tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post4426195503104601871..comments2023-10-15T04:23:50.187-04:00Comments on College Misery: The Contemplative Cynic Sends Us, "When the Snowflakes Are Our Colleagues."Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-23033840203611899362011-01-31T22:25:58.052-05:002011-01-31T22:25:58.052-05:00I *know* that feeling CC! I think it's a human...I *know* that feeling CC! I think it's a humanities-specific disease that's spread relatively recently, and has infected our students too... They, too, often feel like it's OUR JOB to make sure they get it. And also that the nature of the humanities makes it possible for everyone to get it. (I'll give you that "getting it" in humanities has a wider range of Casshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14265867663355826045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-45461696642824162052011-01-31T14:20:53.185-05:002011-01-31T14:20:53.185-05:00@Cass, Thanks! It's always a balancing act for...@Cass, Thanks! It's always a balancing act for me to try to gain attention and not be too goofy while staying on track with the lesson and actually getting through the lecture. I have pretty good rapport with students, but don't always know how to engage the unengageable... and now, I will just tell myself that "some will get it and some won't." I always feel like it's Ack-ademichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07662600560663571219noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-13243276789640778522011-01-30T22:43:13.253-05:002011-01-30T22:43:13.253-05:00Oh, *sigh*, CC: thanks for asking. You have more f...Oh, *sigh*, CC: thanks for asking. You have more faith that anything I was doing was "working" than I do. I guess it depends on how you define "works." If you're asking how I got good evals and got the students to like me and maybe even got them to evince mild interest in my field, well, that's pretty easy: be passionate about your field, convey your enthusiasm in Casshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14265867663355826045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-50922711121019890342011-01-29T14:38:00.901-05:002011-01-29T14:38:00.901-05:00This 'I-Search' method sounds like what I ...This 'I-Search' method sounds like what I would say to a 6-year-old if I was trying to explain the process of writing a dissertation proposal. All well and good, of course -- but how did it filter up to high-school-level instruction?CouldBeBetterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17494567309967997639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-6091883628639707032011-01-29T00:07:21.772-05:002011-01-29T00:07:21.772-05:00Ooops, "But BY age 9." I always do this...Ooops, "But BY age 9." I always do this when I'm falling-over tired.Frog and Toadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06377542172335502858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-6508733976092813572011-01-29T00:06:40.941-05:002011-01-29T00:06:40.941-05:00@Claire -- I'm touring kindergartens, and post...@Claire -- I'm touring kindergartens, and posters with these "I-Search" columns are on many a wall, filled with background, questions, and observations about frogs, fossils, pizza, and so on. But age 9, you ought to be just writing up your findings. Seriously. It's called a report, and we started them in 3rd grade. Analytic term paper in 5th. In what hell did you have to go Frog and Toadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06377542172335502858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-11391829178939232522011-01-29T00:00:19.504-05:002011-01-29T00:00:19.504-05:00As someone with lots of friends with procrastinati...As someone with lots of friends with procrastination problems, I can tell you that people choose to "work" at a coffee shop because it is more distracting than sitting in your office alone, and rewards your desire to see people, listen to music, buy a few extra scones and cupcakes, etc. You go home after 5 hours feeling like "hey! I just put in 5 hours!" But really the amount Academic Monkeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07086078244493768565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-56162132998539446572011-01-28T22:55:57.541-05:002011-01-28T22:55:57.541-05:00I once witnessed a male colleague in his fifties s...I once witnessed a male colleague in his fifties spend the first ten minutes of a fifty minute class chatting with the pretty, nineteen year old, female student in the front row.Charlotte Issyvoohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11081140798331499819noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-16688449667170899462011-01-28T22:25:06.453-05:002011-01-28T22:25:06.453-05:00@Cass: I know the hustle and dance you speak of wh...@Cass: I know the hustle and dance you speak of when you see the glazed looks and notice that 79% of the class has no clue what class they are even sitting in. Any strategies work best for you?Ack-ademichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07662600560663571219noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-31541997997856124322011-01-28T22:22:21.540-05:002011-01-28T22:22:21.540-05:00@Cass, I wish this WERE an exercise in hyperbole, ...@Cass, I wish this WERE an exercise in hyperbole, but sadly, students have even begun to complain (well, maybe only two, and they are both older than Coffee Colleague) that too much of class time is spent on Coffee Colleague's narcissistic monologuing about her life. There isn't much beyond that going on. The only reason I'm not more annoyed is that I don't teach in her Dept. and Ack-ademichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07662600560663571219noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-64554318613021659702011-01-28T15:23:44.830-05:002011-01-28T15:23:44.830-05:00@Claire - Shocking. Those kinds of autobiographica...@Claire - Shocking. Those kinds of autobiographical meta-narratives aren't all that common, but I do get several per year. I figured it was just what came naturally to those particular students, or what they thought was interesting, or what they were used to on <i>Facebook</i>, or most likely their way of filling space without addressing the core issues. I never considered the possibility AdjunctSlavehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17025851491072402087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-63703448175165386202011-01-28T13:29:10.673-05:002011-01-28T13:29:10.673-05:00"And this is precisely the shit I can't s..."And this is precisely the shit I can't stand on student papers. Do we like it when the first two paragraphs of the term paper is autobiographical meta-discourse about the circumstances surrounding the research and writing?"<br /><br />It's something that I was literally required to do in high school. Ever heard of an "I-Search paper"? In this hilariously babyish Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-60446684720859956742011-01-28T12:54:51.606-05:002011-01-28T12:54:51.606-05:00Hm. Is there any chance you're exaggerating ju...Hm. Is there any chance you're exaggerating just a little? Was it really 20 minutes of chat? Was there another quiz question, and she was just using this as a funny opener to loosen the students up? Any possibility that you're a little envious of the rapport she has with her students? I'm not a coffee-talk kind of proffie, myself, but in a far-away galaxy, where my students didn'tCasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14265867663355826045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-88328132615675050362011-01-28T12:14:15.881-05:002011-01-28T12:14:15.881-05:00mmm... coffee...mmm... coffee...Alan From Apexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01366176105581248496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-72881440598466637432011-01-28T09:53:17.114-05:002011-01-28T09:53:17.114-05:00"Coffee" is now apparently an interest/h..."Coffee" is now apparently an interest/hobby worthy of being listed by a student on an introductory questionnaire. It showed up on several I received this semester. I was thinking more along the lines of sports or debate or saving the whales/political prisoners/small businesspeople threatened by taxes when I asked the question. <br /><br />This post makes me feel better about not Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-48190448635526110822011-01-28T05:01:43.934-05:002011-01-28T05:01:43.934-05:00I don't mind a little rapport or chit-chat bef...I don't mind a little rapport or chit-chat before class that happens to go into the first 30 seconds or minute of class. We can comment on the weather or the school's sports team for a moment. I will often start history classes with a snippet from the news that somehow relates to what we are studying. Not every word said in class has to focus directly on the test. But this coffee saga AdjunctSlavehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17025851491072402087noreply@blogger.com