College Teaching

The Smile — and Happiness Shared

Posted on November 11, 2014November 6, 2021 by Neal Saye

The students in my English 123 (Freshman Composition) classes at SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) are doing what I call Visual Essays in this, their next-to-the-last week of Fall Quarter 2014. We read two books this term, Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist and Tal Ben-Shahar’s Happier, both relating to our course theme of “Happiness and the Exploration of Joy.” The Visual Essay project invites the students to MAKE, rather than write, their papers. Traditional essay requirements are still required: a focus and thesis, structure, detail and support, etc. But this essay morphs into a drawing or painting, a sculpture, a collage, a video, a food, etc. Basically this project is a visual representation of one topic narrowed into a clear thesis/perspective/idea. The challenge: how to “show” their thesis.

Debora Jacob (from Brazil) went to Forsyth Park here in Savannah last Saturday. Here’s her Visual Essay titled “Happiness Shared” on the topic of the smile and its significance.

Thanks for the encouragement, Debora.

Let’s all SMILE more often.

College Teaching

NealNotes on Neal’s KeyNote

Posted on February 10, 2013February 10, 2013 by Neal Saye

I had a great time at Friday’s Student Success in Writing Conference here in Savannah. And I delivered the Keynote Address!

Here’s the blurb from the conference website:

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“Teaching Life: the Heart, the Art”

Dr. Neal Saye. Associate Professor Emeritus of Writing and Linguistics Georgia Southern University. Adjunct Professor, Savannah College of Art & Design

Chair or co-chair of the Student Success conference for much of its 14-year history, Neal was also a key member of its founding committee. He reported on these experiences in “Pearls and Perils of Starting a Conference” (co-presented with Mary Marwitz and Michael Mills) at a Popular Culture Association in the South in Jacksonville, Florida. He brought the same dedication to running this conference as he did to his teaching philosophy. A dedicated blogger, Neal posted to his Facebook and WordPress sites: “My passion in life is learning about/exploring/playing with the subjects of joy and happiness. For the past five years or so, I have used this subject to inform my pedagogy and my day-to-day classroom assignments and activities. What has happened is that teaching about happiness has made me (and I hope my students) happier. Thus my passion spilled over into my teaching, which came rushing back into my life.”

Now an associate professor emeritus after 24 years of teaching writing at Georgia Southern University, Neal has returned to academia as an adjunct professor for the Savannah College of Art & Design. In addition to his well deserved emeritus designation, Neal’s honors and awards include Georgia Southern University Professor of the Year, 2010 and 1993; Dorothy Smith Golden Award for Teaching Excellence, Writing and Linguistics Department, 2003; Georgia Southern University Award for Excellence in Contributions to Instruction, 2001; “Most Approachable Professor” Award, Success-In-U Program, 1994; and “Funniest Professor” Award, Success-In-U Program, 1993. Neal earned his Ed.D. in Curriculum Studies/Cultural Studies in 2002. After earning dual B.S. degrees in English and Biology from Berry College, Neal came to Georgia Southern to earn his M.A. in English Language and Literature.

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Here I am at the podium about two seconds after being introduced:

Kidding. I actually loved all 35 minutes of it! The audience was attentive, fun and laughed and ooohed at all the right places. I used loads of technology with videos, pics and graphics–which all flowed seamlessly. I’ll post the text of the talk a bit later (in case anyone’s interested) when I clean it up a bit for publishing. For now here are some photos.

The conference was held at the beautiful Coastal Georgia Center.

Here’s what I wore. Up to the last minute, I was trying to decide between hip or plain ole.

I know. Probably too much. But I wore a jacket over it. But that eyeball kept looking out at people.

(Armani, borrowed from son-in-law.)

I loved catching up with former Georgia Southern colleagues. Here I am with good buddy Mary Marwitz, who introduced me:

(Isn’t that a cool scarf?) And with Interim Writing and Linguistics Department Chair Phyllis Dallas:

Interim Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Curtis Ricker (and fellow grandfather):

Chatting with J. Marie Lutz from Continuing Education and fellow GSU retiree Nancy Dessommes:

And trying to listen in, unseen, on private conversations:

Where are all the people? Nobody’s here!

