Plan for Today

When Footslogger and I were first together, I would wake up on Saturday mornings and Sunday mornings, turn to him and say "OK, what's the plan for today?" It got to the point where he would purposefully refuse to develop any kind of schedule because I apparently needed one so badly.

Well, here's my plan for today:

Take it as it comes.
Read/respond to my students' poems.
Watch the football game (unless that becomes too painful).
Read for fun.
Go to another basketball game tonight.

Oh, Lordy.

Well, today has been a mixed bag. First, it is almost 4:30 and i'm still at work. Not getting anything done, but I'm here nonetheless.

I did make huge progress on a conference presentation I will be making next week in New York. (Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait!). This meaning that I finished the paper and created most of the powerpoint. I also ordered a new external hard drive and this cool device for automatically forwarding my presentation. It also has a built-in timer! And it's wireless!

The coolest. What with my shiny new printer and this gadget, I should win some kind of technology award. Or at least be given tenure.

This evening it's a women's basketball game. Tomorrow, tons of reading students' poetry and responding. I have to say that I find responding to students' poems much harder than responding to their academic papers or even to their memoirs. Is it because I don't have much experience with responding to students' poems? Or because their poems are so much more personal than their academic papers? Or because I don't want to intrude with my poetic voice into theirs?

Anyway, that's what I'll be working on this weekend. That and trying to get ready to head out of town.

Sleek, Shiny Newness

A couple of weeks ago my office printer stopped printing multi-page documents. Actually, it still printed them, but it printed all of the pages on one page. This led to an agonizing week or so of being forced to print out one page at a time, or of sending documents to our long-suffering department secretary for her to print, while I waited for a new printer to get ordered and shipped. Last Friday my new printer arrived and I spent a good two hours OF MY RESEARCH DAY getting it unpacked and set up.



Here it is in all of its shininess:



Isn't this the most freaking awesome thing you've ever seen? I mean, for a woman who has been printing in black and white, with cheap bubble-jet printers. This one not only prints in color, it also COPIES. AND SCANS.

I feel like doing the happy dance around my office every time I use it.

So I know it's a bit of a tank -- it's huge and it takes up tons of space on my already cluttered desk. And I am a bit worried about the amount of dust I found underneath my old printer when I moved it. Will that much dust pile up again on my new printer? And if so, will it ruin my new shiny printer? Perhaps I should purchase a dust cover for it? Or maybe a little umbrella thingy?

If only I had Dobby. Where are the house elves when you need them?

Fred Smith

Didn't get an opportunity to schmooze last night at the basketball game, after all. The game was good, but apparently the Prez was out of town. So much for that.

On another note, however, a phenomenon occurred at the game last night that kept me giggling for hours. I woke up this morning still laughing about it.

Every time one of our players whose name is all one-syllable words (I'll call him Fred Smith) would line up to shoot a free throw, the folks a few rows behind me would mutter or shriek or yell his name, very quickly, just before his shot. I think this was some kind of ritualistic attempt to make sure that the ball went successfully through the hoop, but it was hilarious.

Fred Smith.

Fred Smith.

Fred Smith.

Fred Smith.

All of this "Fred Smith" done at different tones, volumes, speeds. Hilarious!

And then when you add in the fellow behind and a bit to the left (whom we affectionately call "Whoosh" for reasons you'll see in a moment), it sounded like this:

Fred Smith.

Fred Smith.

Fred Smith.

Fred Smith.

WHOOSH!

This morning, Footslogger and I woke up, yelled at the cat, and muttered to each other . .

Fred Smith.

Score!

I have six minutes before I have to head downstairs (damn this building that is not ADA compliant!) to meet with a prospective student who can't navigate stairs. So I thought I'd post, just to make sure I get one in for the day. I know, it's not a quality post, but what the hell. I'm driven by my commitment to NaBloPoMo to post about any old crap.

OK, the good news for today? I scored two free basketball tickets to our men's exhibition game tonight. Footslogger and I will be seated with the UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT. Hmm. Opportunity to schmooze? I'll take it!

