You could be a teacher October 16, 2013
Posted by mareserinitatis in career, education, feminism, research, science, teaching, work, younger son.Tags: education, high school, higher education, math, teaching, younger son
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As we were settling in for the ride home after swimming, the younger son asked, “Mom, you’re good at math, right?”
The older boy snickered.
“I like to think so,” I responded.
There was a brief silence followed by, “Welllll………you’re good at math, and you’re a teacher…maybe you should teach math at a high school!”
What followed was a long explanation about how I just physically can’t handle the idea of teaching K-12. Teaching 6 hours a day, grading, prep, etc. Actually, it’s mostly the teaching. Teaching more than 4 hours turns me into a puddle that can’t function until I’ve had a good night’s sleep. Teaching high school is not the ideal profession for introverts. There’s also the fact that, frankly, it would get boring to teach high school math after more than a year or two. The math is what interests me more than the challenge of helping students to understand (though that is an interesting problem when the material is also sufficiently intellectually stimulating). I think he gets it, but he still likes the idea of his mom as a math teacher.
This did bring to the surface some thoughts I’ve been mulling over. Does he see me as a teacher because he already knows I teach or does gender roles have something to do with it? I’ve been pondering this a lot because I get the sense that there are some academics who really do view teaching through a gendered lens and therefore think I’d be better off at a community or liberal arts college. In fact, I imagine there’s a blog post where I discussed someone telling me as much, but I’m not going to dig it out now.
One thing that has occurred to me is that, if I want people to look at my research, I may actually actively have to avoid things that will stick ‘teacher’ into their heads when they think of me. That is, it’s probably a good idea to actively avoid involvement in education conferences and societies except at a cursory level. Teaching should be kept at a minimum. I enjoy the service work component and the idea of exploring interesting aspects of STEM education. I also really enjoy interacting with students (but not all day long). I don’t like the idea that it means that my other abilities and accomplishments will be overlooked. Maybe that’s taking things too far, but I don’t really know how to cement the ‘researcher’ thing into people’s brains unless that’s the only thing they see when looking at my CV. Maybe once the ‘teacher’ version of me has been wiped clean, it’ll be okay to begin dabbling in serious educational research pursuits.
That’s obviously not what my son was worried about. He simply wants me to have a job I enjoy…and maybe there’s a bit of an ulterior motive as he hopes I’d be home more during the summers. It’s a nice idea, but the other nine months of the year probably wouldn’t be all that enjoyable for me…especially if doing research was secondary, or worse, nonexistent.
All that being said, I think that if I do ever become a math teacher, I want the above tshirt. (You can get it here, if you’re curious.)
To get to the other side… September 30, 2013
Posted by mareserinitatis in education, engineering, geology, older son, physics, teaching, younger son.Tags: humor, jokes, physics, students, teaching
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If anyone knows who made this comic, please let me know so I can credit them.
Those of you who are friends with me on Facebook may remember that I compiled a whole series of physics jokes. I was posting them daily for about two months. Some people loved them. I think a bunch of people also unfriended me because of it.
When I did this, I had an ulterior motive in mind: I wanted to tell them to my classes. I’ve found that students tend to listen better to teachers they think are likable. Unfortunately, I just don’t have the warm, fuzzy personality that many of my friends (particularly those in geology) have. I come across, sometimes, as a mean, nasty type.
And so the jokes…
They really do work. Students will loosen up and talk. They relax a bit. They smile. And most important, they don’t think I’m out to get them. Those endorphins do wonders.
The problem I’m having now is that so many of my jokes are physics related…and I’m teaching freshmen. While they all know about atoms and noble gases and protons, electrons, and neutrons, many of my jokes cover more esoteric topics. They give me blank stares when I talk about Heisenberg or Schroedinger or neutrinos…
There’s a part of me that would like to teach older students simply so that I have a more receptive audience. Or maybe my problem is that I’m teaching engineers and not physicists. Or maybe too many of them are from farms (see above comic).
But you, my dear reader, are a more receptive audience, right? And my kids…my kids know what neutrinos are…kind of. Maybe they’re just laughing at me because I sound funny when I talk about physics.
Incidentally, the punchline to the joke in the title, if you’re wondering, is, “Why did the tachyon cross the road?”
I hate giving quizzes September 23, 2013
Posted by mareserinitatis in education, engineering, teaching.Tags: quizzes, teaching, textbooks
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This year, I chose to use a textbook for my class. The problem is that while the textbook has a lot of good content, I use the class time to focus in on topics that I think are really important while assuming the students will at least skim through the remaining material.
