Posted in College, Education, Students, Teaching on Apr 26th, 2007 1 Comment »
I am not certain what valid purpose Spring Break serves:
It comes at one of the most intense periods of a semester—a time that is make it or break it for a number of students.
It is generally accompanied by the best weather of the year.
It is difficult for everyone to return from.
Some instructors are loathe to [...]
Posted in Education, Students, Teaching on Apr 25th, 2007 24 Comments »
The current controversy at the K-12 level is whether or not school security personnel should be trained to and then allowed to use flexible handcuffs on students.
Here’s what genius Jerry Ann Hamilton, the NAACP’s Milwaukee president, says:
[Using flexible handcuffs is] teaching [students] to adjust to being treated as criminals and we don’t want that.
We certainly [...]
Posted in Classification, College, Education, English, Narration, Students, Teaching on Apr 24th, 2007 No Comments »
Like I said yesterday, the issue of equal pay for equal work in the collegiate teaching sphere is a subject that deserves a great deal of attention.
I’ll start with a few basics.
For those of you who are not aware of this—and I am willing to bet most people are not aware of this—by virtue of [...]
Posted in Education, Teaching on Apr 23rd, 2007 22 Comments »
It turns out there is unrest among the Adjunct Faculty Members of community colleges around California.
No!
It seems the big issues include poor pay, few (if any) benefits, and an overall lack of job security.
No!
Thank goodness this has been brought to my attention: up until now, I had no idea this was going on.
Fortunately, there is [...]
Posted in Argument, College, Education, Students, Teaching on Apr 21st, 2007 24 Comments »
Do you remember the game that challenged you to look at a series of objects and determine which if the objects didn’t belong?
(I’ve always thought if it as a weird twist on the cliché guilt by association. In the case of that game, it’s innocence by association. But, I digress.)
Over the past week, [...]
Posted in College, Education, Students, Teaching on Apr 19th, 2007 25 Comments »
Like many of you, I am still trying to work my way through the variety of thoughts and emotions I have surrounding Monday’s shootings at Virginia Tech.
As a teacher, I feel a certain fear for my own safety and the safety of my students: when schools become battlegrounds, who among us has answers?
I cannot shake [...]
Posted in College, Education, English, Students, Teaching, Writing on Apr 18th, 2007 No Comments »
Well, after mucking around for an hour or two, here’s what I came up with to promote my upcoming summer session course:
Admittedly, it’s little more than some shoddy clip art and a few carefully chosen words, but its a flyer, not a work of art!
If nothing else, I feel tingles of excitement and possibility running [...]
Posted in College, Education, Students, Teaching, Writing on Apr 17th, 2007 No Comments »
Thursday is People’s Day on campus, and while I don’t know what that means, I do know I don’t know why people need a special day. It seems to me people are in charge every single day of the year. (As many of my students would say, “whatever.”)
What I do know about People’s Day [...]
Posted in College, Education, English, Students, Teaching on Apr 14th, 2007 20 Comments »
In yet another twist of the change my workload game, the recent minutes of our department’s faculty meeting contained a few interesting bits of information:
Students entering English Writing 302 (Advanced Composition and Critical Thinking) from English Writing 300 (College Composition) are woefully underprepared.
Students entering English Writing 300 (College Composition) from English Writing 100 (College Writing) [...]
Posted in Education, Research, Students, Teaching, Writing on Apr 13th, 2007 1 Comment »
I might be pushing the envelope here regarding how this particular image relates to teaching and the downward spiral I see education trapped in, but let me explain—after you look:
Jennifer Maestre’s “Owl”
Here’s the thing: this sculpture took serious thought and perseverance. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before: it’s an extraordinarily creative way to [...]