Oh, and that reminds me of a funny story involving said president, a colleague and me, and the line at a sandwich shop. I'll tell it if I get a chance later today.

Central City Day

Today my department head and I took the university plane (it's a 6-seater!) up to Central City for the mentor teacher/student teacher workshop. All of our student teachers, from all content areas, who are placed for spring student teaching in Central City were there (except for one of mine, who apparently has the stomach flu -- ook), along with their respective mentor teachers. It was a fun time, with relatively little B.S. (which is AMAZING, as these workshops can turn into massive overdoses of administrivia) and a great opportunity to meet some folks I've never met before.

Some things that happened today:

• I found out that one of this year's mentor teachers (we'll call this teacher X) was the mentor of one of last year's mentor teachers (Y). I know a bit about X, but only from Y's perspective, and it's all negative. I'll give X a chance to prove Y wrong . . . but I'm definitely keeping an eye on that situation.
• One of the pilots called me "Hollywood." This nickname could only have been given to him by ONE PERSON, and you know who you are.
• We had lunch at a fantabulous Mexican cafe. Yummy. And reimburseable!
• There was a bit of sheer wind on our landing. Luckily, my back was to the pilots, cause I hate seeing the plane slew all over the place when we're coming in to the runway. I trust the pilots, but I really don't need to see that at all.
• I got to use one of those cool FM receiver microphones that you drape around your neck.
• My students are going to do really well. I know this because they are all marvelous, smart, industrious, and open-minded.

So that's it for today. So far, I'm keeping up with NaBloPoMo. Yeah, me!

Avoiding Grading, Redux

I've not got a full-fledged headache from grading. So I'm going to drink some water, take some Advil, and go outside to play!

It's too beautiful a day to stay indoors. I'll post some pix later.

Mid-Term Evaluations

One of the tools that I use in my courses to help me get a better handle on how things are going (before students fire off a massive cannon salvo in the end-of-term course evaluations) is a loose mid-term evaluation. This year, I asked three questions in my mid-term evals:
1. What's working for you in this class?
2. What's not working for you, and how would you tweak it to make it work?
3. If you had "SuperEducator" powers, what one thing would you change?

Now, those sound all cool and stuff, but really, I had a more staid version ready to go -- only I forgot to bring the forms to class.

So this morning I sat down to read those evaluations and type up summaries for my students (I like to do this, so that they get a sense of the contradictions and why I can't change everything to work for them).

The good news:

• The workshop format, which I instituted last fall for one day a week of my class on how to teach writing, is quite popular.
• Most students think the atmosphere/community of the class is positive and helpful.
• Most students think that they are learning teaching methods that will be applicable during their student teaching and beyond.

The bad news:

• There are a lot of haters for the text in my senior-level class.
• Even though I provide models for most of my assignments, have a calendar of assignment due dates in the syllabus, do regular reminders of due dates in class, and provide rubrics for most assignments, there are several who are still unclear as to what is wanted on assignments, when they are due.

The mixed news:

• Powerpoints -- love 'em and hate 'em.
• Reading response sheets -- love 'em and hate 'em.
• Use of a wiki for feedback -- love it and hate it.

So what's a professor to do?

Avoiding Grading

Today's Method:

• Wake up early and head to the post office, then breakfast at a cafe.
• Read blogs for an hour and a half.
• Start the laundry, then head to campus for the women's volleyball game.
• After the volleyball game, don't go home; instead, use your free tickets to the men's basketball game.
• Contemplate leaving the game at half-time; instead, stay till the very end.
• After that game, head to the grocery store for supplies.
• Bring your groceries home and make a salad.
• Eat your salad just as the football game starts.
• Watch the football game while drinking enough beer to make sure you're too tipsy to grade papers.

Sigh. I'm really good at this.

Marty's Tail

At the risk of being lumped into some stereotypical category (i.e., professors who write about their cats), I thought I'd take the opportunity to tell the tale of my female scaredy-cat Marty.