Another fellow retiree Mary Hadley:

GSU Provost Jean Bartels:

Former co-worker and blog commenter Rachel VanHorn Leroy:

Coolest tie at conference:

What a crowd showed up!

Here’s a video I used about teachers dancing behind students:

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And here are a few quotes from the address:

“We find what we’re looking for.”

“Teaching is the greatest act of optimism.”

“Caring for Students 101 should be a required course in all teacher education programs.”

“The student is more important than the subject being taught.”

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A great time!

College Teaching, JoyInciters

Reblog: Introducing the JoyInciters

Posted on February 7, 2013February 7, 2013 by Neal Saye

In preparation for tomorrow’s keynote address at the Student Success in Writing Conference here in Savannah, I am reblogging these three pertinent posts. EnJoy!

JoyInciter = a strategy or practice which can bring greater happiness in life

I would like to introduce you to what I call the JoyInciters, a collection of simple practices which I use regularly to increase the level of happiness and joy in my life. And even though some folks make a distinction between joy and happiness, I use the terms interchangeably. I have collected these strategies from my study of happiness over the years, as well as my own life experiences, and have found them to be instrumental in moving me from not feeling good to feeling better, or from feeling okay to feeling happier.

I have come to have great respect for my feelings–they help me to know “where I am” at any given moment. I see them (all of them) as significant helpers in life. But I certainly don’t like them all. I’ve heard it said that we “live at the address of our thoughts,” and I would add that our feelings (sad, depressed, excited, happy, etc.) are most often set in place by our thoughts. Especially thoughts that we allow to become dominant in our minds.

My JoyInciters, if practiced authentically and regularly, WILL increase your joy. I like the term JoyInciter, and when I created it, I played with other similar “words,” such as JoyEnticer, JoyInsider, and JoyInsight, but I love the idea that some very simple things we can do will incite (def = spur on, push toward action) us to get to where we want to go. And I submit to you the belief that we all want to be happier.

I will be introducing one JoyInciter every week or so.

JoyInciter #1 is the most fundamental of all the strategies (and a practice which I imagine we all do to some extent): expressing gratitude. This is what I am suggesting–make being thankful a regular, conscious practice. And to help that endeavor, I keep an ongoing listing of what I’m thankful for, a gratitude journal or what I call my THANKSGIVING BOOK.

Everyday (or whenever I think of it), I write something down I’m thankful for. I have come to realize that what I write down is NOT the most important factor of this practice. But the LOOKING for thanksgiving is paramount in causing a shift in SEEING. And it’s SO easy. Right now as I type, I am grateful to be able to type, to have a computer and a smart phone, to have this popcorn I am eating, to have a bed to sleep in, etc. Two of my courses this semester are keeping gratitude journals, and we begin class each day by sharing what we’re thankful for.

I challenge you to consciously begin to look for that which you are thankful for (whether you use a Thanksgiving Book or not). To get started, tell me a few things you are grateful for right now. This practice is a definite JoyInciter.

College Teaching

“Blessings”

Posted on November 6, 2012March 10, 2022 by Neal Saye

Each Monday morning up at my old hunting ground, Georgia Southern University, my buddy and former Writing and Linguistics Department colleague Eric Nelson shares a poem on the W & L listserv. Yesterday’s poem was so joyful and encouraging, I thought I would share it with you, Kind Blog Readers. It’s called “Blessings”:

Blessings

occur.

Some days I find myself
putting my foot in
the same stream twice;
leading a horse to water
and making him drink.
I have a clue.
I can see the forest
for the trees.

All around me people
are making silk purses
out of sows’ ears,
getting blood from turnips,
building Rome in a day.
There’s a business
like show business.
There’s something new
under the sun.

Some days misery
no longer loves company;
it puts itself out of its.
There’s rest for the weary.
There’s turning back.
There are guarantees.
I can be serious.
I can mean that.
You can quite
put your finger on it.

Some days I know
I am long for this world.
I can go home again.
And when I go
I can
take it with me.

—Ron Wallace from Long for This World (U of Pitt Press, 2006)

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Isn’t that a cool piece of writing? I LOVE being reminded that … good happens.

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College Teaching, Savannah Joy

Five Friday Happy Bringers (11/2/12)

Posted on November 3, 2012November 3, 2012 by Neal Saye

Okay, I know it’s Saturday. but yesterday was an uberbusy day. And isn’t today gorgeous? It’s cool. It’s Fall. And it’s time to acknowledge some Happy Bringers.

