Resource for Teaching Literature

I know that most of us teach composition most of the time, but if you're thinking about teaching Literature any time soon, you might consider creating a University Reader. I used one this semester for my Major American Writers course, and I'll be using their services again in the spring. It just couldn't be easier.

University Readers (UR) is a course-readers creation, printing, and publishing service. You simply select your readings, send them to UR, and direct students to the easy-to-order site. UR takes care of all copyright issues, allows you to proof all versions, and you can even design awesome covers for your reader using their (again) easy-to-use site. If you don't want to upload digital versions of your texts, UR will send you a FedEx label and you can ship hard copies of your texts free of charge. And the best part: while students are waiting for their URs in the mail, they can access the first 20% of the texts free online as .PDF files.

I swear I don't work for this company. I have just had an excellent experience and thought I would pass along the fun and frivolity. I should admit, though, that I did not discover UR on my own. Megan Griffin and Dr. Gaul both suggested the service, so I'm publicly passing on the good advice. If you have any questions or would like some more information, feel free to email me. And you can always check out the UR website: http://www.universityreaders.com/.

Happy end of the semester!!

Child Care Survey - Please Respond!

Just in case you missed the email GSS sent out recently regarding child care, I wanted to post it here as well...

GSS is trying to determine how we can best help TCU grad students who are also parents - and we know that child care is a massive issue facing this community. We have put together a very, very short survey to help us determine how we can best serve the TCU grad students/parents, and I do hope that if you are a grad student, and a parent, you take the survey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=ncRoqlTPWm9ZSpxQ_2f5uTpQ_3d_3d


Any questions? Comments? Complaints? I'm all ears...

Senatorially yours,

Laura the Treasurer

In Which I Get All Existential and Attempt to Blog While Driving*

So I’m having my brunch and thinking about all the stuff I have to do, and I’m surfing the web as I do it. I’m multi-tasking, as they say, doing four things at one time (the unspoken one, or the warrant, as I have been attempting to teach my students, is that I’m also trying to keep crumbs out of my laptop), and I ran across this video. I’ve seen this video before, and not terribly recently, so I’m thinking it’s not super-current. The numbers, in other words, can only be higher.

I’ve been thinking (as I have also been attempting to teach my students) that words matter, and what we say as well as how we say it, matters very much.

On the Web site where I located this little gem of a video, was this short article. The interconnection I’m thinking about here is that we are generating massive, incredible amounts of information – and it all matters – and what are we doing with it? What are the repercussions of this generation of information? This is a series of questions that I’m not sure I’m capable of answering. Okay, I’m sure I’m not capable of answering them, short of slipping in the bathroom a la Doc Brown and his Flux Capacitor epiphany.

What concerns me is the short article regarding the laptop desk for the car. Now obviously this is meant for something other than laptopping while driving, and the reviewers over at Amazon.com have had a BLAST with it, but at the same time, I think it’s more important than just a desk. In a car.

I'm thinking about my syllabus for next semester, and I'm also thinking about our 20803 roundtable meeting. I am likely to cut back on my assignments next semester, but increase my focus on helping the students to really concentrate on the import of the ideas they are generating. I'd like to create some assignments that matter - although I suppose that the best I can do is come up with something that might matter.

I don't want to think that I am enabling students to go forth into the world and occupy jobs where they think that having a desk in their car is a good plan, or that working on the weekends is necessary, or that just one more raise will make their lives perfect.

How do we make our assignments matter? How do we ensure (as best we can, anyway) that we help our students learn all they need to know to best live their lives, while not making them feel like they need to have a desk in their car?

*I am, of course, driving at 88 mph.

At the risk of sounding like I am standing on my porch, waving my cane and telling those darn kids to stay off my lawn, I wanted to post this article. I remember Dr. H mentioning during the pre-semester workshop that TCU students are incredibly polite, and that at the start of each semester, I could expect at least one or two of them to approach me, shake my hand, and introduce themselves. Each semester, without fail, at least one does. One of my students this semester even stays after class and opens the door for me – without fail – each day we leave class. My students are, in general, polite, deferential, nice kids.

