My Intelligences

The Stylish Thirties recently posted this test - and, well, I can never resist stuff like this.  It measures how you score on different types of intelligences and then puts the results in a lovely color chart:

The hubby looked over my shoulder when the chart came up and said, "Wow, that's funny.  That's you for sure - little visual/spatial intelligence."  I am absolutely terrible when it comes to evaluating space.  Like you would NEVER want me to determine if furniture will fit in room without using a tape measure unless you want to have your furniture hanging out the windows.

And, really, is it any surprise that "Word Smart" is my highest score?  And, naturally, it's followed by "People Smart."  I'm very good at reading people's moods and subtle reactions, something that serves me well when working with students.  It's easy to get them on your side and into the lesson when you can quickly and easily tell when you're losing them in the first place.

Go check it out... how'd you do??

Hand-holding is the new black.

Yesterday, Stacey over at Say Something Stacey answered a reader's question about what her pet peeves are and asked folks to add theirs in the comments.  I commented that I'm bothered by people with no personal accountability - the ones who complain and complain but then do nothing to change their circumstances.  This plus a Tweet of mine led to a Twitter mini-convo about students who don't have any initiative.

Stacey joked that they're lazy, and I have to say that I wish it was that simple.  My theory is that the current crop of college students have just been hand-held too much (and I don't mean that literally - I don't want a score of attachment parenting folks after me).  They haven't been taught personal responsibility.  I would never ask a professor when a paper is due unless the due date was missing from the syllabus.  However, I have students ask me that all the time.  I tell them to look on the syllabus, but my friend David stated he simply doesn't even answer those questions anymore.  I'm not there yet, but give me a few years and I might be.

As it is, if a student is absent and asks me "if" they "missed anything", I tell them, "No, we actually all just sat around and talked about how we missed you.  We couldn't carry on without you."  They usually get the idea that missing class always means missing something and that I'm not the person to ask for that information.  It seems seriously ballsy to me to ask if there was anything to miss, as if every now and then we have a class session that amounts to nothing.  That's simply insulting.

I'm just not into hand-holding and I'm not into having to tell people things twice.  I hate having to repeat myself, whether it be to my students, my husband, or my mother.  It just drives me bonkers (Stacey: I guess you can add that to my list of pet peeves).

There's a lot to be said for personal initiative and accountability.  Those skills (are they skills?  attributes?) go a long way in both the working world and one's personal life.  Most folks I know in the field of education bemoan "teaching to the test" and how it doesn't allow students to develop critical thinking skills.  I think it also robs students of the opportunity to feel some responsibility for the knowledge they're attaining. 

Instead, they know to show up and repeat some information rather than knowing how to carry one idea over to the next and build a deeper, nuanced understanding of whatever it is they're studying.  They don't get to revel in the pride that comes from realizing you've not only learned something new, but built upon it and created a new understanding for yourself - and of yourself.

Things overheard at various schools this week

Scene: in the elevator

Student 1: You know what's weird?

{everyone looks at student}

Student 1: The first person to get on the elevator is always the last person to get off.  Weird, right?

{everyone looks at student}

Student 2: You know what's weird? People who talk in elevators.

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Scene: school hallway

Student 1: I'm so glad I feel better, but I still can't breathe that, you know, way.

Student 2: What way?

Student 1: You know, the way you breathe.

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Scene: quiz

Question: What is inferential reading comprehension?

Student Answer: When you start to put facts and ideas together to make your own conclusions and generations.

(It's just a typo on the student's part, but it's amusing none-the-less.)

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Today I am at work for 11 hours for some test proctoring.  I wonder if I'll be around for anymore gems like these.

Mondays stink (but less with deodorant)

This morning I almost forgot to put deodorant on because I was standing in the bathroom, feeling sorry for myself because I had (have) such a long day ahead.  Even as I type this, the notebook with my to-do list is serving as my wrist rest.

When I planned out this semester/quarter, I thought taking my two grad classes on the same day would be a great saver because I'd only have to travel into the city one night a week.  Makes sense, right?  Except I didn't allot for how early I'd have to get to work several days a week to account for the hour I leave work early on Mondays in order to allow for traffic or random road congestion.

But if I take two classes on separate nights, I probably won't be able to adjunct because I won't have enough available nights for the campus location I prefer unless they institute classes that meet once a week or on Saturdays - and I'd really rather not teach on Saturdays right now because I need those days to do homework.

I think it would all be a smidge more manageable if I wasn't teaching a class at my full-time job this quarter.  I'm very grateful to be teaching the class (I'm learning a lot from the experience) but it requires a significant amount of prep time because I've never taught a developmental reading course before.  If this were an ensuing semester, I'd have lesson plans and quizzes ready to go and it would be less time-consuming.

But it is what it is.  I'm mostly keeping my head above water at this point.  The one thing that keeps ending up on the losing side is grad school; I'm having a hard time completing all the readings every week, but so far it hasn't affected me.  I skim effectively and gather a lot of information from the course discussions, so I'm hanging on.  I know how to do the grad school thing, so that helps.  I just have to keep an eye on when I start having projects and presentations due.  Those weeks are going to require some serious time management and a lot of, "No, I'm sorry, I can't hang out this week."

I was disturbed by the fully decorated Christmas trees and display I saw at Lord & Taylor this weekend because I'm a firm believe that you don't decorate for Christmas until Thanksgiving, but at the same time I'm already really looking forward to the last third of December when all of my classes (teaching and grad) will be over.  I adore school - both teaching and being a student - and can't imagine working as happily in any other environment.  I just need some breathing time.

7 Quick Tuesday Takes

1. Grad school continues to go well.  One of the courses I'm taking is about using popular texts in the classroom so we spend most of our time discussing pop culture (it's a dream class, really) and what he wants us to do for our final project is incredibly similar to a conference paper I wrote and delivered a few years ago, so I'm feeling good - like I already have a good handle on this stuff.

2. During our trip to CO, my boss realized she didn't do my one year review last month.  Oops!  So that's coming up in the next week or two.  No one enjoys their annual employee review, but at least I know it comes along with a raise.  That's always good, even if it's just a little one.

3. Today is my first day really "teaching" my reading class (last week was just "Let's go over the syllabus" and "Here, take this diagnostic") so I'm a bit nervous, but I have a good lesson plan for today.  I'm just hoping it goes as I envision.

4. This Thursday is the first day of class at my adjunct job, so that was something else I had to pull together this week - the syllabus, lesson plans, etc.  Helpfully, I taught the exact same class last spring on the same schedule (twice a week) so I used the same syllabus, just changing the dates and a few assignments and activities here and there.  I even have all my lesson plans, so I'll be re-using some of those, too.  This is going to be a lifesaver this semester.

5. Tomorrow is a long day.  Have to be at work at 8:30am and stay until 7pm.  Doesn't that sound fun?  During that time I have to do five short in-class presentations and attend a student development activity.  Wheeeee.

6. Thursday, before I start my adjunct course at night, I have to give a presentation at our annual tutor orientation.  Wheeee.

7. Then on Friday I have to attend an all-day (9-5, hopefully 9-3) departmental annual kick-off meeting.  You know - all that team building, goal writing stuff.  Say it with me:  wheeeee.

I can't wait for the weekend.  Poker night on Saturday and then Alton Brown and NYC goodies on Sunday.  It's like the pot of gold at the end of this week (even if I don't win the poker game).