... which is worse:
Spending most of Saturday at a football game in which my team was annihilated?
Or spending most of Sunday getting ready for the week to come?
It should be a crazy week, with traveling twice to Capitol City, meetings and courses galore, and a great big ginormous dissertation to read by Friday. So....
Back to work.
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Monday, November 02, 2009
Note to Self:
Try not to schedule a dentist appointment and a gynecologist visit on the same day. Ever. Again.
Banquet or Basketball?
Tonight is my college's awards banquet, when the college bigwigs hand out scholarships and awards to our undergraduate and graduate students. Slogger and I signed up to go -- late -- which required the banquet organizer to make a special call over to the banquet hall to change the numbers.
Then we realized that the banquet is the same date/time as our first women's basketball game. We've been season ticket holders for seven years, and almost never miss a game.
So the plan is that Slogger will go to the game while I go to the banquet, and then I'll sneak out of the banquet early to head to the game. I'm not sure how I'll manage that, but ... I'll just break out my super-sneaky-spy talents and pretend to head for the bathroom.
Then we realized that the banquet is the same date/time as our first women's basketball game. We've been season ticket holders for seven years, and almost never miss a game.
So the plan is that Slogger will go to the game while I go to the banquet, and then I'll sneak out of the banquet early to head to the game. I'm not sure how I'll manage that, but ... I'll just break out my super-sneaky-spy talents and pretend to head for the bathroom.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Advising Week Highlight
* Friday of Advising Week (aka Hell Week):
Student is standing in the hall, staring at the advising sign-up calendar. I am heading out to the same calendar to find out how many more students will be stopping by my office with no idea what they will be taking next semester.
ME: Can I help you with something?
STU: Ummm. ... I thought I signed up for Friday, but my name isn't here.
ME: Are you Awesome Clueless Student?
STU: Yes.
ME: You signed up for last Friday.
STU: Oh.
Student is standing in the hall, staring at the advising sign-up calendar. I am heading out to the same calendar to find out how many more students will be stopping by my office with no idea what they will be taking next semester.
ME: Can I help you with something?
STU: Ummm. ... I thought I signed up for Friday, but my name isn't here.
ME: Are you Awesome Clueless Student?
STU: Yes.
ME: You signed up for last Friday.
STU: Oh.
Saturday, October 03, 2009
Field Trip
Last Sunday was the required field trip for my sed/strat course. We met at 7:50 AM (!!) and got back to High Plains City at about 6 PM.
That's a long day.
There are maybe 30 students in my sed/strat (including yours truly), so we all packed into 5 or 6 big Suburbans, with the prof and TAs driving. My vehicle included one of the TAs as the driver, one of the 5 females in the class, and three male undergrads -- I'd say they were all around the 19-year old range. We drove for about an hour and a half, during which time I was KICKING myself for not bringing work to do. I seriously spent the whole time alternating between playing solitaire on my Crackberry and glaring at the kid sitting next to me, who was snoring out lasat night's booze. Seriously, the car was full of fumes. It was probably dangerous.
When we finally got to the first site, we all piled out of the cars, stretched, and gathered around the prof. She (and I have to say, I love her -- I think she's doing a great job) gave us a short lecture and some directions, which involved having us work in pairs to draw a strat column for a huge outcrop right off the road. Luckily, there wasn't much traffic. Unluckily, no one wanted to work with me.
So, I did a strat column on my lonesome. Which was awesome. It took me a few minutes to realize that I could just walk down the road and get up close to each unit on the outcrop, since it was slanting down into the road at about a 35 degree angle. Once I figured that out, the rest was simple.
But seriously, people. No one at all wanted to work with me? What? Because I'm old? Female? A professor? This mode continued all day.
And in the car on the way home, I did some writing in my writer's notebook (thank the universe, I had that with me!) about how I'm so not used to being taken for granted. Even if my students are pretending to listen to me, at least they're pretending! My colleagues, my students, my husband -- they all seem to value me. So... I'm not really bothered (much) that I don't get the same response from 19-year olds recovering from a drunken binge night.
Besides, on that first test?
97/100.
That's a long day.
There are maybe 30 students in my sed/strat (including yours truly), so we all packed into 5 or 6 big Suburbans, with the prof and TAs driving. My vehicle included one of the TAs as the driver, one of the 5 females in the class, and three male undergrads -- I'd say they were all around the 19-year old range. We drove for about an hour and a half, during which time I was KICKING myself for not bringing work to do. I seriously spent the whole time alternating between playing solitaire on my Crackberry and glaring at the kid sitting next to me, who was snoring out lasat night's booze. Seriously, the car was full of fumes. It was probably dangerous.
When we finally got to the first site, we all piled out of the cars, stretched, and gathered around the prof. She (and I have to say, I love her -- I think she's doing a great job) gave us a short lecture and some directions, which involved having us work in pairs to draw a strat column for a huge outcrop right off the road. Luckily, there wasn't much traffic. Unluckily, no one wanted to work with me.
So, I did a strat column on my lonesome. Which was awesome. It took me a few minutes to realize that I could just walk down the road and get up close to each unit on the outcrop, since it was slanting down into the road at about a 35 degree angle. Once I figured that out, the rest was simple.