But I do see the cell phones in class, and I suspect that some of the girls in class might be headed to the gym later, judging from their attire. I see gum, hats, and once, even dip. I always see students leaving trash and whatnot behind after class. But is it as dire as Dr. Benton believes?

Apostrophe Guide

Hi All,
Just saw this great sign posted on Facebook from our own alum Drew Loewe about how to properly use apostrophes. Might be fun to pass out in class and/or post to your eCollege or course website.

The Commodification of Lore

Upon opening my Sunday Dallas Morning News, I discovered a very interesting article about the recent emergence of lesson plans for sale on sites like craigslist.com. Coincidentally enough, the article had been purchased by the DMN from the New York Times, another occurrence of purchased intellectual property. The article addresses several viewpoints in the debate: 1) should we share teaching materials with each other? 2) is it ethical to sell these materials to others? and 3) should the teacher's institution get some of the profits from selling these materials?

Obviously, I'm grateful to be at an institution that graciously shares teaching materials among peers, but at times, I do feel guilty for assimilating somebody else's assignments or exercises into my own lessons. So what do you think? In case you missed the link up top: Selling Lessons Online Raises Cash and Questions

In Which I Decry the Electronic Age and the Death of the Fountain Pen

During a (relatively) recent conversation with Sarah Jewell about students and communication, I mentioned that a friend had sent me a blog entry intended to provide pointers for effective communication with professors. Sarah said I should post it here, which I thought was a great suggestion. I then of course immediately forgot her excellent suggestion, going blithely about my day/weeks/ahem, month or so . . . until, that is, Kelly mentioned that a few Frog Blog entries might make up an hour of service time. Seeing as how I just happen to have an hour of my time freed up every week due to the season ender of “Mad Men,” I found myself hit with the dire need to blog. For approximately 10 entries.

I don’t specifically discuss Dr. Leddy’s tips during class time, although his entry does offer up quite a bit of excellent opportunity for class discussion (audience, for example, and why it matters to think about this). I have found, though, that when I bring focus to this topic, subsequent emails I receive from students are much easier to read. Having worked as an adjunct simultaneously at two different schools, teaching the same topic, it was darned difficult to know whether I was emailing with a UNT student or a TWU student, especially as so few of them used their school email account. I begged, pleaded, and cajoled my students to include their class number in the email re line (especially so that I could get those darned filters to work that I spent so much time setting up!) but had no luck. No regular luck, really, but some occasional, seriously sporadic luck. Once I brought focus to this particular blog entry, though, the students began to take some heed to what I was asking them to do.

I think what appealed to them the most was that they were getting some sort of secret information. "Here's some tips - from a professor! - about how to successfully email with professors!" I wasn't saying "Do this because I say so," but instead just put the information out there for them to make use of if they chose to do so. Obviously they didn't all do so (see? I still have bald spots where I pulled my hair out), but I got the definite impression that the students who DID do so felt like they had a leg up.

I think my next undertaking might involve another one of his entries...I'll let you know if I enjoy an outbreak of Emily Post Syndrome in either of my classes.

Questions about Professional Development

At yesterday's 20803 Teaching Roundtable, a lot of questions came up about the five professional development hours required for graduate instructors each semester. To refresh your memory about what counts as professional development, refer to your teacher's guide: it's in the appendix. Also don't forget that it is also posted on the wiki.

While the information in the teacher's guide is pretty clear, it is not exhaustive, so if you have any questions, see me or Charlotte. A couple of things came up yesterday that were not on the list. For example, 10 Frog Blog entries would count as one professional development hour. Observing a fellow GI's class and writing him or her an observation letter (this would be in addition to the faculty observation letter required for all GI's) would also count as one professional development hour; however, simply asking another GI to observe your class would not count as a PD hour. One idea - partner up with another GI and trade-off observing each other's classes.

Another important tip: continually write down what you've done throughout the semester. Life gets busy, and you are liable to forget. Some activities that you may have taken part in that count as professional development include serving on the composition committee, co-facilitating Teaching Circle, and leading a session at the pre-semester GI workshop.