The semester is over!!!!! Grading is done!!!!! My first year of a tenure-track job is over and now summer is now officially here.
It has been some semester!!! All the work that 4 classes and 120 students bring. On top of that, I had three trouble students. Two of them are seniors and needed to (in the case of one) pass my class to graduate and (in the case of the other) needed a B level grade in the class to graduate. The class has 3 exams (including the final), a paper and a participation grade. Once they took the first exam and realized they could not make it, the problems started. Constant demands for extra credit, for a curve etc. However, it was also clear from in-class discussions that they did not do the reading. Both turned in their papers late and argued relentlessly against taking off points (this is a long story for another time). This went on for weeks. I gave in, gave the class extra credit, a detailed study guide etc. But passing a 300-level PT class is impossible without doing the reading and only studying the power points I put up in class. So, they both failed to get their desired grades (by a lot) and I am still dealing with that problem. I feel bad that they cannot graduate but apparently, my class is not the only barrier to graduation – I learnt yesterday that they did badly in their other courses too (not as badly as in mine though). This is the sort of student situation which I hate, the worst part of being a teacher.
Plus, I have had some pretty draining health problems all semester which thankfully, are mostly resolved for now. But the upshot of all of it, for now, is this: I need to eat less carbs and sugar/sweets. This is a particular blow to me. I love sugar – but I think I love carbs even more. So, about eating “less” carbs: how on earth do you do that? If you had to cut down on pasta, couscous, rice, breads etc., what would you eat? And, on the question of eating less sugar/sweets…this is going to sound crazy but that is the one thing I do not think I have to work on. I do not drink sodas anymore, I put only 3 teaspoons of sugar in my morning coffee and I have a slice of apple pie or cake at night. To me, that does not count as “too much” sugar. How would you cut down on sugar and carbs?
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Plans for the summer:
1)Finish dissertation: this means 2 chapters (which are partially done) and writing an introductory chapter (also partially done) and a conclusion. Obviously, this will take up most of my time.
2)Write up 2 new course proposals: Millersville does not offer courses in Ancient and Modern Political Thought. I have to write up these course proposals to have the University approve them (very bureaucratic)
3)Clean out basement: our basement has about 70 boxes (at last count) of books, clothes, misc. items which I need to go through. These are boxes we have not unpacked from our move – a year ago.
4)Start a tenure folder/box: apparently, it is easier to prep for tenure applications if you have a box with EVERYTHING you have done for the past 5 years.
5)Prepare for the Common Seminar: I volunteered to teach one of the University’s freshman “Common Seminars” which means I have to read and make discussion questions on The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. Anyone read it? Is it good?
Showing posts with label End of semester. Show all posts
Showing posts with label End of semester. Show all posts
Friday, May 8, 2009
Friday, December 19, 2008
End of the Semester Assessment
I turned in final grades on Wednesday, officially bringing my first t-t semester to a close. It is the best feeling in the world!!! With 120 students, the grading was brutal all semester and the sudden addition of committees, advising and prepping 4 classes had me on my toes since August. Going to APSA and Northeastern did not help because I had to prepare two (very sub-par) papers. So, I am planning to take a much needed break.
Unfortunately, the break will not be total. First, I need to prepare a syllabus for Contemporary Political Thought – a class I am teaching for the first time in the spring. I will also make some changes in my Intro to Political Theory and Intro to American Govt. courses.
Second, I have to work on a reflective statement for my application for re-appointment. Millersville has a strange system where each t-t faculty has to apply for re-appointment each year. Though the outcome is never really in doubt, it requires a ton of paperwork including an assessment of what the faculty member has done throughout their year towards course development, students evals, scholarship and service. It also requires peer evaluations which means THREE IN-CLASS evaluations per semester of your teaching. While this is great when you go up for tenure (having conducted such stringent evaluations five times, they are hardly likely to throw you out then), it is a really time-consuming process each year.
Third, of course, I still need to work on the big D(issertation). I am hoping to get a draft of the whole thing to my committee by the end of the spring semester.
Last, I need to clean my office and our house. The office is a mess with papers, exams, quizzes and even unanswered mail everywhere. The house is worse and needs a good cleaning on top of that.
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In Other News:
Car: Finally, we got a new car (that is a story in itself which I will recount later). It is a red 2007 Toyota Camry. As a preview to the story, let me just say that Gregg and I were on completely different sides of this purchase. Gregg thought we should buy an American car and be supportive of the American auto industry. I fought for the Toyota – putting so much money into the purchase, I did not feel comfortable buying American especially with the bailout still on the line.