When I was teaching high school English in East Texas, I came out of the building at the end of a long day one spring to find a tiny kitten -- really, too small to be weaned -- in the front seat of my car. She was obviously sick, and her face had been damaged. One side of her face looked like it had been smashed in -- I thought that maybe someone had kicked her, or perhaps run over her with a bicycle. I stopped by a gas station on the way home, and put some water in a cup for her. She drank a bit and then just lay still, mewing quietly.

When I got her home, I put her in the middle of the bed. She didn't move. I remember that she seemed so tiny, swamped by the ocean of the huge white bedspread all around her. I really didn't think that she would live through the night, but I promised myself -- and her -- that if she did, I would take her to the vet the next day.

We named her Marty, because her eye was swollen out, reminding us of Marty Feldman.



Ten years later, she's my chubby, shy girl. It's my guess that Marty was born a barn cat, because she's deathly afraid of people, even me sometimes. She hides in the basement whenever people are over; she is not a lap cat; she prefers to be left alone most of the time. But as soon as we turn out the lights, she makes a beeline for the easy chair. Every once in a while, she works up the nerve to brush up next to my leg. But she soon thinks better of it and hides -- under the dining room table, mostly.

I found out later that one of my high school students (you know who you are, Frank!) found her in the parking lot, and thought "Hmm. Ms. Bad Ass likes animals. I think I'll just put this kitten in her car."

Well, thanks Frank. She's been a good cat for us.

I'm Staying Because ...

There has been a good bit of kerfuffle on some of the blogs I read, around junior and senior faculty perceptions of each other, particularly focused on junior faculty who leave one position for another. My initial take on that is to say -- well, duh! Of course any faculty member is going to be hunting for the best possible position for themselves. That "best" may mean best pay, best geography, best colleagues, best job fit, best housing market, best two-body position, best whatever. When I took my position, Footslogger and I agreed that we would give it two years, and if we were not satisfied, we would go elsewhere. Five and a half years later, we're still here.

However, it's not my intention to add any fuel to that fire; flames enough are blazing away! I want, instead, to give a description of one of the reasons I'm still here: my department research group.

My department members are in the interesting position of hailing from different disciplines, all related by a common thread. Thus, although we have some things in common, we have very different ways of looking at life, work, the world, education, etc. We do all get along, though we don't always agree.

For the last year and a half, we have made it our goal to improve the research productivity of all members of the department (we have all have a similar teaching/research/service and advising load: 65/25/10. Here's what we do:

• Friday is research day (we all teach on Tuesdays and Thursdays). That means we don't schedule meetings on Fridays.
• We meet every Friday at 8:30 AM for coffee and breakfast downstairs in the student union, where we keep track of both short-term and long-term research goals to help keep each other accountable for meeting them.
• Every semester we go off for a research/writing retreat. We book rooms at a cheap but classy hotel, we write all afternoon on a Thursday and most of the day Friday, emerging occasionally to report on our progress, get help with roadblocks, and eat meals (so far, we've been able to do this on the department's dime).
• We celebrate our publications and give credit to the "Department Research Group."
  
  

All in all, though I think that I would have been almost as productive without it, the research group provides the kind of support and accountability that many of us need to get work done.

Having these goals, meeting in these ways, helps us to be collegial, to feel that we are not along, and is part of why I decided to stay here. I know that not everyone enjoys the kind of collegiality we have (and we haven't always had it!). But to those senior faculty who have been griping about junior faculty leaving them in the lurch, I say, maybe it's because your environment is not conducive to collaboration and collegiality.

Nine-tenths of the LAW

Every Sunday morning, Footslogger and I walk downtown to a little coffee shop, where we order a bagel and coffee, read the newspaper, and chat. We enjoy the 15-minute walk each way, we see the same folks every week both behind the counter and around tables in the shop. It's a tradition that we've been enjoying since we bought our "new" house about two years ago.