1. Enjoying the Savannah Film Festival this week (hosted by SCAD).

2. Making little Halloween goody bags for my international students, most of whom had never “done” Halloween before. Then discussing the Day of the Dead (which some of them celebrate) and being grateful for all our relatives and friends who have passed on.

3. A great-smelling rose.

4. Attending and enjoying the Taste of the World food festival at SCAD yesterday. Here’s a little bit about the event from the ISSO (International Student Services Office) newsletter: “Dine thali style and sample more than 80 international dishes. Visit the mixed grill area specializing in tandoori chicken, Thai chicken satay on skewers and Persian beef kebabs. Enjoy live performances inspired by international cultures and Savannah’s own Latin and Merengue sensation, Son del Coqui.”

I ran into some of my colleagues from SCAD’s Language Studio. Here’s Coordinator of Language Studio/ESL Ana Turner (right after leading a traditional dance).

And here’s the Director of Language Studio/ESL Christina Cavage.

New full-time prof Curt Klinghoffer. (I wish my last name cool like Curt’s. I mean, Saye? Really?)

Officemate Emily Gung.

Oldtimer–I mean “experienced”–ESL prof (and my mentor) Todd Nemanic.

I appreciate the appropriateness and truthfulness of this affirmation:

And I loved seeing some of my students at the festival. Here’s Sonali.

And Juliana.

Andrea (with a friend).

Raquel and Juli.

And some other people I met. Juwan, for example–I took his picture because of that cool blue hair. I’m thinking about green for mine. Yes?

And Devyn wins my prize for hippest necklace and pants.

I really had a ball there. So much fun.

Now let’s play a game. It’s called Oh Saye, Can You See?

I ran into my buddy Mangue Banzima with his gorgeous daughter.

Mangue writes/photographs a beautiful blog about fashion in Savannah, Qui Style in Savannah. Check it out sometime. Okay, check it out RIGHT NOW because I’m in it for the second time! Keep scolling down, past all the really cool and hip-looking people, until you get to the Taste of the World pictures–then, again, scroll past those young, stylish folks till you find … me! [First post from a while back about fashion: I’m a Famous Fashion Model]

What a fun couple of hours in the fall beauty of Savannah.

5. Seeing smiles as the most significant means of communication between people.

Joyful, Smiling Weekend!

College Teaching, Humor, Savannah Joy

SCAD-ing Outta Retirement

Posted on September 11, 2012September 12, 2012 by Neal Saye

BFF’s–Blog Follower Friends (or anyone at any restaurant where I’ve eaten for the past two and a half months; or at the Post Office; or at Savannah’s coffee shops) know that on June 21, I retired from Georgia Southern University after teaching English there for twenty-four years. [First retirement post. Second retirement post. My final GSU Walking Tour.] And I had such a fun retiring summer! Sitting in my backyard, visiting a vineyard, embracing the Savannah Asian Festival, getting put in jail, exploring a fort, going to a Savannah Sand Gnats game, Tybee Island partying, etc.

But then summer started to come to an end, and (as all teachers know) the REAL new year started–the Academic Year. I grew a bit restless. And thought about getting a part-time job to keep me off the streets and such, but neither of my Top Five Prospective Second Careers panned out:

1. Tug Boat Operator.

2. Little Caesars Sign Dancer. I became interested in this one because the LCSDers at the corner of Montgomery Cross and Waters here in Savannah always seem SO enthusiastic. So I researched the job a little. Here’s the description and qualifications from the Little Caesars website:

“Get paid to dance and have FUN! Part-time Sign Dancer job available! Are you an outgoing energetic individual looking for work? Are you someone who can attract attention? Do you like having fun at work and staying positive?” So far, so good. Work SHOULD be fun! And I write a happiness blog! This job seemed right up my alley.

“If so, this is the job for you! We are looking for a part-time Sign Dancer who can hold a sign and have fun at the same time. We are not just looking for your average sign holder. We are looking for someone who can dance with a sign and attract attention.” Again, surely I could HOLD a sign and have fun in a non-average way.