Cheating: I have two sets of students who have clearly plagiarized some parts of their papers from each other. In the first set, the two students use different language but every paragraph is the same for both – including the mistakes. Some of the language is the same but not a lot. I am more charitably disposed to this pair. But the second pair have submitted papers which are word-for-word the same as each other for the first 3 pages. How lazy – and stupid – can you be?
Conferences: In the interests of both money and due to sheer exhaustion, I have withdrawn from both the Southern and Western conferences. I got accepted to both but Southern is in New Orleans and Western in Vancouver and I am too tired to write 2 more papers and travel that far. Maybe this was a stupid decision – after all, t-t faculty have to do as much professional stuff as possible – but I have already done 2 conferences this year and I thought 4 is too much.
Celebratory Menu: To celebrate my first real day off, I am making a Middle-Eastern-Indian inspired mutton stew with a Mediterranean couscous.
Unfortunately, the break will not be total. First, I need to prepare a syllabus for Contemporary Political Thought – a class I am teaching for the first time in the spring. I will also make some changes in my Intro to Political Theory and Intro to American Govt. courses.
Second, I have to work on a reflective statement for my application for re-appointment. Millersville has a strange system where each t-t faculty has to apply for re-appointment each year. Though the outcome is never really in doubt, it requires a ton of paperwork including an assessment of what the faculty member has done throughout their year towards course development, students evals, scholarship and service. It also requires peer evaluations which means THREE IN-CLASS evaluations per semester of your teaching. While this is great when you go up for tenure (having conducted such stringent evaluations five times, they are hardly likely to throw you out then), it is a really time-consuming process each year.
Third, of course, I still need to work on the big D(issertation). I am hoping to get a draft of the whole thing to my committee by the end of the spring semester.
Last, I need to clean my office and our house. The office is a mess with papers, exams, quizzes and even unanswered mail everywhere. The house is worse and needs a good cleaning on top of that.
________________________
In Other News:
Car: Finally, we got a new car (that is a story in itself which I will recount later). It is a red 2007 Toyota Camry. As a preview to the story, let me just say that Gregg and I were on completely different sides of this purchase. Gregg thought we should buy an American car and be supportive of the American auto industry. I fought for the Toyota – putting so much money into the purchase, I did not feel comfortable buying American especially with the bailout still on the line.
Cheating: I have two sets of students who have clearly plagiarized some parts of their papers from each other. In the first set, the two students use different language but every paragraph is the same for both – including the mistakes. Some of the language is the same but not a lot. I am more charitably disposed to this pair. But the second pair have submitted papers which are word-for-word the same as each other for the first 3 pages. How lazy – and stupid – can you be?
Conferences: In the interests of both money and due to sheer exhaustion, I have withdrawn from both the Southern and Western conferences. I got accepted to both but Southern is in New Orleans and Western in Vancouver and I am too tired to write 2 more papers and travel that far. Maybe this was a stupid decision – after all, t-t faculty have to do as much professional stuff as possible – but I have already done 2 conferences this year and I thought 4 is too much.
Celebratory Menu: To celebrate my first real day off, I am making a Middle-Eastern-Indian inspired mutton stew with a Mediterranean couscous.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Eating in your office
Since the beginning of last year, I have been eating lunch in my office. Unfortunately, I do not like sandwiches and I do not like going to the common area to use the microwave or ‘fridge. So, I have been keeping a box of pistachios in my office and snacking on it throughout the day instead of having a proper lunch. This is made possible by the fact that I live very close to my school and therefore, my longest day has (in the last two years) been from 9am-4pm. Usually my longest day is from 12pm-5:30pm.
However, I am getting a little tired of pistachios. What do you guys do when you have to eat at school? Is there anything that does not need refrigeration or heating up? Or do you make yourselves a real meal every day?
________________________
In Other News:
NPSA: We just returned from Boston where Gregg and I presented at NPSA. I actually thought that, by simply writing out my presentation, I managed to develop my paper considerably. The comments were not extensive but they were helpful. Plus, we had a chance to catch up with Sara which was great. It was nice to spend some time walking around Boston as well.
Weather: It is now freezing in Lancaster. We have even had a snow flurry already. In fact, a flurry is in progress even as I write. I am clearly not equipped for this weather in terms of clothes – I definitely need new shoes and warmer shirts etc. The sandals I wear are not for this weather. Maybe I need Cuddl Duds as Jill suggested.
Work: I cannot wait till the end of the semester. The grading for 120 students, working on prepping 3 classes, advising students for spring registration, deciding books for the next semester and writing reports for committees is now more overwhelming than usual.
However, I am getting a little tired of pistachios. What do you guys do when you have to eat at school? Is there anything that does not need refrigeration or heating up? Or do you make yourselves a real meal every day?
