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BRCC Commencement 2012

By ~LS~ On May 18, 2012 · Add Comment · In I have to work? and tagged Tagged With: BRCC, D&D, Geek, Teaching, What I Did Today

Today I had the joy of witnessing BRCC’s commencement ceremony. I had more fun at today’s ceremony than at most any other I’ve attended. There have been some momentous ones, where I’ve hooded advisees or watched favorite cohorts graduate or where I graduated myself, but this one was particularly joyous.

Today I got to sit on the stage and watch the students as they shook hands with the Chancellor, posed for the photographer, and clutched their diploma folder.

Now, I’ve done that many times before, but at a university. The ceremony at USF was impersonal. When I saw my students “walk” I had feelings of tenderness, but nothing like today. Today the sheer aura of success radiated off the students’ faces. You can see that from the floor, where I usually sit, but right on the stage, it’s blinding. It made me giddy.

By now I’m a broken record about [...]

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D&D Fortune Cookies

By ~LS~ On March 10, 2012 · 1 Comment · In Humor, I have to work? and tagged Tagged With: BRCC, D&D, Geek, Humor, Silliness, Speech

At the beginning of the semester I had to give a speech at convocation to the entire faculty, staff, and administration. I chose to speak about why the start of a new semester is like a fortune cookie. Throughout the speech I periodically opened up a fortune cookie, read the fortune, and made a comment. It was a fun speech and people liked it. They are still giving me fortune cookies and making jokes about it. I keep trying to explain to them that I don’t necessarily like to eat fortune cookies, I use them during Dungeons and Dragons. I just like to take the fortunes out and put them on the D&D battle mat. They give me a blank look, shake their head, and shove a stale fortune cookie my way. (Note: All fortune cookies are stale, right?)

So, it’s easier just to show you a picture than to [...]

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My first post of the year…

By ~LS~ On January 22, 2011 · Add Comment · In I have to work? and tagged Tagged With: Work Sucks

…And it’s January 22. I fear this is a sign of how the semester will be. I have over-committed myself to various things at BRCC. Some of what I’m doing is important to me, but it contains elements that are not. Others are important and I enjoy. In either case, I’ve forgotten how to say no and I need to start prioritizing.

Classes are going well so far. This semester I am teaching Introduction to Humanities for the first time ever. I’m excited about it and frustrated because I can’t keep my mind out of the theory clouds and in the community college classroom. I think I’ve put together something accessible, but we can only see how it unfolds.

I’ve been very persuaded by the literature I’ve been reading about students today. Regardless of the problems with categorizing and labeling, I have found the insights that characterize students to be [...]

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On Office Hours and Better Teaching

By ~LS~ On September 29, 2010 · Add Comment · In I have to work?, Pedagogy and tagged Tagged With: BRCC, Pedagogy, Speech, Teaching, Work Sucks

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Cultural Identity Activity

By ~LS~ On August 25, 2010 · Add Comment · In Feminism, I have to work?, Pedagogy, Politics, Race and Racism and tagged Tagged With: BRCC, Feminism, Gender, Generations, Louisiana, Pedagogy, Race, Sexism, Teaching, Teaching Activities

Since teaching at BRCC I have struggled with introducing issues of racism and other identity categories into the classroom. Given the diversity of the campus population, I’m not sure why. As I posted previously, the responses to racial topics are completely unpredictable.

Last semester, for instance, my students claimed that black people really do like fried chicken. Although part of that discussion was intentional provocation on some of the students’ part, I think many genuinely bought into the stereotype.

Perhaps my difficulties derive from the increasing hostility in conservative rhetoric toward people of color. The “love it or leave it,” English-only mentality is surprisingly prevalent. Although many, many white students don’t fall into this category, there are enough of them to make conversations tense and uncomfortable.

If the students of color (predominantly black, though we’re seeing a rise in other minorities) aren’t comfortable enough to [...]

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Black doll white doll

By ~LS~ On August 24, 2010 · Add Comment · In I have to work?, Pedagogy, Race and Racism and tagged Tagged With: Pedagogy, Politics, Race, Teaching, Teaching Activities

Today in class I showed a clip from A Girl Like Me, a documentary made by a 17 year old young woman who revisits the Black Doll White Doll test. The test asks black children to choose between a white doll and a black doll, asking questions such as “which doll is the prettiest” (they pick the white doll), “which doll is the nicest” (they pick the white doll), and “which doll is the most like you” (they flounder and then pick the black doll). Watching black children struggle with those questions is very sad. I show this video in class when we talk about the relationship between perception, the self, and communication.

What always amazes me about this video is the responses that it provokes. Sometimes students completely shut down and getting them to talk is impossible. Sometimes students [...]

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BRCC Commencement 2012

D&D Fortune Cookies

My first post of the year…

On Office Hours and Better Teaching

Cultural Identity Activity

Black doll white doll

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BRCC Commencement 2012

D&D Fortune Cookies

My first post of the year…

On Office Hours and Better Teaching

Cultural Identity Activity

Black doll white doll

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Catch me if you can!