Requirements:

You must be very ENERGETIC and get people’s ATTENTION!!!
You must be in decent health. You will be outside.
You must be able to wave at passing cars while on duty. I’m friendly!
You must be able to stand the entire shift. I’m a teacher. I stand all the time!
You must have reliable transportation and arrive on time.
You must be able to pass a drug test. What about Allegra or Tums?
You must be at least 18 years old. I’m SO over 18! This job is MINE, I thought!

But alas, after hours practicing with a broom in the backyard, I came to find out that Little Caesars wants sign dancers who are not quite so OVER 18.

3. Quality Control Praline Taster at River Street Sweets. (Pure pralines, NOT turtles!) Jen, can you HELP ME OUT HERE??!!

4. Famous Italian singer.

5. Part-time CEO of Apple. Afterall, I HAVE read the Steve Jobs biography, I have an iPhone, and I realize that Jobs and I have a whole lot in common, well except for the LSD, and the no-deoderant issue, and the need for absolute control (okay, maybe we have that one a little bit in common).

Anyway, recently I started seeing all those pencils and notebooks and protractors (is there really such a need for those things nowadays?) and composition books (does anybody else out there like to smell, really smell, composition books?) at just about every store I entered. And, still frustrated and pouting with hurt feelings over the Little Caesars debacle, I decided to go to Craig’s List to see what kind of jobs were available. Bad idea. I won’t even begin to tell you what kinds of “job opportunities” I saw there. So after an hour and a half, I left that site.

Then, after Googling “part-time job” + “$250,000 per year” + “low-to-no work requirement” and only getting hits for “U.S. Vice President” and “Ostrich Feather Fanner for the Kardashians,” I got down to business and Googled “part-time job” + “Savannah” + “education,” and an adjunct position posting at SCAD came up. SCAD is the Savannah College of Art and Design, an incredibly beautiful and innovative art school scattered primarily throughout the historic district of my city. Thrilled, I looked into the requirements, and soon after was asked to come do a teaching demonstration.

Initially terrified that I COULD NOT TEACH ART (well, actually I can do some cool little foam-board pictures with macaroni, dried pinto beans, glitter and Elmer’s Glue), I stopped hyperventilating and realized I would be teaching composition (my old stomping ground). The demo and subsequent interview process went well, and they offered me the job! (I figure I can work in the macaroni pics eventually.)

Doing a tad of research about SCAD faculty, I discovered on the college website that SCAD faculty include:

Emmy® Award winners
Academy Award® winners
Fulbright scholars
Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize winner
National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship recipient
British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award nominee
LEED-accredited professionals
U.S. patent holders
Scholars published in academic journals
Best-selling authors
AIGA Award winners
Character animators for Beowulf, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and The Chronicles of Narnia
Illustrators for The New Yorker, Time, Disney and NASA
Visual effects artists for Titanic and Jurassic Park
Sequential artists for Dark Horse, DC Comics, Marvel, Cartoon Network and Warner Bros.
Producer of Fried Green Tomatoes and The Breakfast Club
Writer for The Cosby Show and As the World Turns
Script Supervisor for Driving Miss Daisy

WOW!

I felt a bit overwhelmed. But then I checked back a while later, and lo and behold, something about Yours Truly was added!

Finalist, Eighth Grade Spelling Bee (perhaps would have gone further but spelled “Georgia” as “Jeorgia” due to nerves)

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I am thrilled, THRILLED to be a part of the SCAD faculty on a part-time basis. I will be teaching international students English composition. I’m looking forward to this next phase of my teaching career and life.

Here’s the building where I teach:

It used to be the old Savannah jail.

I put retirement in jail.

Later.

College Teaching, Five Friday Happy Bringers

Five Friday Happy Bringers (6/22/12) — Retirement Edition

Posted on June 22, 2012June 22, 2012 by Neal Saye

Yesterday, I retired from full time professorship at Georgia Southern University. Here are five things about my retiring that make me happy/reflective.

1. This cool plaque from CLASS (GSU’s College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences).

2. Turning in my grades this morning.

3. Enjoying the silly truthfulness of a message I posted on my Department of Writing and Linguistics listserv, when I announced my approaching retirement: Ten Take-Aways from Being a Professor at Georgia Southern for Twenty-Four Years.

* The student is more important than the subject being taught.