________________________
In Other News:
NPSA: We just returned from Boston where Gregg and I presented at NPSA. I actually thought that, by simply writing out my presentation, I managed to develop my paper considerably. The comments were not extensive but they were helpful. Plus, we had a chance to catch up with Sara which was great. It was nice to spend some time walking around Boston as well.
Weather: It is now freezing in Lancaster. We have even had a snow flurry already. In fact, a flurry is in progress even as I write. I am clearly not equipped for this weather in terms of clothes – I definitely need new shoes and warmer shirts etc. The sandals I wear are not for this weather. Maybe I need Cuddl Duds as Jill suggested.
Work: I cannot wait till the end of the semester. The grading for 120 students, working on prepping 3 classes, advising students for spring registration, deciding books for the next semester and writing reports for committees is now more overwhelming than usual.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Schedule Changes
We have had Giggs for almost three weeks now and I have been noticing some major differences in our loves. First, we laugh a lot more. Giggs is very funny, plays silly idiotic games all the time. Second, Gregg and I have been taking turns at household chores much more. This is because someone needs to watch him all the time. He is teething and this means that he will chew on anything – shoes, cords, laptops etc. But this post is about the third development: the change in our work schedule.
Usually Gregg and I study very differently. Gregg needs to sit at a desk and he needs to work uninterrupted for long periods of time. I study in front of the TV, with the laptop on my lap and I can be repeatedly interrupted without losing my train of thought. The problem is incorporating Giggs into these patterns. Since he needs constant attention, the question is: who gets to baby-sit when we are working? Given the patterns, it seems to make more sense that I should baby-sit. But, ironically enough, Gregg has actually altered his habits to incorporate Giggs. He has been working with Giggs in the room, keeping an eye on him and taking him outside if he scratches at the door. I was worried that these interruptions would irritate him but he seems unperturbed. I, on the other hand, have had trouble getting work done. I cannot put my laptop on my lap when Giggs is around because he is such a lapdog – he will not even play on the ground, he sits on our laps when he plays. It is impossible to have a laptop on your lap when you have a dog on it!! Even reading with him on your lap is difficult, because he is prone to biting your pencil or book.
So, I have taken to snatching time to work when Giggs is asleep. I also bought Giggs a toy called a Kong. You can put a treat into the toy and it takes him about 45 minutes to extract the treat from it. I try to work when Giggs is busy with his Kong. But this experience has made me think: if it is so difficult to get work done when you get a puppy, how on earth do people get work done when they have babies? We all know friends in grad school who had kids. How did they write a dissertation while taking care of kids? How do people get tenure while managing children? If one person is an academic, does the other parent have to stay at home?
This is not to say that academics work harder than anyone else and therefore, juggling parenting and work is more difficult for them. All I am saying is that it is more difficult to get work done when you are working from home and have a more flexible schedule and have kids. You are the automatic choice for baby-sitting which diminishes the time you can spend on work. All of this is complicated by the requirements and deadlines for tenure. How do you balance it all?
Thoughts??????
P.S.: Just to be clear, these are just thoughts. Echoing what Jill said in one of her blogs: I have NOTHING to announce.
_____________________________________
Updates:
Reading: The Chronicles of Narnia. I want to watch Prince Caspian but I have a rule: I cannot watch a movie based on a classic book if I have not re-read the book recently. So, I am reading the entire lot of them. Then, on to one of the books that Betty gave me for my birthday. Thanks Betty.
Weekend: Gregg’s parents and brother are coming to visit us on Friday. On Saturday, Gregg, Aaron and their dad have a “Lindskog Mens’ Day” planned which includes a baseball game in Philly. So, Gregg’s mom and I are going to go off on our own. I am going to plan something too – so far, we are going to a high tea at one of Lancaster’s many tea rooms.
Tasks: Gregg is making our new bookshelves. My job is to run errands, bathe Giggs and arrange some of our books in some sort of order.
Usually Gregg and I study very differently. Gregg needs to sit at a desk and he needs to work uninterrupted for long periods of time. I study in front of the TV, with the laptop on my lap and I can be repeatedly interrupted without losing my train of thought. The problem is incorporating Giggs into these patterns. Since he needs constant attention, the question is: who gets to baby-sit when we are working? Given the patterns, it seems to make more sense that I should baby-sit. But, ironically enough, Gregg has actually altered his habits to incorporate Giggs. He has been working with Giggs in the room, keeping an eye on him and taking him outside if he scratches at the door. I was worried that these interruptions would irritate him but he seems unperturbed. I, on the other hand, have had trouble getting work done. I cannot put my laptop on my lap when Giggs is around because he is such a lapdog – he will not even play on the ground, he sits on our laps when he plays. It is impossible to have a laptop on your lap when you have a dog on it!! Even reading with him on your lap is difficult, because he is prone to biting your pencil or book.
