December 2008

But sometimes the truth hurts.

from XKCD: A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.

“…the first Principles of Honour, Truth, Temperance, Publick Spirit, Fortitude, Chastity, Benevolence, and Fidelity. The Names of all which Virtues are still retained among us in Languages, and are to be met with in modern as well as ancient Authors, which I am able to assert from my own small Reading.” –Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels, Part 4, Chapter 12.

It reminds us of the things we hold dear or have held dear. And, according to Gulliver anyway, good authors will tell us the truth, that we may learn from them.

I know very well how little Reputation is to be got by Writings which require neither Genius nor Learning, nor indeed any other Talent, except a good Memory, or an exact Journal.
–Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels, Part 4, Chapter 12

This makes me feel a little better (and worse) about my blog, which is its own form of journal and which requires no genius, though I would hope it uses learning and talent. Hmm.

But it made me smile today to read it in GT when I was working on my critical essay for publication, so I thought I would share it here.

Finals Metaphor from a friend who is a freshman, off of Facebook:

Brent is starting to see the Christmas lights shining behind the dark clouds of finals!

Since I am collecting real-world examples of metaphors and grammar errors, and because it is so timely, I thought I would post it here.

Why we yawn says, “Yawning is apparently the fan in your head’s CPU.” This metaphor ultimately came from a Discovery article/

2 things it would be good to know about their big picture:

It would be good to know your students’ general educational goals.

It would also be good to know how your class relates to their goals.

Why would it be good to know these two things?

It would be good to know this for you to understand their motivation and for them to articulate their motivation. Sometimes students haven’t actually thought through why they are in your class.

To get them to start articulating this ask, Why do you need this class? How does it help you meet a goal?

It would also be good to know this so that you can use the information to encourage: “You need this class because of X, so you can do this.”

If someone has missed two classes, you could send an email reminding them about class and why they want to be in it. If you know, then you have a lever.

3 things that are good to know about their goals for your particular class:

What grade are they looking for?

Make sure you are clear that you aren’t going to give them a grade, they are going to earn it. But ask them what grade they plan on earning in your class. What’s their goal?

This can also increase your credibility when you discuss the fact that you know they are not majors and they’re not necessarily committed to an A in your class. –I still mention that it is easier to make a B when aiming for an A than when aiming for a B. I might miss an A and hit the B, but if I miss the B… Ouch.

What do they want to learn?

Your class is required for a reason. What is it that your class offers specifically that they want to learn? Give them a list of things that are very useful that you teach in your class.

For instance, in my class I teach them how to take exams. I tell them that when they get out of my class they can write any essay they will need to until graduate school. How many of them want to do well in their major courses? Well, they have to write for those.

How much are they committed to those grade and learning goals?

People are more likely to do something if they said they would. So ask them what level they are committing to.

Are they going to do the work required to meet their goals?

All you can do is ask them. Not all of them will do it, but it’s worth asking to get them to have to make some sort of commitment.

What have you learned that is most helpful?

Part of the point of TCE is that I want it to be a place that a new teacher or a tired teacher can find new inspiration. So I am turning to the blogosphere for inspiration. What one thing would you say is a “best tip” for teaching?

Finals week is always crazy, for the students and for the teachers.

But it is only afternoon of Wednesday and I have almost completed grading all the finals from four of my five classes! Amazing.

I have another final this evening and then I will be done with finals, except the grading and the computations.

Of course, for SLAC I don’t know how I am supposed to turn in my grades. So I’m going in early (again) to ask (again) and hope I find out this time.

CC1 isn’t bad, because I am already here and after I do the electronic, I’ll go make copies and turn in the hard copies, too.

CC2 is a little more involved, but I don’t have to do that this semester, just next semester.

In my developmental writing classes, the only people who failed had not turned in 2 or more of the 6 papers required. I think that’s pretty reasonable that they should fail under those circumstances.

Blogging does fun things inside my head. It seems the furniture up there is now more regularly re-arranged through a very connective filter.

Metaphor courtesy of NashWorld.

I found this metaphor reading through Alltop Education. It caught my attention because I am a consummate re-arranger of furniture.

Joe (the amazingly articulate and involved art teacher) wrote on evaluations:

I was on a Fulbright Scholar’s Grant to the Palace Museum in the early 1960s, being caught up in Chinese thought, painting and culture. All the Fulbrighters traveled in a bus across the island to I-Lan, a small village on the eastern shore of Taiwan. Our hotel was high in the mountains, overlooking I-Lan, and I was restless. I went for a walk.

Across a ravine, on a moonless night, with a raging river below, I could see the outline of a pagoda which I wanted to visit. I found a swaying footbridge and confidently started to walk across, hearing the rushing water far below in the ravine.

My courage failed me in the middle and I crawled the rest of the way to the other side.

Then, I explored the pagoda. It was marvelous. When I decided to return, the only way back was across the footbridge. I walked again halfway and crawled the rest. I find that when I get into the unknown in my own creative work, I still use that technique. It taught me that if you want something bad enough, crawling to get there is worth the embarrassment. Getting A’s is nice but it will never compare to that pagoda on a moonless night in an unknown land (an undiscovered country) in search of “wonder”.

This is from my adjunct certification course.