they are doing in their classes! You guys are amazing for doing this.” J.R.

“Loved this course! I shared it with my school! I will send it to my principal now too! Thanks again!” L.W.

“Thanks again for this enriching class. I needed it more than you know and I have so many tools to carry me into next year!” S.M.

Thanks to the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, we’re offering yet another section of the course this fall semester. If you’re a Montana educator, and want a big bargain ($195.00) for 3 Grad Credits or 48 OPI Hours, here’s the link to register:

https://www.campusce.net/umextended/course/course.aspx?C=712&pc=13&mc=&sc=

For you non-Montana educators who may still be reading . . . I’m wondering, if we opened the course to anyone across the U.S. would there be much interest?

Just FYI, here’s a copy of the syllabus for the summer version of the course: