I read a research protocol today that involved counting and measuring mouse feces.
I've never had to do that as a lit prof. What's more, I've never had to write up a protocol asking permission to do that.
Life's looking pretty good right now!
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Three More Days
There's nothing quite like getting to work early in the morning and entering a long column of midterm exam grades in the gradebook. For just that moment you can look and see that yes, you did a good deal of work to get those graded.
But then there are all the blank columns still waiting. And the stacks of papers in my bag and on the desk, all waiting.
I have one big stack to grade still (I'm aiming for Friday, but not really hopeful). Then there's a small stack for one class, a small stack for another class, and a small stack for another class. (The small stacks tend to be journals, so they aren't too onerous, but they still take some time.)
And then, and then, there's spring break!
I have a foot appointment (which I may cancel) and a roofing estimate appointment, but other than that, my time looks flexible. I'm also okay to give blood again in there, but I think I'll put it off for a week so that I can ride my bike and feel good every day. (Giving blood makes me feel less than lively if I ride the next day. I don't feel less lively if I do normal stuff, but riding or other sporty stuff, I do.)
My foot: Last time, the physical therapist suggested trying some support shoes (structured, or something), so I got a pair (running shoes) and have been wearing those. And my foot hasn't been hurting.
BUT, I also haven't been walking for 5+ hours at a time.
If the foot is fine, then it's fine. To test it, I need to walk for five hours (or less if it starts hurting earlier).
If the foot's fine, then I don't really need the appointment.
If the foot isn't fine, then the physical therapist is at a lost and will suggest that I go back to the clinic physician and ask for a referal to a podiatrist. Or, I can just accept that when I walk 5+ hours, my foot will get sore and leave it at that.
And that's what I'm leaning towards: leave it at that. I can't really imagine a podiatrist is going to do anything helpful that doesn't involve a risk of something worse (like surgery), and I don't think the pain is that bad or happens that often to go through surgery about it.
But then there are all the blank columns still waiting. And the stacks of papers in my bag and on the desk, all waiting.
I have one big stack to grade still (I'm aiming for Friday, but not really hopeful). Then there's a small stack for one class, a small stack for another class, and a small stack for another class. (The small stacks tend to be journals, so they aren't too onerous, but they still take some time.)
And then, and then, there's spring break!
I have a foot appointment (which I may cancel) and a roofing estimate appointment, but other than that, my time looks flexible. I'm also okay to give blood again in there, but I think I'll put it off for a week so that I can ride my bike and feel good every day. (Giving blood makes me feel less than lively if I ride the next day. I don't feel less lively if I do normal stuff, but riding or other sporty stuff, I do.)
My foot: Last time, the physical therapist suggested trying some support shoes (structured, or something), so I got a pair (running shoes) and have been wearing those. And my foot hasn't been hurting.
BUT, I also haven't been walking for 5+ hours at a time.
If the foot is fine, then it's fine. To test it, I need to walk for five hours (or less if it starts hurting earlier).
If the foot's fine, then I don't really need the appointment.
If the foot isn't fine, then the physical therapist is at a lost and will suggest that I go back to the clinic physician and ask for a referal to a podiatrist. Or, I can just accept that when I walk 5+ hours, my foot will get sore and leave it at that.
And that's what I'm leaning towards: leave it at that. I can't really imagine a podiatrist is going to do anything helpful that doesn't involve a risk of something worse (like surgery), and I don't think the pain is that bad or happens that often to go through surgery about it.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Click!
I met with a student about an assignment recently. Stu wanted to run an idea about organizing a paper with me; zie'd started off thinking X, but was now thinking Y (a MUCH more sophisticated understanding), and wanted to know if it was okay to reflect that in the paper, and if it was, how could zie do that.
YAY!
I told Stu that I was impressed by the development, and we went over one or two organizational possibilities. Stu was in that moment of having realized how much zie is learning in classes (not only mine) and wanted to talk about hir learning, and it was delightful.
Often, students learn a lot, but it takes time to realize that they've learned, and they're long gone from our classes by the time they realize it (if ever). But every once in a while, you get a student who's ready at just that moment to learn and realize hir learning, and it's so fun to hear about hir excitement.
YAY!
I told Stu that I was impressed by the development, and we went over one or two organizational possibilities. Stu was in that moment of having realized how much zie is learning in classes (not only mine) and wanted to talk about hir learning, and it was delightful.
Often, students learn a lot, but it takes time to realize that they've learned, and they're long gone from our classes by the time they realize it (if ever). But every once in a while, you get a student who's ready at just that moment to learn and realize hir learning, and it's so fun to hear about hir excitement.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Trifles
Little niggling things are on my mind today.
Last Friday, the handyman went to the house to check on a lighting fixture that wasn't working and on the stairs to my deck, which have never been quite right. And while he was there, he glanced up at the roof and then told me that I need to get the house reroofed. (He doesn't do roofs.)
He gave me a couple of suggestions for people whose work he respecs, and I called them. One called back this morning to make an appointment to give me an estimate, and the other I'm waiting to hear (they thought they should be able to look and measure stuff for the estimate without my being there).
Bleargh. I was thinking that I might replace the ugly carpet in my living room with hardwood this spring, but I think roofing's more important. (And I'm really glad he pointed out the roof issues, because I don't look up there enough, and I would far rather replace it early than deal with leak damage.)
***
In our department coffee room, we have: a toaster, a coffee maker, a microwave, and a water-heater (for tea or whatever) all plugged into the same area (because there are very few plugs around in this building compared to what you'd put in a building nowadays). You can use any two things, and it's okay, but if you use a third thing, you'll blow the circuit and then you have to call maintenance and get them to come up and do something in their secret locked room.
So today, I had some stuff to microwave for lunch and wanted hot tea as well, so I put my stuff in the microwave while someone else was using the toaster. Then I waited, and once my microwaving was done, started the water heating. The toaster finished and then another person started the microwave for her lunch.
And then another person came in and without looking at what was already going, started up the toaster.
Poof. No water heating, no lunch heating, nada. So I never got my hot tea, and now my caffeine levels are dangerously low in the late afternoon (which is at least partly my fault because I was up way too late finishing some grading).
***
An advisee came in on Friday and asked me questions about a class over in another area of campus (one we have a fair bit of contact with). On the computer registration system, the lecture and discussion for one class are scheduled so that they overlap. I don't know what's up.
So this morning, I emailed their chair to ask what I should suggest to my advisee. And she helpfully emailed back.
I don't know whether it's a department problem or a computer problem or somewhere in between, but it's not good when they're telling me to tell my student not to register yet. It's really hard to get into classes, and if she got lucky with a good time assignment this semester, she needs to take advantage of it because she probably won't have the same luck twice.
***
I have one of those students. You know, the student who makes you really happy you chose to become a professor. If I could clone him, all our lives would be immensely better in so many ways.
Last Friday, the handyman went to the house to check on a lighting fixture that wasn't working and on the stairs to my deck, which have never been quite right. And while he was there, he glanced up at the roof and then told me that I need to get the house reroofed. (He doesn't do roofs.)
He gave me a couple of suggestions for people whose work he respecs, and I called them. One called back this morning to make an appointment to give me an estimate, and the other I'm waiting to hear (they thought they should be able to look and measure stuff for the estimate without my being there).
Bleargh. I was thinking that I might replace the ugly carpet in my living room with hardwood this spring, but I think roofing's more important. (And I'm really glad he pointed out the roof issues, because I don't look up there enough, and I would far rather replace it early than deal with leak damage.)
***
In our department coffee room, we have: a toaster, a coffee maker, a microwave, and a water-heater (for tea or whatever) all plugged into the same area (because there are very few plugs around in this building compared to what you'd put in a building nowadays). You can use any two things, and it's okay, but if you use a third thing, you'll blow the circuit and then you have to call maintenance and get them to come up and do something in their secret locked room.
So today, I had some stuff to microwave for lunch and wanted hot tea as well, so I put my stuff in the microwave while someone else was using the toaster. Then I waited, and once my microwaving was done, started the water heating. The toaster finished and then another person started the microwave for her lunch.
And then another person came in and without looking at what was already going, started up the toaster.
Poof. No water heating, no lunch heating, nada. So I never got my hot tea, and now my caffeine levels are dangerously low in the late afternoon (which is at least partly my fault because I was up way too late finishing some grading).
***
An advisee came in on Friday and asked me questions about a class over in another area of campus (one we have a fair bit of contact with). On the computer registration system, the lecture and discussion for one class are scheduled so that they overlap. I don't know what's up.
So this morning, I emailed their chair to ask what I should suggest to my advisee. And she helpfully emailed back.
I don't know whether it's a department problem or a computer problem or somewhere in between, but it's not good when they're telling me to tell my student not to register yet. It's really hard to get into classes, and if she got lucky with a good time assignment this semester, she needs to take advantage of it because she probably won't have the same luck twice.
***
I have one of those students. You know, the student who makes you really happy you chose to become a professor. If I could clone him, all our lives would be immensely better in so many ways.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Total Joy
It's gloriously warm out today! I went out for the first bike ride of the year, and it was happiness. Every time I saw another biker I would wave and call "Yay biking!" and they would be grinning, too, and you could tell we were all happy to be out playing on our bikes.
I've opened up some of the windows in the house to air things out, and I'm thinking of going and sitting out on the deck in the sunshine. It's just that good to have the combination of sunshine and warmth.
Last week, I planted some pine seeds I'd collected (some from the two pine cones under my own tree, some from white and red pines in a local parkish area (it's the parking lot for the community swimming pool). So they're sitting outside now, too, in the sunshine.
The sunshine and warmth just fills me with joy.
I've opened up some of the windows in the house to air things out, and I'm thinking of going and sitting out on the deck in the sunshine. It's just that good to have the combination of sunshine and warmth.
Last week, I planted some pine seeds I'd collected (some from the two pine cones under my own tree, some from white and red pines in a local parkish area (it's the parking lot for the community swimming pool). So they're sitting outside now, too, in the sunshine.
The sunshine and warmth just fills me with joy.
Friday, March 09, 2012
Communicating
I was at a meeting this morning, a meeting of folks from around the university, students, faculty, administrators, lots of different people. And we were there in part to hear about efforts to introduce a specific diversity program thing on campus. All of that is to say that there were people there who were very versed in the issue, but mostly there were people there who were committed to social justice but who weren't really in the know about this specific issue. One person (let's call this person X) is basically in charge of the next move, and had to leave early for another commitment, so the facilitator changed around the schedule slightly to ask X to talk about the next move.
But then someone else wondered if the whole group should get a quick background. And that made sense.
So another speaker started in on the background. Let's call this speaker Y.
This speaker comes from a culture known for being less direct about arguments, say, than US culture is. And so the speaker started in, and 20 minutes later, when the person facilitating the meeting (let's call this person Z) tried to interrupt the narrative to refocus on the issue at hand, Y got frustrated because zie hadn't had the chance to tell the full story. Y said zie wanted to make one point, and when Z acquiesced, went on for another five minutes not only about one point, but circling around serveral. To me, Y's communication feels like we're circling around, getting a long narrative about stuff that isn't the real point, and not really getting to the real point. (I've experienced Y's communication on many occasions.)
So here's the issue: We're all committed to social justice, and many of us have put in some time to learn about cultural issues of communication. So I know, for example, that the culture person Y comes from tends to be less direct than my own culture (white, US, middle/upper middle class). And I know that in order to work effectively towards social justice, I need to learn about, recognize, and value other styles of communication.
And that means that I (and other people at the meeting, at least some of whom are far more well-educated in understanding different cultures) need to respect non-dominant sorts of communication.
On the other hand, I'm not sure that Y's communication practices are cultural so much as unaware rhetorically. I don't know if Y's communication practices would be more acceptable in hir home culture than they are here.
And, by being rhetorically unaware, Y seems to undercut hir own stated goals, to alienate listeners, and thus to cause problems for the very cause we're working for.
Of course, these are issues some of our students run into a lot: to what extent should they be responsible for code-switching to meet the expectations of people who aren't going to care about cultural differences? And to what extent should dominant US culture learn to respect and deal with other communication practices? And even if we can assert that people from the dominant US culture SHOULD respect and deal with other communication practices, it's not going to happen quickly or easily, and our students are going to be out there working and being members of the community the whole time.
So there I was, wanting Y to get to the point so that X could give us the more important information, and wanting to be a good cultural communicator.
And looking around the room, I could see other people looking similarly frustrated and impatient. And I don't think frustrating these people helped Y's causes at all.
But then someone else wondered if the whole group should get a quick background. And that made sense.
So another speaker started in on the background. Let's call this speaker Y.
This speaker comes from a culture known for being less direct about arguments, say, than US culture is. And so the speaker started in, and 20 minutes later, when the person facilitating the meeting (let's call this person Z) tried to interrupt the narrative to refocus on the issue at hand, Y got frustrated because zie hadn't had the chance to tell the full story. Y said zie wanted to make one point, and when Z acquiesced, went on for another five minutes not only about one point, but circling around serveral. To me, Y's communication feels like we're circling around, getting a long narrative about stuff that isn't the real point, and not really getting to the real point. (I've experienced Y's communication on many occasions.)
So here's the issue: We're all committed to social justice, and many of us have put in some time to learn about cultural issues of communication. So I know, for example, that the culture person Y comes from tends to be less direct than my own culture (white, US, middle/upper middle class). And I know that in order to work effectively towards social justice, I need to learn about, recognize, and value other styles of communication.
And that means that I (and other people at the meeting, at least some of whom are far more well-educated in understanding different cultures) need to respect non-dominant sorts of communication.
On the other hand, I'm not sure that Y's communication practices are cultural so much as unaware rhetorically. I don't know if Y's communication practices would be more acceptable in hir home culture than they are here.
And, by being rhetorically unaware, Y seems to undercut hir own stated goals, to alienate listeners, and thus to cause problems for the very cause we're working for.
Of course, these are issues some of our students run into a lot: to what extent should they be responsible for code-switching to meet the expectations of people who aren't going to care about cultural differences? And to what extent should dominant US culture learn to respect and deal with other communication practices? And even if we can assert that people from the dominant US culture SHOULD respect and deal with other communication practices, it's not going to happen quickly or easily, and our students are going to be out there working and being members of the community the whole time.
So there I was, wanting Y to get to the point so that X could give us the more important information, and wanting to be a good cultural communicator.
And looking around the room, I could see other people looking similarly frustrated and impatient. And I don't think frustrating these people helped Y's causes at all.
Wednesday, March 07, 2012
Sunday, March 04, 2012
Bits of Sunday
I sometimes call myself "The U-turn Queen." Let's just acknowledge that I have a poor sense of direction. I used to fret about it, but now I just make myself the u-turn and it's fine.
Yesterday, I went out cross-country skiing for only the second time this season. I went alone, out to this gorgeous, wonderful park. This park has a maze of trails, but they're marked with numbers and a map at intersections. The numbers get higher the further you are from the warming hut and parking lot.
And I skied. I'm a lousy skier, but as long as I'm out enjoying myself, it doesn't much matter how clumsy I look. And for moments at a time, I float along and it's glorious! Just wonderful!
I was skiing along, and at first it was totally awkward and blah, and I thought about turning around and heading back right away. And then it started feeling good. I was going slowly, focusing on trying to slide and relax, and it felt good. So I went a bit further. And then I thought I should head back rather than get too tired, so I looked at where I was, and planned my move to the next intersection, and then I needed to go left. But that took me to a hill, and I snowplowed down it with great care (because I felt awkward and it's sort of icy).
But at the next intersection, the sign was shot out. I know :( Think about someone peppering a sign with shot, and think about that sign being in a public park. Ugh. So I went the way I thought would take me back without making me climb that hill. And there were hills, and I snowplowed down, and herring-boned up.
And the next sign I got to was #65, and showed that I was at about the half way point of a long side-loop. Oops! I could have made a u-turn, but I didn't because I figured the way forward couldn't be as difficult as the way back. It was about that difficult, but I finally did make it back. (I DID whuss out and take off my skis to climb up two hills and down one.) Every so often someone else would ski by in the opposite direction (mostly, friendly folks, who said hi), so it wasn't like I was exactly breaking new ground in the wilderness.
All in all, I skied for an hour and 40 minutes, and my heart monitor said I used 900 calories. No wonder I was hungry! And now today, I'm just a bit sore. (I've read that heart monitors tend to overestimate caloric use, but still, that's a lot of calories.)
But, Paris-Nice will be on TV shortly (the prologue)! I, myself, am planning to ride along for a bit. Yay, it's the beginning of the TV biking season!
I should grade a bunch today, too, and I will. And I've already written the midterm for tomorrow, so at least that's done!
Yesterday, I went out cross-country skiing for only the second time this season. I went alone, out to this gorgeous, wonderful park. This park has a maze of trails, but they're marked with numbers and a map at intersections. The numbers get higher the further you are from the warming hut and parking lot.
And I skied. I'm a lousy skier, but as long as I'm out enjoying myself, it doesn't much matter how clumsy I look. And for moments at a time, I float along and it's glorious! Just wonderful!
I was skiing along, and at first it was totally awkward and blah, and I thought about turning around and heading back right away. And then it started feeling good. I was going slowly, focusing on trying to slide and relax, and it felt good. So I went a bit further. And then I thought I should head back rather than get too tired, so I looked at where I was, and planned my move to the next intersection, and then I needed to go left. But that took me to a hill, and I snowplowed down it with great care (because I felt awkward and it's sort of icy).
But at the next intersection, the sign was shot out. I know :( Think about someone peppering a sign with shot, and think about that sign being in a public park. Ugh. So I went the way I thought would take me back without making me climb that hill. And there were hills, and I snowplowed down, and herring-boned up.
And the next sign I got to was #65, and showed that I was at about the half way point of a long side-loop. Oops! I could have made a u-turn, but I didn't because I figured the way forward couldn't be as difficult as the way back. It was about that difficult, but I finally did make it back. (I DID whuss out and take off my skis to climb up two hills and down one.) Every so often someone else would ski by in the opposite direction (mostly, friendly folks, who said hi), so it wasn't like I was exactly breaking new ground in the wilderness.
All in all, I skied for an hour and 40 minutes, and my heart monitor said I used 900 calories. No wonder I was hungry! And now today, I'm just a bit sore. (I've read that heart monitors tend to overestimate caloric use, but still, that's a lot of calories.)
But, Paris-Nice will be on TV shortly (the prologue)! I, myself, am planning to ride along for a bit. Yay, it's the beginning of the TV biking season!
I should grade a bunch today, too, and I will. And I've already written the midterm for tomorrow, so at least that's done!
Thursday, March 01, 2012
Witchy Woman
I'm going to do my senior seminar next semester on early modern witch plays (and some historical context stuff).
Macbeth is on the list, of course. Because yay Macbeth.
What other plays (and in which editions) have you enjoyed or thought would work well in a classroom?
So far, The Witch of Edmonton is HIGH on my list, and maybe The Tempest, too. But there are lots (so maybe not LOTS, but some), and I'm aiming for, say, 10 plays that I can get in reasonably good, affordable editions.
I have a week to turn in my book orders (it's so early!). I know that's a whole congressional mandate thing, but it's obvious that no one in congress ever thought about teaching anything that wasn't constantly on the rotation or taught from a textbook type book.
Macbeth is on the list, of course. Because yay Macbeth.
What other plays (and in which editions) have you enjoyed or thought would work well in a classroom?
So far, The Witch of Edmonton is HIGH on my list, and maybe The Tempest, too. But there are lots (so maybe not LOTS, but some), and I'm aiming for, say, 10 plays that I can get in reasonably good, affordable editions.
I have a week to turn in my book orders (it's so early!). I know that's a whole congressional mandate thing, but it's obvious that no one in congress ever thought about teaching anything that wasn't constantly on the rotation or taught from a textbook type book.
Sleep In
Yesterday, we had snow, and that meant I got a few emails from students who couldn't make it to class. It happens, and it's way more important that students are safe than that they get to close. And when road conditions are bad, they're bad.
But today, more students missed my morning class. And I got emails from them after class, a few of them, saying basically that they'd slept in and missed class.
It's weird how that can happen with a fair number of students in a class (three for this class). Did they go out partying last night? Was there a midnight dorm fire alarm drill thing? Or was it just coincidence?
But today, more students missed my morning class. And I got emails from them after class, a few of them, saying basically that they'd slept in and missed class.
It's weird how that can happen with a fair number of students in a class (three for this class). Did they go out partying last night? Was there a midnight dorm fire alarm drill thing? Or was it just coincidence?
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Bird Feeder
This isn't the best picture because the light was getting low when I finished digging out the driveway (thanks to my wonderful neighbor for his help!) and went inside and looked out the back window to see this. The darkish blotches are feathers, I think body/warming feathers, and they're not actually that small.
There weren't any mammal footprints around, but you can see there's a small disturbance on the right. (The shadowy area on the left is where I tossed out some seed this morning so the juncoes and other birds who feed more on the ground could get some despite the snow.)
It looks like it's a bird feeder in more than one way, eh?
You Have to Wonder
There's a student in one of my classes who's been to class I think three times all semester (we're now in week six or seven). Zie hasn't turned in much work, and what zie has turned in has been very poor.
Today, we got snow, a good bit of it, but not enough to close our campus. And today, for the first time, zie sent me an email saying that zie regretted that zie would be missing class today, and could I email information about what we are doing in class.
So I did. But it just makes me wonder why all of a sudden zie thinks I won't have noticed all the missing work.
And then I followed up with an email suggesting zie drop the class because it's pretty much mathematically impossible for hir to pass the class at this point.
Today, we got snow, a good bit of it, but not enough to close our campus. And today, for the first time, zie sent me an email saying that zie regretted that zie would be missing class today, and could I email information about what we are doing in class.
So I did. But it just makes me wonder why all of a sudden zie thinks I won't have noticed all the missing work.
And then I followed up with an email suggesting zie drop the class because it's pretty much mathematically impossible for hir to pass the class at this point.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Ottoman
So, this refers to a text, but isn't quite right. I guess that makes it all the more difficult, eh? Bonus for anyone who knows not only the play but what's wrong with this picture (exclusive of the art, because, well, just because).
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