But seriously, people. No one at all wanted to work with me? What? Because I'm old? Female? A professor? This mode continued all day.
And in the car on the way home, I did some writing in my writer's notebook (thank the universe, I had that with me!) about how I'm so not used to being taken for granted. Even if my students are pretending to listen to me, at least they're pretending! My colleagues, my students, my husband -- they all seem to value me. So... I'm not really bothered (much) that I don't get the same response from 19-year olds recovering from a drunken binge night.
Besides, on that first test?
97/100.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
A weekend at home. A chance to get caught up, watch some horrible (High Plains U) and great (Southeast Doc School) football, baking, household chores, and.... um... thinking about grading.
Laundry? Check.
Dishes? Check.
Mow the yard (hopefully for the last time, as there is snow predicted for this week)? Check.
Grading? Not. Even Close.
So, Friday was my first exam in sedimentology/stratigraphy. I would say that I prepped well for the exam -- I read all four chapters, didn't miss a day of class or lab, took good notes, downloaded the powerpoints, made index cards of the important points, and spent about 2 hours just studying the index cards. I think I did pretty well on the exam, although I was surprised by the design of it. I had expected multiple choice questions, which would be much easier to grade (though harder to design). The test was almost all short answer, drawing diagrams, definitions, etc. Lots of writing, and I was just able to get it finished in the 50-minute time period of the class. I had memorized the formulas for things like the Reynolds number, the Froude number (dimensionless numbers designed to differentiate between levels of flow). I didn't write the formulas down as part of the definitions, and after I left the exam I thought perhaps I should have. But I did indicate in my definitions what the controlling factors of each formula were.... so perhaps that will be good enough.
I do feel like what we're doing in lab is definitely helping me understand the content of the course. And so far, that seems to be fairly unusual!
I've also decided to write a sabbatical leave proposal for a one-semester gig during spring of 2011. That will be when I'll be finishing up my current two-year study, and I hope that I'll be able to devote a considerable amount of time to analyzing data and writing manuscripts. Sabbatical leave proposals are due at the end of the month -- writing mine should be fairly easy since I have a good description of my research project in my grant application.
In other -- more interesting!-- news, Roxy has now completed half of her first obedience classes. She's doing quite well at learning the commands we are working on, and managing to control -- most of the time -- her excitement about being around other dogs! and people! during the classes! This morning she ran around the back yard, apparently stepped in poop, and promptly jumped on top of our new bedspread to share her fragrance. Slogger gave her a bath, and I did poop patrol just before starting with the mowing.
Now it's off for a shower and a shopping trip -- I have some unspent gift cards that are waiting patiently to be used.
Laundry? Check.
Dishes? Check.
Mow the yard (hopefully for the last time, as there is snow predicted for this week)? Check.
Grading? Not. Even Close.
So, Friday was my first exam in sedimentology/stratigraphy. I would say that I prepped well for the exam -- I read all four chapters, didn't miss a day of class or lab, took good notes, downloaded the powerpoints, made index cards of the important points, and spent about 2 hours just studying the index cards. I think I did pretty well on the exam, although I was surprised by the design of it. I had expected multiple choice questions, which would be much easier to grade (though harder to design). The test was almost all short answer, drawing diagrams, definitions, etc. Lots of writing, and I was just able to get it finished in the 50-minute time period of the class. I had memorized the formulas for things like the Reynolds number, the Froude number (dimensionless numbers designed to differentiate between levels of flow). I didn't write the formulas down as part of the definitions, and after I left the exam I thought perhaps I should have. But I did indicate in my definitions what the controlling factors of each formula were.... so perhaps that will be good enough.
I do feel like what we're doing in lab is definitely helping me understand the content of the course. And so far, that seems to be fairly unusual!
I've also decided to write a sabbatical leave proposal for a one-semester gig during spring of 2011. That will be when I'll be finishing up my current two-year study, and I hope that I'll be able to devote a considerable amount of time to analyzing data and writing manuscripts. Sabbatical leave proposals are due at the end of the month -- writing mine should be fairly easy since I have a good description of my research project in my grant application.
In other -- more interesting!-- news, Roxy has now completed half of her first obedience classes. She's doing quite well at learning the commands we are working on, and managing to control -- most of the time -- her excitement about being around other dogs! and people! during the classes! This morning she ran around the back yard, apparently stepped in poop, and promptly jumped on top of our new bedspread to share her fragrance. Slogger gave her a bath, and I did poop patrol just before starting with the mowing.
Now it's off for a shower and a shopping trip -- I have some unspent gift cards that are waiting patiently to be used.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Grad Student Love
No, it's not kinky.
I just love my new grad student, Single Mom. She was an undergrad in my courses several years ago, and after getting great teaching experience for three years in the public schools, she decided to pursue our new doc program. Thrilled! Single Mom is helping me teach my junior-level course. Well, she's actually pretty much in charge of it. Using my lesson plans and powerpoints from last year, she is in charge of planning. We teach together, and she is doing most of the grading.
