One really rewarding teaching experience can be the one-on-one conversations that happen when a student comes to office hours.  The conversation might clear up the student’s confusion; it might allow an exploration of the course’s big themes; it might give you a chance to provide input on a paper before it goes disastrously wrong.  But do you find yourself sitting alone in your office far too often, wishing someone would come by? Do you wait patiently during “virtual office hours” online, hoping a student will log in?  Here’s a blog entry from ProfHacker about one teacher’s successful (so far) efforts: “Encouraging Students to Use Office Hours.“