It's difficult to lesson plan...any teacher knows that, but even with some restrictions lifted, (who hasn't experienced the 5 step lesson plan that takes hours to write...and sometimes with little result?)
Teaching at a technical college, one would think I have distinct advantages over those who teach in other environments. No...not the case. General Education instructors are so low on the totum pole that even with a roster of 92 students, (spread over three sections of composition), I have low placement on the hierarchy of lab assignment. I have to cajole core instructors so they will share labs with my students...even though my students are their students too. Alas
Therefore, I am a bit frustrated today. I want my students to compare and contrast web supported resumes ( cannot seem to insert the accent...so I know this spells resume). Anyway, if I don't find lab space, I will have to rely on the students completing the work at home, and this...is like herding cats.
Sigh.
I don't like blogging. If I want to vent or discuss anything...I'll write a lesson or present something to my students they need to think about... blogging brings about the essence of Oscar Wilde in me.
ReplyDeleteIf the blog must be academic in nature, let's go. Let's talk about learning styles and what a bunch of academic garbage that is. Usually, someone who says he/she is a visual learner is someone who cannot read very well. I am not talking about someone who cannot read The Divine Comedy, I am talking about someone who thinks that all things worth knowing can be found on a You Tube video or seen on the evening news.
It's ridiculous to believe that people view literacy as a cultural entity. If one reads...then culture is denied? Terrific, it's my day off, and I am as angry as I was last night when a functionally illiterate student, given time to work in the labs on assignments he is missing, (while I am there to assist...one to one)...albeit for short periods of time with 35 students in one section. This pinhead prefers to sit in the student lounge and watch the Laker game...even when cautioned to go to the lab...shrugged shoulders, vacant eyes, and a head returns to the big screen TV...fine...take the F...I have students...this nit is a name on my roll sheet... and don't anyone tell me I have to make him feel important...so he will want to learn...that's internal...and it's alot of hard work.
Here's a link...the articles are well worth reading for any post secondary instructor.
http://chronicle.com/section/Home/5 And why the heck isn't this blasted thing live? Cut and Paste it..well worth that extra finger movement
Venting online is against my nature, but I have been reviewing websites for tutorials lately, and the number of errors I find is incredible. Didn't anyone teach this generation of web site developers how to spell receive? There was a professional development class forwarded by our dean the other day. He sang its praises, but there were spelling errors on the home page...how good can it possibly be if they don't have editors?
ReplyDeleteI wish I knew if I was doing this properly. I think I should be posting, not commenting to my own blog.
ReplyDeleteI am finished grading papers for the afternoon. I keep forgetting I was not a great undergraduate student. Should people go into the workforce for five years and then decide to invest in college? How do you develop skills without reading, writing, and "doing"?
I've been on the faculty portal this morning. It seems that students are not the only ones who complain without giving concrete suggestions. There are revisions taking place in the composition classes (by corporate), and the forum was open to suggestions. Just like some of the students, instructors complain, but do not supply suggestions for improvement, other than more of this, less of that.
ReplyDeleteOh well. Papers to grade.
So, this is at an end, and not a moment too soon. I have students who barely had a pulse all quarter long, spring to action when they "discovered" that failing composition would mean they would have to pay for the class again. They are also discovering that while I do not treat everyone equally, I treat them fairly. I do not count off for late work, but I also send work back that isn't worth my time.
ReplyDeleteSo far, I have only had one student inquire how he can earn a C (70%), when at week 7 he had earned an 11%. He isn't getting much sleep. But he knows the expectations...
Time management...yes, I wrote papers the night before they were due, but I didn't have to worry about a computer crashing. My biggest issue was running out of carbon paper...sometimes it pays to be old.