New Teacher

Have we left the Industrial Age and the Information Age and moved into a new era, the Conceptual Age?

Think about it. Other than our classrooms, what else is all about cogs in a row now? Are those jobs still in the US? Nope. They have been outsourced. We are past that age. What about information? Isn’t that a rare and valuable commodity? Nope. It’s all on the internet and anyone can have access to an “expert” quickly. So what age are we in?

I have been listening to A Whole New Mind. While I have only heard the theoretical chapters, for some reason, those have expanded in my head and I see all kinds of relevance and practical applications in my teaching and my own work.

In the book, Daniel Pink says that we are in a new age: the Conceptual Age. And the elements that are not going to be able to be outsourced in this age are:
design
play
empathy
meaning
narrative
symphony (This means the big picture. Not just the second violinist, but all the violinists and how they work with the cello and the viola and the drummer and the percussionist and where do those bells fit, anyway?)

Having been reading The Innovator’s DNA, I would add:
innovation

These are the elements that I am going to be focusing on in my teaching because I am convinced that most of my students are going to be out reconfiguring work so they can stay employed. Having some notion of which direction to reconfigure it in will be helpful, I believe.

I had half the class sit on one side of the tables (if we had those, or I had them go down every other row). Then I had the other half of the class sit on the other side (or on the empty rows.) When I called “Switch” (every 3 minutes- so they got about 2.5 to talk), they moved in a prearranged manner.

We did not get to all the people, but everyone met and talked to seven or eight people. I think that was a good way to get them to 1) talk and 2) get to know people. Plus, it was a limited amount of time and most of them found stuff to talk about so that they were surprised when it was over.

It worked to help them feel more relaxed in class.

Tschannen-Moran describes five components called the “Facets of Trust”: benevolence, honesty, openness, reliability, and competence. I agree with these components, and they hit home with me regarding how I want to earn or continue to earn trust in my classroom. Benevolence comes from genuinely caring about our students. This is something that is vital to not lose sight of. Remember why you beame a teacher; think about your professors who mentored and inspired you. Honesty is a component of a healthy relationship; this is something I struggle with. I don’t lie to my students, but is is often difficult for me to be brutally honst – sometimes I want to be too nice and couch honesty only in constructive criticism. This is something I am working on! Openness is another facet that does not come easily to me – I am, by nature, a very private person. I make it clear that my students can come to me with their issues, however, but I am guarded about sharing too many personal details of my life. Reliability and compentence are two areas I would rate myself with high marks on a self-evaluation. I am punctual, organized, and studious in my classroom; I work hard to remain educated and aware of current research and content knowledge. These qualities are often noted on my student evaluations, which is rewarding.

from AdjunctNation

This must be the topic of the day, since I have notes all over my paper and my iPad on this topic from orientation.

Questions:
Why were you attracted to the field you are in?
What did I love about the teachers and classes I enjoyed the most (remember the best)?
What did I pay attention to?
Who am I as a teacher?
Who do I want to be?
What I wish I had known as a freshman…

Answers:
I picked English because
1. I love to read
2. I love to write
3. Every educated person needs to know how to write well.

I picked English because
I did English well and my teachers encouraged me in English.
Not math. I did poorly, even when my teachers encouraged me.
Not science. I did well, but was discouraged. My high school teachers picked on me for the way I studied for their classes. (I made As, but the classes were too easy, so I didn’t study a lot.) My college teachers neither encouraged nor discouraged me. They just basically ignored me.
Not PE. I did poorly and my teachers did not spend time with me.
Not foreign languages. I did well, but I was not encouraged.
Not history. I did well. Some of my teachers encouraged me. BUT I did not think that I could encourage my students to love history nor did I think I could explain to them why they should.

What did I love?
personal stories from the teachers
praise from the teachers
challenging coursework that I could accomplish (not something I could not)
This is a problem for me. I am great with personal stories. I think that I do well with the appropriate level of challenge on coursework. However, I have not previously been very good about praising. I am working on this.

I also think this relates to the “explain your credentials” post.

I always begin my classes with my credentials. I do a sort of mini-résumé (though if I am teaching business writing I use a full one). I tell my students that I worked hard to get my PhD and that they are the only people who call me “Dr.” I have never had any trouble with people calling me Ms. or Mrs. I’ve never felt slighted because they call the guy with an MA, “Dr.” and me something else–because that hasn’t happened.

Thus it was with great surprise that I learned during new faculty orientation that this has been and continues to be a problem with the student population here. It was interesting to learn that not only the faculty member who has been here twenty+ years, but also a second-year female faculty member has had issues with this.

I suppose that I have been short-circuiting that issue (remember I taught here before) and that it has not been a problem because I clearly spell out my achievements and my expectations.

I hope I may also impact that happening in my students’ other classes, as I tell them that they can always call someone Dr, even if they aren’t, but to NOT call them Dr when they are is an insult. Maybe my students call everyone Dr. I hope so anyway.

It seems that the question of self-promotion in academia is coming up more often (or I am noticing it more often).

Speculative Diction on blogspot.com has an article called “Shameful Self-promotion vs. Meritocracy.”

This blogpost was written in response to the Times’ How Not to Get Left on the Shelf article. It also responds to Dr. Lee Skallerup’s post Shameless Self-Promotion.

It’s not just a discussion of the arguments about whether academics are successful if they don’t have a general audience. In fact, while it starts there, I don’t think that is the meat of the argument at all.