Another couple who frequent our coffee shop (yes, I'm noting the possessive there, but I truly feel a sense of ownership. In fact, Slogger and I talked this morning about buying it, should it come on the market. That's another post, however .. .) is a couple we call "The Deacon" and "The Minister." They seem to be a married couple, and they're headed for church after coffee. We guffaw at that, for sure, since our church IS the coffee, or maybe the coffee shop, but again . . . another post. They both wear HUGE cross pendants with fancy stones in them. I mean, seriously, those crosses' spread is enough to weigh down any neck that they are draped around. Something like this:



only draped on a multi-colored beaded braided thing around their necks.

Anyway, this is not about their choice of jewelry, but dang! those things are showy and ugly.

So anyway, there is only one big table at this coffee shop, and our Sunday mornings have taken on a bit of a competitive nature, as we wake up early and hustle so we can get there before The Deacon and The Minister take over our favorite table and spread their newspapers all over it. Hmph. I hate that. They've been winning the competition lately, forcing us to take a small table and to minimize our own newspaper spreading.

So this morning we got up at 6:15, walked downtown WHILE IT WAS STILL DARK AND 28 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT. And yes, we got our table. Happy dance!

Even better was the defeated expression on the faces of The Deacon and The Minister when we had the table they wanted and they had to settle for the tiny table.

Yes, I am a competitive bitch. Can't help it. Winning is so sweet!

Go DAWGS!

Georgia beats Florida! 42-30!

Have you read Harry Potter #7?

Harry Potter Personality Quiz by Pirate Monkeys Inc.

OK, so if I hadn't read the last one, I would be seriously disturbed by this. But just think of the lifelong loyalty and love (note the alliterative power, there, folks) displayed by one Severus Snape. Proud to be Slytherin, thank you. Though "...perhaps sometimes we sort too soon."

Football Weather

We're getting bundled up and ready to head off for a football game. With a predicted high of 39 degrees F today, that means lots of layers and blankets. Thank goodness that we rented seats in the stadium so our rear ends don't have to be in contact with those ccccoooooollllllddddd aluminum seats.

We always stop by the pizza place to bring home a pizza to cook on game days. Gourmet veggie! Yum.

NaBloPoMo

You might have noticed the new badge on the left for NaBloPoMo, otherwise known as National Blog Posting Month. I've made a commitment to blog every day for the month of November (which starts soon! eek! and in the middle of advising week! double-eek!). So check back here, folks -- after this post, I'll be taking a deep breath (blog-wise) to prepare myself for the craziness that will be November. After the nuthouse that October has been, November should be a breeze!

This morning I'm headed in to get my annual blood draw, followed by
* research meeting
* geology class
* phone conference about upcoming research
* meeting with a student (who needs an ass-whuppin')
* meeting with another student (who needs something signed)

these events will be punctuated with grading, writing an article review, prepping for next week's classes, etc.

I'm up for it, though. I've got my Dansko's on!

Pharyngula Mutating Genre Meme

I've been tagged by Dr. Brazen Hussy with the Pharyngula Mutating Genre Meme, which honestly sounds like some kind of a disease rather than a cool bloggy deliciousness. I do like memes, and I'm so excited to be tagged.(That's really goofy, I know, but what can I say? I'm a nerd.) This meme was started by PZ Meyers at Pharyngula as a means of demonstrating evolution in cyberspace.

First, the rules:

There is a set of questions below, all of which are in this format: "The best [subgenre] [medium] in [genre] is . . . ."

Copy the quesions, and before answering them, you may modify them in a limited way, carrying out no more than two of these operations:
*You can leave them exactly as is.
*You can delete any one question.
*You can mutate eiher the genre, medium, or subgenre of any one question.
For instance, you could change"The best time travel novel in SF/Fantasy is . . . " to "The best time travel novel in Westerns is . . ." or "The best time travel movie in SF/Fantasy is . . ." or "The best romance novel in SF/Fantasy is . . . ."
*You can add a completely new question of your choice to the end of the list, as long as it is still in the form "The best [subgenre] [medium] in [genre] is...."
*You must have at least one question in your set, or you've gone extince, and you must be able to answer it yourself, or you're not viable.