* Listen to the student–she or he has a voice.

* Newton (the ancient classroom building which houses my department) never changes.

* Deans and department chairs do (pretty regularly) (Okay, very regularly.)

* The secretaries really run this place. Be good to them.

* How I arranged my classroom tables, what books I used, what my theoretical framework was (though important) paled in comparison to being in love with teaching young people (and some not-so-young people) and LIKING students.

* Don’t grade everything.

* At least once every week, tell your students something funny–about you, or them or whatever.

* Take a walk around campus every now and then just to take in its natural beauty.

* Don’t take yourself or your job too seriously.

4. A fun saying-goodbye gathering with department members and other collegaues.

Tim Giles and Interim Department Chair Phyllis Dallas.

Mary Hadley, Thomas Klein and Tim.

Terri Welford and Interim Dean Curtis Ricker.

Interim Associate Provost Mike Smith (former CLASS Dean)

Laura Milner and Mary Marwitz

Fellow blogger Emma Bolden

Poet Extraordinaire Eric Nelson

Michael Pemberton and Angela Crow

5. Realizing that being sad at leaving such wonderful colleagues and students proves the joy of having been a part of Georgia Southern University for so long.

Happiest of Weekends to You All!

College Teaching

Final Little Hallway Walk and GSU Retirementville

Posted on June 21, 2012September 9, 2012 by Neal Saye

Office 2225B on the second floor of the Newton Building on the campus of Georgia Southern University. A second home. For a long time.

But my office is cleared out now, books all boxed and removed. Quieter than it has been in eons. Computer-humming quiet. My office phone suddenly shy, afraid to ring and disturb emptiness.

I’m retiring from full-time college teaching.

This evening, after my last set of finals is turned in, I will walk out my door and down my little hallway for the final time as a professor at GSU.

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The Walk.

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Goodbye, goodbye little hallway! Goodbye, goodbye GSU!

Hello, hello ….

College Teaching, Joy in Nature

Walking in Beauty

Posted on June 21, 2012March 19, 2013 by Neal Saye

I spent my undergraduate years basking in the incredible natural and manmade beauty of Berry College in Rome, Georgia. I will never forget the JOY of studying on the world’s largest campus, surrounded by sites so breathtaking that occasionally, even as a green freshman, I would stop in my tracks on a journey across campus and stare, openmouthed, at the afternoon light shimmering off of Swan Lake or, on a cold February morning, gaze entranced out my Dana Hall second-floor, frosted dorm window into the ordered courtyard below and smile as deer delicately ate holly leaves and startling red berries in the snow. I can still hear my young footfalls on the ancient wooden floors of Berry’s gorgeous chapel (modeled after Christ Church in Alexandria Virginia). And here’s where I ate my meals, the Ford Dining Hall:

What fond and HAPPY Berry memories I have. Oh my gosh, that place was magical!

So, of course, I never thought that another school could compare with Berry.

But for the past twenty-four years, I have taught English at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro. When I first arrived, my limited vision focused, uncomfortably, on sand, 100 degree summers and beyond-belief pesky gnats. (Why is that “g” there? Why are gnats ANYWHERE?) “Who could live in this desolate place?” I wondered. But slowly the tall pines and the amazing spring azaleas and (inexplicably) even the hot, humid summers wooed me, and I gradually fell in love. As I adored beautiful Berry as a student, I came to cherish GSU as a professor. The school and the land have been so very good to me.

I have watched GSU’s campus grow and develop into an enclave of living beauty. But far too often, in my busy business of teaching and grading and conferencing, I would forget what thrived outside my office window. So recently I decided to take a leisurely walk across my campus home. Come with me.

Let’s begin at the Akins Blvd. entrance off Veterans Parkway:

The RAC (Recreational Activity Center) where I spent many an hour trying to hold back the belly bulge.

Let’s ride over to the two eagle statues.

Now let’s climb a tree.

Look, I’m an Olympic hero.

Did you know that the “S” in GSU also stands for my last name, Saye?

When I sit down and think about it, I realize how much I have loved this school and this beautiful land.

Georgia Southern University has allowed me to enjoy a great career of helping young people progress and mature into their greater lives. I’ve been involved in a wondrous building process!

I’m so happy that both Berry and Georgia Southern are part of who I am.