Thursday, January 09, 2014

School Almost in Session

Faculty meetings yesterday. That makes for an official first day of school for us teachers. Today and tomorrow mark registration and classes start next week. I had a busy morning with registration but the afternoon has been slower so I have a few moments to blog.

I'm waiting on final word about a big project I will need to get started on, but in the meantime I'm working on "Gods of Talera" and having fun. I managed 1000 words yesterday, and wrote most of them while in a faculty meeting. Good to kill two birds with one stone.

Blogging will be more hit and miss now that we are back in school. Just depends on how much work I have piled up in the mornings. I've got to carve out more writing time from my schedule too so that may slow down blog production.

I'll be teaching the Writing in Psychology class again this semester. I have 17 enrolled so far. I'll be posting some blog posts related to that class and how it is going. Last time I taught it I did not end up happy. I was working very hard but several students complained at the end of the semester and I felt like I was doing more work than they were for their grades. It's been about half a hear since I taught it, though, so maybe this time around will be better.

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18 comments:

Ron Scheer said...

Blogging during a faculty meeting? Pretty cheeky. Worse than my students checking their phones and texting during class.

Cloudia said...

Gosh I'd love to tell those enrolled how fortunate they are. Mentioning your fiction might be a hook?



Aloha

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I wish I could get away with writing during meetings. I'd be too distracted.

Adventuresfantastic said...

See, faculty meetings are good for something.

I hope the students are more willing to work than the previous group. What I saw from the mostly-freshman astronomy class I taught last semester, the sense of entitlement students have is getting worse.

Charles Gramlich said...

Ron, no blogging. Handwriting on a notepad. A scene for a story. I figure if they are going to read off the exact information they have on the slides and on the website I'll take the time to write.

Cloudia, I do talk some about the fiction but not very much.

Alex, There were well over a hundred faculty in the room so I don't think they noticed me.

Keith, indeed. on both counts.

the walking man said...

Make the first words to the class that any mention of GPA is an automatic grade reduction.

Brian Miller said...

psych was always fun for me...i minored in it and was not far off a double major.....bet your class would be fun....

Charles Gramlich said...

Mark, that is a good idea.

Brian, we do have some fun. Psych is generally fun to teach.

Chris Benjamin said...

Speaking of writing in psych, I wonder if you've ever read The Lucifer Effect by Philip Zimbardo. I'm reading it now and it's fascinating, but probably should have been about half the length.

Erik Donald France said...

Good luck with your writing & excellent use of faculty meeting time. Which reminds me: I now have a KindleFire, so I can download more digital content. Yeay~~!

Riot Kitty said...

I hope it's better this time, too. Damn, I wish I could write during meetings...unfortunately I have to be engaged ;)

Charles Gramlich said...

Chris, no, haven't read it. I'll have to look it up to see what it's about.

Erik, I still use my original kindle all the time. Was reading on it last night.

Riot, depends on how many people are at the meeting and how you can melt into the background

Prashant C. Trikannad said...

Charles, I've heard about American students using their phones and laptops for personal use during class. Here, in India, both are strictly prohibited in schools and colleges. Mobiles are not allowed in schools while they have to be switched off in colleges, otherwise they're confiscated and the students fined. Parents are called over in case of repeat offences. Schools and degree colleges still depend on traditional blackboards to teach students though education is also imparted through computers these days.

Charles Gramlich said...

Prashant, we only make them turn off all electronic devices during tests. we ask them not to use phones during regular class, but many take notes on computer and probably do some surfing if they're in a big class.

jodi said...

Way to multi-task Charles. Hope this next class proves to be more rewarding for you. Or maybe the students will just be better!

G. B. Miller said...

Already that time of year, eh?

Chris Benjamin said...

Charles, it's about situational/environmental influence on the creation of evil behaviour, and is written by the guy who did the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment in the 70s.

Charles Gramlich said...

Jodi, hopefully so!

G. B., it came quickly.

Chris, I remember the Standford County Prison experiment well. I talk about in classes all the time. Fascinating piece of work.