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Maslow’s Hierarchy

By ~LS~ On August 24, 2010 · Add Comment · In Humor, Pop Culture, Technology and tagged Tagged With: Facebook, Geek, Geek Cartoons, Silliness, Speech, Teaching

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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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Public speaking activity – first week of class

By ~LS~ On August 19, 2010 · Add Comment · In Pedagogy, Rhetoric and tagged Tagged With: Rhetoric, Speech, Teaching, Teaching Activities

I’ve twice used the following activity to open the semester and both times it was quite successful. I discovered the general idea by surfing around and I wish I could remember the site so I could acknowledge the creator whose idea I extended.

I have students search the web for public speaking classes, seminars, and workshops. Their task is to find the cheapest possible public speaking lessons but the caveat is that the courses cannot be from a college or university type program (such as continuing ed, University of Phoenix, whatever). Once they find a class, they need to identify the cost, hours to complete, assignments, topics covered, credentials of the instructor, and whether or not there’s an opportunity for practice and evaluation.

During class, we then review the courses they’ve discovered. There are a handful under a thousand dollars but usually the cost at least that much per person. [...]

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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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Maslow’s Hierarchy

Black doll white doll

Public speaking activity – first week of class

The hidden cost of graduate school

Teaching evaluations

Summer goals 2010

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Maslow’s Hierarchy

Black doll white doll

Public speaking activity – first week of class

The hidden cost of graduate school

Teaching evaluations

Summer goals 2010

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Catch me if you can!