LOVE IT!
And unlike the last grad student I taught with, Single Mom and I have very much the same approach to teaching. We see eye to eye, and that is fabulous.
In other news, I had to write rejection letters for some manuscripts this week. That was hard and it sucked.
Plus I have a test in sed/strat this Friday, and it involves.... physics. I guess I need to study.
I just love my new grad student, Single Mom. She was an undergrad in my courses several years ago, and after getting great teaching experience for three years in the public schools, she decided to pursue our new doc program. Thrilled! Single Mom is helping me teach my junior-level course. Well, she's actually pretty much in charge of it. Using my lesson plans and powerpoints from last year, she is in charge of planning. We teach together, and she is doing most of the grading.
LOVE IT!
And unlike the last grad student I taught with, Single Mom and I have very much the same approach to teaching. We see eye to eye, and that is fabulous.
In other news, I had to write rejection letters for some manuscripts this week. That was hard and it sucked.
Plus I have a test in sed/strat this Friday, and it involves.... physics. I guess I need to study.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
First Week Report
So, it's finally Saturday. I've got water running on the lawn (I've neglected my watering duties for school and now the grass is looking decidedly brown and crinkly), Slogger and Roxy are still sleeping, and this is a good time for me to write.
I can't remember if I wrote about this last fall, but I was decidedly unhappy with one of my classes in particular last year. There was grumpiness, there was lack of enthusiasm, there was downright anger -- and that was coming from both a group of my students and from me. I've worked hard leading up to the beginning of fall semester to have a positive attitude toward my teaching, my students, myself, and my class and I believe that is paying off. I'm encouraged about the positive vibes and interest I'm sensing, particularly from my group of seniors and postbac students. It helps, of course, that I had several in a course last spring that went particularly well. So, unlike last fall when I was already counting down the semester ("ok, just 14 weeks to go. Sigh."), I'm looking forward to next week and to seeing my students again. Of course, I completely changed my textbook, so that means I have shitloads of work to do to get ready for class, but... that's par for the course, isn't it?
My new grad assistant (I'm still working on a name for her) is working out well too. She's co-teaching my junior level class with me, and will be taking over that junior-level class next year so I can teach a doctoral course in our new doc program (yeah! new doc program!). Of course, it's going to take a bit of time for students to get comfortable with her -- about half of the students in this class have either had a class with me before or are my advisees, so they know me better than they know her. We're going to work harder this week, now that she's a bit more comfortable, on giving her meatier portions of the course to run herself.
I got my official letter this week saying we are now journal editors (Woot!). And on Friday I was able to make some solid progress on lining up interviews for my new (lightly funded) research project. All of that makes me happy.
Now, Slogger threw his back out, and he's gotten started on CPAP for his sleep apnea, and all of that is taking a bit of adjustment on his part. So things are not happy in Slogger-world at the moment, but we both believe that will just be a matter of time.
Today I have a ton of reading to do, Roxy has her first day of obedience classes (we're hoping she will be the star of the show!) and I want to make and freeze some pesto, using the lovely pesto I bought at the farmer's market yesterday. I'm looking forward to a pleasant weekend, and hoping to go camping next weekend....
Overall, calm is a good place to be.
I can't remember if I wrote about this last fall, but I was decidedly unhappy with one of my classes in particular last year. There was grumpiness, there was lack of enthusiasm, there was downright anger -- and that was coming from both a group of my students and from me. I've worked hard leading up to the beginning of fall semester to have a positive attitude toward my teaching, my students, myself, and my class and I believe that is paying off. I'm encouraged about the positive vibes and interest I'm sensing, particularly from my group of seniors and postbac students. It helps, of course, that I had several in a course last spring that went particularly well. So, unlike last fall when I was already counting down the semester ("ok, just 14 weeks to go. Sigh."), I'm looking forward to next week and to seeing my students again. Of course, I completely changed my textbook, so that means I have shitloads of work to do to get ready for class, but... that's par for the course, isn't it?
My new grad assistant (I'm still working on a name for her) is working out well too. She's co-teaching my junior level class with me, and will be taking over that junior-level class next year so I can teach a doctoral course in our new doc program (yeah! new doc program!). Of course, it's going to take a bit of time for students to get comfortable with her -- about half of the students in this class have either had a class with me before or are my advisees, so they know me better than they know her. We're going to work harder this week, now that she's a bit more comfortable, on giving her meatier portions of the course to run herself.
I got my official letter this week saying we are now journal editors (Woot!). And on Friday I was able to make some solid progress on lining up interviews for my new (lightly funded) research project. All of that makes me happy.
Now, Slogger threw his back out, and he's gotten started on CPAP for his sleep apnea, and all of that is taking a bit of adjustment on his part. So things are not happy in Slogger-world at the moment, but we both believe that will just be a matter of time.
Today I have a ton of reading to do, Roxy has her first day of obedience classes (we're hoping she will be the star of the show!) and I want to make and freeze some pesto, using the lovely pesto I bought at the farmer's market yesterday. I'm looking forward to a pleasant weekend, and hoping to go camping next weekend....
Overall, calm is a good place to be.
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