I think I was delusional. Like, seriously losing it…
I hate the idea of doing it, but I figured I needed to give them some incentive to read the book. I therefore implemented reading quizzes this semester. I can’t remember where I came across the idea (it may have been back on The Mind of Dr. Pion, but it was so long ago that I don’t honestly remember).
The first reading quiz consisted of them writing what they thought was the most interesting thing they read in the chapter.
The second one was multiple choice. I posted a series of four pictures. I asked them to identify the one that came from that week’s reading. All they had to do was write a single letter…and honestly, if they thought carefully about it, they could have determined which picture it was simply through process of elimination. Several students said this quiz was unfair…though I’m not sure how.
I’m rather disappointed as it seems that around half of them aren’t passing these quizzes. I’m not asking them to read things in depth, and the book isn’t very technical at all, but I would like them to be exposed to the information in case they come back to it later. I also don’t want to hammer them over the head with it. It has occurred to me that you attract more flies with honey than vinegar, but it feels like any attemps in that direction will probably border on bribery.
I’m very much at a loss. I have told them they need to pass two out of four quizzes, and some of them are getting nervous. I don’t want to make them panic, but I do want them to take this more seriously. I’ve told them that students who focus on their grades do worse than students who focus on content…but that’s hard to listen to when you’re worried about your grade.
Things I never thought I’d say to my kids September 10, 2013
Posted by mareserinitatis in gifted, homeschooling, older son, teaching.Tags: classes, english, languages, older son, teaching
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There are a million things I never thought I’d say to my kids. Truth be told, I’ve avoided a lot of them. Today, however, I found myself telling the older son something I imagine would have made my 17-year-old self would cringe. Or even hurl.
The older son is taking some classes through correspondence this year, mostly English, to finish up the classes he needs for college admissions. We’ve managed to do most other things at home, but English was one thing I never bothered with because he’s an avid reader. And by avid, I mean he devours books like candy. He’s also done exceptionally well on any sort of standardized testing in this realm. I didn’t want to waste his time by pushing stuff on him when he was doing pretty well in his own right.
He got his first homework assignment back from one of the classes and was reading it over while we had some lunch. He gave me this look…the same one you get when someone tells you a joke that you can see the humor in but don’t particularly think it’s all that funny because it’s just weird. You know what look I mean.
The comments on a couple of the problems were simply horrible. As in, the teacher had rewritten his answers so that they were entirely dumbed down. It’s not that these answers were vague or wrong or anything; he chose words that made the point and his answers were succinct. The rewritten answers were long and meandering but weren’t any more clear. I called Mike and read the rewritten answers.
“You’re kidding me.”
Sadly, no.
So I found myself saying something that I know I would have never, ever believed in my own youth: “You just need to get through the class and pass it so you can go to college. College will be better.”
It makes me really sad that my son, who loves language and literature, is going to have to endure a class where he was hoping to be able to think about and discuss literary works on a really grown-up level. Sadly, it looks like he’s going to have to keep it light for his teacher. I could only reiterate that this is why I feel that high school is a waste of his time.
Never piss off the secretary December 23, 2012
Posted by mareserinitatis in teaching.Tags: secretary, teaching
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After re-reading what I wrote in my last post, I realize that I sounded rather smug. That really wasn’t what I was going for, so I’m going to elaborate.
I try to work well with the staff and faculty when I’m teaching, and I try to make sure that I’m available to my students if I need help. I had a lot of profs like that when I was in undergrad, and I try to emulate them. I also had other profs who weren’t so conscientious (and a few who obviously didn’t care at all), and I really don’t want to be like that. I am hoping, given the comment by the secretary, I’m doing a decent job of working with people, students included.
Also, that secretary keeps a bat behind her desk. I really don’t want her to use it on me…even if it is inflatable.
More teachers like me December 21, 2012
Posted by mareserinitatis in education, teaching.Tags: teaching
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I got an email from the department secretary that an office on campus needed some information about a student. After digging up the info, I sent it to the correct office and then let the secretary know that it had been taken care of. She emailed back to thank me, saying also that she wishes there were more teachers like me. I thought that was a very nice comment.
More seriously, given my many years of experience as a student, I sort of wish there had been, too.
When persistence isn’t a good thing… December 19, 2012
Posted by mareserinitatis in education, engineering, teaching.Tags: cheating, grades, teaching
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I unfortunately have to turn in some forms describing how I caught some students cheating.
