Notice about Cookies (for European readers)

I have been informed that I need to say something about how this site uses Cookies and possibly get the permission of my European readers about the use of Cookies. I'll be honest: I have no idea how the cookies on this site work. Here (I hope) are links to the pertinent information:

Google's Privacy practices: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en&gl=us

How Google uses information from sites or apps that use their services:

https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites





THINGS HAVE CHANGED:

Since I am no longer a professor in the classroom, this blog is changing focus. (I may at some future date change platforms, too, but not yet). I am now (as of May 2019) playing around with the idea of using this blog as a place to talk about the struggles of writing creatively. Those of you who have been following (or dipping in periodically) know that I've already been doing a little of that, but now the change is official. I don't write every day--yet--so I won't post to the blog every day--yet. But please do check in from time to time, if you're interested in this new phase in my life.


Hi! And you are...?

I am interested to see the fluctuation in my readers--but I don't know who is reading the blog, how you found it, and why you find it interesting. I'd love to hear from you! Please feel free to use the "comment" box at the end of any particular post to let me know what brought you to this page--and what keeps you coming back for more (if you do).





Wednesday, October 3, 2012

"Tired. Very Tired. A Need for Many Martinis."

Except I don't much like martinis. But it's the principle of the thing.

I hoped like hell I could get out of here as of, say, right now--I deeply wanted to get home so I could nap--but I'd forgotten that one of the people I am mentoring through a sabbatical application had asked to meet with me today at 5. I tried to get her to reschedule, but she didn't budge--and since the application is due on Monday, in good conscience, I can't put her off. Damn it.

But I don't regret having stayed at dance class until 10:30 last night. I'd have stayed even later if I hadn't had to be at a subcommittee meeting this morning. The meeting was about that fucking online Assessment  "platform," and even though five of us have now officially been trained and are allowed to get in and edit the department's stuff, the problem is the need for a conceptual mind-meld between the way we in the humanities think and work and the way corporate bureaucracies expect people to think and work. The sciences and social sciences no doubt find the meld easier (though I expect some of the social sciences feel the strain), but we're sort of prowling the edges of the thing, sniffing suspiciously, and trying to figure out a way in that makes any kind of sense for us.

We were trying find a way for the five of us on the subcommittee to meet in a computer lab so we could work through the process together, and I asked Bruce if we could apply for a day off to do it. He said we can't take that kind of leave for college business--even though it's called a "College Business day." (If it's part of our work on campus committees, we have to do it in our own time.) But Bruce was so alarmed that we thought we'd need that kind of time, he told us the good news: the Wicked Witch of Assessment (the one mandating that we use this platform and setting deadlines for "compliance") may be on her way out. Not only do the department chairs think she's using air that could better go to other purposes, so do a number of the deans--and they all made the point abundantly clear in the presence of our acting interim president and a member of the Board. I'm not sure whether that means we can dither around on it, making vague waving gestures, until she's gone--or if, as one subcommittee member pointed out, we're going to have to deal with some version of this bureaucratic bullshit sometime, so we might as well learn to swim in these murky waters. (Jeez, how many metaphors can I mix?)

The issues were left undecided until the entire committee meets next week--and I went straight from there to the Short Story class. Most of the students are still hanging on, despite the grades they're getting--and I actually am happy about that, even though the paper grading takes longer. What I like is that they feed off each other, leading to very productive group work (in fact, it's often hard to get them to stop) as well as vibrant class discussion.

One interesting event in that class: I discovered that a student was plagiarizing her homework and had plagiarized her first mini-paper. Complicated story, which I won't get into now, but when I pointed it out to her, she said, "But I put it all into my own words..." and looked very confused. I know some students are bullshitting when they put on the innocent act (and Paul is even more cynical than I am about that), but in this case, I believe her. When I got the plagiarized paper, she got the infamous Paul letter about it--and 24 hours after class, I got a lovely, apologetic and mature e-mail: she accepted full responsibility and expressed gratitude that I hadn't treated her more harshly. She asked if she could see me after class today--and she apologized again and again expressed her gratitude. It felt sincere, and I'm glad she has had the learning opportunity. She says she is too: she told me she was glad I told her now, before she got further down the road. Yes, Child.

A sadder note in that class. Another long story, which again I won't get into, but one of the students is an ESL student, Chinese I believe, and she is in grave danger of failing. She came to me after class a few weeks ago to ask if she could have extra time to do the reading and to write her papers; I firmly told her no, that she is no longer in "developmental" levels, so she is expected to keep up with everyone else--but I did suggest that she come to my office hours or make an appointment. She hasn't, and if anything, her work is getting worse. Not only can she not write syntactically correct English sentences, she cannot understand basic plot points in the stories--never mind being able to even approach any kind of critical thought or analysis. I know that it probably took all her courage to come to me after class, and the idea of sitting down with me is no doubt terrifying to her, so I haven't pushed her on it. However, I had a long talk in Advisement with a colleague from philosophy, who seconded my thought that I must hold the line with this young woman, not pull punches in terms of her grades--and who also strongly believes I should mandate that the student meet with me. I don't know what I can do to help this student, but what infuriates me is that my colleague showed me how to find out who this girl's professors had been and what grades she'd gotten: in both 101 and 102, she got A's. And I believe I know why. One of her professors teaches the ESL course as well as 101, and I know he is wildly forgiving of non-native speakers' use of English, along the "their problems are fossilized; they can't do better; as long as they have good ideas it doesn't matter" line. The other is reputed to have a fondness for young Asian women.

I need to just let that sit there for a moment and resonate.

The reasons for the A's are bad enough, but the worst part is, this poor young woman has not been prepared for actual college work--and had no idea that she wasn't. Now she suddenly is in so far over her head that I don't see how she can do anything but drown. And I'm the one holding her head under. Well, not really: I'll do what I can, but at a certain point, it really is sink or swim, damn the cliche.

However, let me shift gears into something distinctly more pleasant. One of my colleagues is working on a project that will include a number of Le Guin's works and a bit of an ecocrit angle--but she's coming at it from a non-Western perspective, so she is not familiar with the stuff I know. A lot of what I know is relatively antique from an Americanist perspective, but it's new to her, and suddenly I feel sort of smart again in terms of my knowledge as a scholar. Talking to her may even inspire me to get up to date on the latest Le Guin criticism: I haven't looked into what's out there for some time now, and it would be interesting to see what's new. Neela--my colleague--just finished The Dispossessed and is now a bona fide Le Guin fan. Six more and I get the toaster oven.

But now, I still have a little time to kill before my sabbatical mentee arrives, so I need to brush up my knowledge of the requirements for a sabbatical application--and maybe grind through a few more of the Short Story logs and mini-papers that landed on me today (a bit like having a mountain fall into one's lap). If I can keep my gritty, bleary eyes focused long enough.

And tomorrow is another day.

No comments:

Post a Comment