PregnancyMay 5, 2009
Bag of Tricks: the test-taking edition
I had a pretty brutal weekend grading papers all weekend long (and weekend nights), with the exception of a few glimmering moments here and there--our Derby Day celebration, a fun play-date at our house on Sunday with a new friend, some gardening with T. But most of the weekend was spent grading. I wore out a path from the kitchen table to the office because every five seconds I had to pop up, rush over to the computer, and run google searches to catch plagiarists in action.
March 10, 2009
Bag of tricks: The college survival edition
My students are in the throes of midterm exams this week. Whenever I watch my students bent over their papers, I feel a surge of protective, maternal concern for them--even for those students who taxed my patience in the weeks leading up to exam week. But my heart always goes out to them when they're taking tests. They seem more like the children they were (or are?) when they're chewing on their pencil ends, or staring off into space for the answers, or feverishly writing--pouring out all the stored-up knowledge onto paper.
October 28, 2008
Bag of tricks: the classroom survival edition
Around this time of the semester, I start to morph into a different person in the classroom. I spend weeks at the beginning of the semester trying to lay the groundwork to help my students have a successful semester. We go over classroom strategies, fill out calendars, talk about study skills. I do all this because I hope they will build on these skills and that, come midterm, it will be all clear sailing for them--at least from an organizational and study-skills standpoint. But this semester I've been finding myself grouching at my students much more than I like to.
April 21, 2008
Friends in virtual spaces
I've written before about the mixed feelings I have over Facebook, and over how it seems to have taken over the lives of my students to such a degree that they have, on occasion, trouble interacting with the real live world around them (in which I, as their professor, play a fairly important role). But I appreciate the allure of Facebook, and lately I've found myself enthralled by it.
April 11, 2008
Chances
This is the time of the semester when one of two things usually happens: my students either kick their study habits and attitudes into high gear and become Super Students, or they disappear into what I like to call The Black Hole--you know, the one where on the other side is green grass, warm breezes, blissful lack of responsibility and about a dozen other things (many bad, some good) that grab hold of the students, pulling them down different roads, none of which leads into the classroom.
February 27, 2008
Yet another benefit of being small
Sometimes I feel as if one of my main missions in life these days is to grouch at the people around me about responsibility. At home both my husband and I are spending more and more time each day trying to curb T.'s newfound love for making messes everywhere she goes. Be responsible! Don't forget to clean up!
February 21, 2008
Visible women
On average, I have more men in my classes most semesters than I do women; many of the young men have beat the odds, some still won't. They laugh, they joke; some work hard, some don't. Behind them the invisible women in their lives--their mothers, sisters, grandmothers, aunts, surface from time to time, voices over their shoulders telling them to push on, work hard, and keep their chins up. They are relentless in propelling their boys forward--ever forward--into opportunities they themselves didn't--and couldn't--have.
- Tags: Teenagers, Teaching, Skill Building, Parenting, Moms, Education, College Preparation
February 13, 2008
Unexpected gifts
It was one of those early mornings; you know, the kind of morning where everything just looks a flat shade of gray, instead of colored and dimensioned as it should be. I woke up with a sore throat, the kids just couldn't get moving, T. threw herself down on the hallway runner, stark-naked, and in full tantrum mode while I raced around trying to pack school lunches, find an outfit for her, find matching socks for myself. I forgot to kiss my husband goodbye and here it is, almost Valentine's Day.
February 5, 2008
Facing Facebook
Yesterday a student from last semester stopped by to say hi and chat a bit. Hey! He told me, smiling broadly. I saw you on Facebook the other day!