So, I have taken to snatching time to work when Giggs is asleep. I also bought Giggs a toy called a Kong. You can put a treat into the toy and it takes him about 45 minutes to extract the treat from it. I try to work when Giggs is busy with his Kong. But this experience has made me think: if it is so difficult to get work done when you get a puppy, how on earth do people get work done when they have babies? We all know friends in grad school who had kids. How did they write a dissertation while taking care of kids? How do people get tenure while managing children? If one person is an academic, does the other parent have to stay at home?
This is not to say that academics work harder than anyone else and therefore, juggling parenting and work is more difficult for them. All I am saying is that it is more difficult to get work done when you are working from home and have a more flexible schedule and have kids. You are the automatic choice for baby-sitting which diminishes the time you can spend on work. All of this is complicated by the requirements and deadlines for tenure. How do you balance it all?
Thoughts??????
P.S.: Just to be clear, these are just thoughts. Echoing what Jill said in one of her blogs: I have NOTHING to announce.
_____________________________________
Updates:
Reading: The Chronicles of Narnia. I want to watch Prince Caspian but I have a rule: I cannot watch a movie based on a classic book if I have not re-read the book recently. So, I am reading the entire lot of them. Then, on to one of the books that Betty gave me for my birthday. Thanks Betty.
Weekend: Gregg’s parents and brother are coming to visit us on Friday. On Saturday, Gregg, Aaron and their dad have a “Lindskog Mens’ Day” planned which includes a baseball game in Philly. So, Gregg’s mom and I are going to go off on our own. I am going to plan something too – so far, we are going to a high tea at one of Lancaster’s many tea rooms.
Tasks: Gregg is making our new bookshelves. My job is to run errands, bathe Giggs and arrange some of our books in some sort of order.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Focusing on the Present
Speaking of transition and change, I find myself sympathizing more and more with the seniors in my classes these days. They are looking forward to a big change – graduation!!! For most of them, their grades this semester will be immaterial to their future (assuming they pass their courses of course). They have either been admitted into graduate school or already found jobs. So what is their incentive to work hard now? How do they concentrate when part of their psyche has already moved on to the next phase of their lives?
I am having the same problem with applying myself to the remainder of this semester. I already have a job elsewhere so my evaluations from this semester are not crucial. We are moving in about a month so I cannot even motivate myself to clean the house. My motivation is at an all-time low. The thought of grading 95 papers and 95 exams between April 18th and May 10th is enervating. So, how do I keep going till the end of the semester?
I have found that a couple of things which force me to do my job. First, the thought of walking into a class, facing 25 students and having nothing to say to them is horrifying. That alone forces me to prepare. Second, my desire that they know some basic facts about American Government and Indian history makes me prepare. After all, if I am to challenge them, I have to be prepared. And, ultimately, even if I hate the thought of all the grading I have to do, I want to give them enough information where I can feel joy at some of the great papers and have a legitimate reason to be upset at the mediocre ones.
Having said that, let me say that I am sympathetic to anyone who is unable to concentrate on the present because they are looking forward to the future. Whether you are looking forward to the summer, to a new job or to a vacation, the future can sometimes overshadow the present. Buddha said, “Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” Congratulations to anyone who can achieve this – it is much more difficult than it sounds.
I am having the same problem with applying myself to the remainder of this semester. I already have a job elsewhere so my evaluations from this semester are not crucial. We are moving in about a month so I cannot even motivate myself to clean the house. My motivation is at an all-time low. The thought of grading 95 papers and 95 exams between April 18th and May 10th is enervating. So, how do I keep going till the end of the semester?
I have found that a couple of things which force me to do my job. First, the thought of walking into a class, facing 25 students and having nothing to say to them is horrifying. That alone forces me to prepare. Second, my desire that they know some basic facts about American Government and Indian history makes me prepare. After all, if I am to challenge them, I have to be prepared. And, ultimately, even if I hate the thought of all the grading I have to do, I want to give them enough information where I can feel joy at some of the great papers and have a legitimate reason to be upset at the mediocre ones.
Having said that, let me say that I am sympathetic to anyone who is unable to concentrate on the present because they are looking forward to the future. Whether you are looking forward to the summer, to a new job or to a vacation, the future can sometimes overshadow the present. Buddha said, “Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” Congratulations to anyone who can achieve this – it is much more difficult than it sounds.
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