Then answer your possibly mutant set of questions. Please do include a link back to the blog you got them from, to simplify trcing the ancestry, and include these instructions. Finally, pass it along to any number of your fellow bloggers. Remember, though, your success as a Darwinian replicator is going to be measured by the propagation of your variants, which is going to be a function of both the interest your well-honed questions generate and the number of successful attempts at reproducing them.

So, without further ado:
My great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandparent is Pharyngula.
My great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandparent is Metamagician and the Hellfire Club.
My great-great-great-great-great-great grandparent is Flying Trilobite.
My great-great-great-great-great grandparent is A Blog Around the Clock.
My great-great-great-great grandparent is Primate Diaries.
My great-great-great grandparent is Thus Spake Zuska.
My great-great grandparent is k8, a cat, a mission.
My great grandparent is Monkeygirl.
My grandparent is DancingFish.
My parent is Brazen Hussy.

The best young adult novel in SF/Fantasy is: Feed, by M.T. Anderson
The best teenage movie in comedy is: Dazed and Confused
The best uplifting song in country music is: I Hope You Dance by Lee Ann Womack
The best cult novel in classic fiction is: The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
The best high-fat food in Mexican cooking is: Mole!
The best dissertation related words I ever received from a scholar are: "I'm surprised your committee let you do that."

Whew.

You're tagged: Jen, Kathryn & Paul, Belle.

Flu Shot

Oh! and I forgot to mention an IMPORTANT THING that happened today. After my department's research meeting (in which we post goals and generally keep each other accountable), we all decided to head over to the health service to get flu shots. For me at least, if I go through another spring semester with bronchitis, I'll be seriously looking for a new place to live! I'm hoping the flu shot will help.

We stood in line for about an hour (frustrating) while the clock kept ticking closer and closer to the time when I was supposed to be in this semester's geology class, taking the second test of the semester. I got my shot just at the moment when the professor was handing out the tests (I imagine), and was packing up when Nurse Brunhilda said, "Now you'll have to wait 20 minutes to see if you have a reaction to the flu shot. We've got some nice cookies in the next room."

I looked at my watch.

"Shit. I have a test to take right now."

She put her hands on her hips, scowled down at me from her high horse, then shook her finger at me. "If you pass out, it's on your own responsibility. It'll be your own fault."

I can live with that. But I did spend the first 20 minutes of the test sort of checking myself. I was actually relieved to get past that first 20 minutes. Cause there's not a chance I'll have a reaction after that, right?

I think I did pretty well on the exam. Some stuff I didn't study very much, but on the whole pretty fair. I'll let you know when I get it back.

Some Stuff

I didn't attend either of the offered brown bag T&P discussion meetings this year (in which junior faculty can ask questions of members of the college T&P committee), though I have in the past. They're actually quite helpful, though the nervous energy strafing through the room is a bit off-putting.

It felt good to know that I don't need to attend that meeting, that the papers are all out, the packet will soon be turned in, and it's pretty much out of my hands at this moment.

Now if I had spent the time grading the looming stack of papers threatening to take over my office, THAT would have been perfect. But no, I didn't. I messed around with various screen video and voice recording systems, ways to post podcasts (short ones) so that my students could read them. I did end up using a free software called WildVoice to finish providing feedback to my students' memoirs (and I think I was able to provide much better and more thoughtful feedback than I ever have before because I just talked into a microphone about strengths of the writing, areas that needed work, etc.). I'm a bit put off by the posting site for WildVoice, as when I went to see who had downloaded their feedback, there were all these pictures of scantily clad women in the advertisements. Not really the kind of academic ambiance I was shooting for there!

But anyway, Slogger and I just returned from the volleyball game (we won in 4) and will be heading out for a football game this weekend in nearby military town. The weather is supposed to be beautiful.

Yes, I'm taking a small stack of papers to read in the car. Can't help it!

I think we already knew this . . .

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Literate Good Citizen
Book Snob
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Create Your Own Quiz