One point that I thought was very truthful and telling was an almost-throw away line on blogging and social media in the academy.

The suspicion of self-promotion is also part of the reason that blogging and other social media activities are often dismissed by academic colleagues and peers.

My university is very positive towards blogging and social media activities, but many people use the social media specifically for work. (I have not figured out how to separate the two, but I would really like to create a second facebook account and migrate my colleagues and work-related acquaintances over to that one.)

Not only are self-promoters more successful, but so are graduate students whose supervisors “push” their students’ work actively. Ever wonder how so-and-so managed to get that article published in a good journal, or a helpful research assistant job, or an item that showcases their work on the faculty web page? Committee members and supervisors can help with this too, behind the scenes, and it’s in their interests because your success reflects back upon them.

This is an important thing to remember as a graduate student and it is something to keep in mind when teaching graduate students. If my students are successful, my work also gets a wider audience. Thus it is in my own self-interest to encourage and market my grad students as strongly as possible.

(So, if I ever get any grad students, watch out. You may come to feel like they are a member of your family from all the promotion on this blog and other places.)

Women in general are less likely to claim expertise, which can be a detriment when it comes to succeeding in an academic career and a public profile. Female graduate students are more likely to suffer from “Imposter Syndrome” and to lack the sense of self-value that helps them develop crucial professional networks.

To some extent, I don’t buy this. I think everyone is likely to suffer from Impostor Syndrome.

However, I know that I have been far less at ease in claiming expertise than, for example, my husband. In fact, my sons often claim more expertise than I do, even in fields I know, simply because they are so sure they know everything. (Grin.)

But this is actually a problem because I am fairly sure that I blew an interview once by saying that I am a “pretty good” teacher. I am not the best teacher ever, but I am dedicated, consistent, responsible, and engaged. That’s a lot better than many teachers I have known over the years. I am also actively engaged with my students both in and out of the classroom. … When I say “pretty good” what I really mean is “not the best teacher ever, but amazing, nevertheless.” That’s not how I phrase it though.

I particularly liked the closing paragraph:

Let’s try to avoid allowing self-promotion to be one of the “dirty secrets” of the academy, something to be sneered at or reserved for the egotistical and vainglorious, something that “real” academics don’t do; after all, what’s a book launch for?

When I have a book launch, I will definitely let you know.

Many academics have difficulty finding time to write. Yet most of us, including those who are still working for full-time employment, need publications.

So how do we make time to write?

Different things work for different people and, from my own experience, at different times. What worked when I was single was not quite as productive when I was married. What worked when I was just married did not work when I had little ones. Etc.

So, how do we find time to write?

1. Make it a priority.

If writing is not a priority, we will never find time to write. We just won’t. Something else will always crowd it out.

2. Schedule it.

If writing has to be in the middle of the day (either for your clock or your life), then schedule it. Make it every day at 2 p.m. and if you are asked to attend a meeting at that time, say you already have something in your schedule. (Don’t say what it is. “Prior commitment” should be sufficient.)

3. Write something.

Don’t just sit and stare or do research. Write. Write. Write. Even if it is, as I tell my students, the statement “I don’t know what to write about x. I have thought y and z, but …”

ProfHacker had a good article on writing by Erin E. Templeton in the CHE called “The Rule of 200.” Two hundred words a day.

4. Keep writing.

It’s not a sprint; it’s a long distance race. And, if you keep doing it, a turtle who keeps moving will outdistance a hare who stops. Remember that. Take it as a motto.

When one project is done, start on the next. Keep the writing going. Otherwise, it’s just like stopping exercising. Your skills get rusty; you gain bad habits and lose abilities.

Prioritize writing. Schedule writing. Write. Keep writing.

That’s how I recommend finding time to write.

Dr. Crazy also has a recent blog post on what counts as writing.

from PhDComics

Update: To see how real-life students and academics chose their topics, go to From Tweet to Thesis.

My post is at this link.

Reassigned Time wrote about revising a class from last year, including difficulties and challenges. I am particularly interested as it was a grad class and I will be teaching one of those in the spring for the first time.

This part I thought was particularly appropriate for my thought process:

I suspect that some people might say that these students shouldn’t be in an M.A. program. I suspect that some people might say that my “hand-holding” does them a disservice. Here’s the thing that I’d say to both of those potential criticisms: I’m trying to respond to the reality of my teaching situation in the most ethical and effective way that I can imagine. Now, I could ignore that reality, and say that I should run my seminar just how I experienced seminars in my graduate programs, and that would make a certain point, but I wouldn’t likely get work of the quality that my grad instructors got. I also wouldn’t likely be doing my students any favors in teaching them (most of whom are first gen college students, let alone grad students) the level of expectation for graduate study (and by the time they finish our program a fair few do decide they want to go on for terminal degrees). I hope that what I’m doing is giving them some tools to be more independent as they move forward in the program. And I hope that what I’m doing is to ensure that I get work to evaluate that really is of the quality that I think graduate work should be. I don’t know that my choices are the only ones or the “right” ones, but they are what I’ve come up with.

You will need to go read the post to see what else is going on there.

While I usually blow off .com emails that are really trying to pull traffic to their site, this one was just too useful to skip.

Online College has the 20 Best Blogs in the Digital Humanities.

I haven’t read all 20, but the ones I have read are very good.