This is frustrating because every semester since I started teaching, I have managed to catch at least one cheater. I keep hoping that I’ll get through a semester without dealing with this issue, but I suspect that the reason I might not catch any cheaters is because they’re getting better at it or I’ve overlooked something. It would be nice, however, if it meant that they’d actually stopped.
I’m very confused why students would cheat in my class. I have a very open policy where I encourage them to talk with each other. I basically tell them I think they’ll learn a lot from each other. My big no-no is doing the copy/paste routine and then submitting it as one’s own work. I am very explicit about this. It seems ridiculous that someone would do this given they can talk to each other and look over each other’s shoulders. Apparently it’s too much temptation, however, and some students can’t seem to stop themselves from taking a final step over the boundary into unethical land.
compulsory mis-education December 3, 2012
Posted by mareserinitatis in education, teaching.Tags: attendance, classes, teaching
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One of the first things I learned in college is that it’s never a good idea to skip class. That doesn’t mean I didn’t do it, but I did so with the realization that I would likely be paying for it later. This made me try to minimize it as much as possible, and generally I tried to make it unless I was sick or there was some other problem. (And with kids, there is always some other problem.)
I was a therefore a bit irritated when I received two emails from a student asking if he needed to attend class anymore. His reasoning is that there are no more assignments due, so there is no longer a compelling reason to attend. I responded by saying that, unless there is an emergency, it is assumed that the students will be in class.
I didn’t say, “Yes, you have to be there.” Realistically, I have no way of enforcing this. However, I wasn’t about to let him off the hook. The last day of classes are actually reasonably important. We have evaluations (now is your chance to complain!). I’m also having a student who has gone through the program give a presentation. The idea is that they can ask him questions and find out what may be important as they go down the road.
Aside from that, I don’t know how to get across to him that attending class is important. At least, it was in my experience. However, I’m wondering if maybe this is just a self-centered point of view. Maybe there are other things that the student needs to do that will impact their long-term outcome much more than missing my class. I also don’t want to be the cranky old woman, shaking her cane and yelling at those darn kids. Should I just trust that they’re better at prioritizing their own schedules? I’m not sure…
Maybe there would be better incentive if I provided free food.
The calm before the storm November 25, 2012
Posted by mareserinitatis in computers, engineering, teaching.Tags: office hours, programming, students, teaching
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I teach on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This past week was Thanksgiving, so I obviously had a bit of a dilemma. I don’t like getting the classes out of synch because that means I have two different preps to complete. The obvious solution, therefore, is to just cancel class during the week of Thanksgiving, and that is exactly what I did.
However, I’ve changed one of the assignments in the class from optional to required. You may remember that last year, I talked about Engineers Who Don’t Like to Program. I discovered that the majority of my students would rather do a presentation than learn how to program. I decided this year to change that. Instead of having two optional programming assignments, I moved some things around so that there is one assignment, very scaled back from what I had expected last year, and it was required to pass the class.
I had a lot of intimidated students, but I think cutting the length back significantly made them less afraid. I chose to have two weeks in the computer lab to work on the assignment. They ended up being the week before Thanksgiving and the week after. In the meantime, I decided to add an extra office hour during one of the cancelled classes so that students could come and ask me questions.
Not surprisingly, no one showed up. I’ll have to remind them of this when I have an flurry of requests from students needing extra help right before the assignment is due.
I also blog at Engineer Blogs, home away from home to some of the best engineering blogs.
Annual review February 28, 2013
Posted by mareserinitatis in education, teaching.Tags: comments, evaluations, teaching
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I suppose getting evals once a year (since I’m currently teaching only in the fall) is sort of like having an annual review.
I have to say that I’m rather pleased with this year’s review. Of my four sections, I did have one ‘dud’, where the scores were noticeably lower than others. However, in all classes, I generally was at or above the average. Given I have now earned a reputation for teaching the hardest sections of the course, I think I’m a bit proud of that.
I had all of four comments:
The most interesting comment was this:
I am amused that this person was so concerned about their peers that they felt the need to tell me I was expecting too much. Or maybe they were mad because they themselves didn’t understand and didn’t want to admit it.
I find it interesting because the whole point of the unit was to learn some basic programming…and I consider loops to be fairly fundamental. I also explained them in class. Even more important is that this student may not have clued in yet to the fact that one is supposed to learn new things in college, not just stuff that one knew before. That being said, the vast majority of the students were able to finish the assignment and did just fine.
I’ll just take it that I’ve officially reached “too high in the ivory tower” status.