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The hidden cost of graduate school

By ~LS~ On July 25, 2010 · Add Comment · In Academentia, Capitalism, Generations, I have to work?, Random Musings and tagged Tagged With: Consumption, Money, Teaching, Work Sucks

I just paid my student loan a couple of days ago, which basically means I hit a button on the loan website and depleted my financial resources for another month. In the moment, I started to reflect on the debilitating costs of graduate school, costs which most people don’t consider even later in their lives after they’ve graduated. Most academics that I know have a deep sense of nostalgia for their days of poverty, where living on ramen, cheap beer, and the company of good friends in the same boat got them through until the next measly TA paycheck. They also have a healthy resentment for how paying student loans back takes money directly from their pockets in the present. This is all at the level of obviousness. But the unacknowledged costs add up to a substantial amount of cash, yet no one ever includes them in any accounting. When [...]

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Teaching evaluations

By ~LS~ On June 22, 2010 · Add Comment · In Academentia, I have to work?, Pedagogy and tagged Tagged With: BRCC, Consumption, Pedagogy, Teaching

I got my teaching evaluations back yesterday.

I have been thinking lately about faculty reviews and teaching evaluations because they are such an issue at school lately. Our student ratings are incorporated in our annual reviews, so the numbers count in our overall annual evaluation by the school administration. Now, on the one hand, this doesn’t actually mean much since there’s no material reward for a good review these days and no one’s job is threatened by an average review.

My questions have been running the course of how pointless and aggravating teaching evaluations often are yet how my happiness is still tied to them. Frankly, I’m not sure what teaching evaluations mean. In the ideal sense, they measure whether or not your teaching is effective. Even though I have a strong philosophy about what I consider good teaching, I still question who knows what way is best? Commitment to [...]

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Summer goals 2010

By ~LS~ On May 30, 2010 · 2 Comments · In I have to work?, The Quotidian (yadda yadda) and tagged Tagged With: BRCC, Goals, Teaching, What I Did Today

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Summer Goals sorta

By ~LS~ On May 26, 2010 · Add Comment · In I have to work?, The Quotidian (yadda yadda) and tagged Tagged With: Goals

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Done!!!

By ~LS~ On May 18, 2010 · Add Comment · In I have to work?, The Quotidian (yadda yadda) and tagged Tagged With: What I Did Today, Work Sucks

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Spaghetti marshmellow towers

By ~LS~ On March 25, 2010 · Add Comment · In I have to work?, Pedagogy and tagged Tagged With: BRCC, Teaching, Teaching Activities

In order to analyze teamwork, I have the students in my classes do various silly activities that I’ve stolen from people or from websites here and there. One of my favorite is the spaghetti marshmellow tower. After building the tower, the students then analyze their role in their group. So the way the tower works is that students must “buy” their materials (spaghetti = 10 ¢, large marshmellow = 25¢, small marshmellow = 5¢). The tallest tower wins, the cheapest breaks a tie. The rules are that the tower must support a ping pong ball at the top and the tower must be free standing long enough for me to measure it. Often the groups get competitive with each other, which makes it entertaining and messier.

My business communication students this semester built the tallest towers yet. Both were over 25 inches if memory serves. They were solid structures, too. [...]

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The hidden cost of graduate school

Teaching evaluations

Summer goals 2010

Summer Goals sorta

Done!!!

Spaghetti marshmellow towers

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The hidden cost of graduate school

Teaching evaluations

Summer goals 2010

Summer Goals sorta

Done!!!

Spaghetti marshmellow towers

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Catch me if you can!