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1. Please join us at
journalsandplanners for talk about . . . journals and planners. LOL And all things stationery related. I just made a post to kick off activity, but feel free to make your own top-level posts. I'd love to see that comm get active again.
2. I got elected chair of Faculty Senate for next academic year. My plans for world domination continue apace.
3. I am clearly an outlier, but I really enjoy doing annual evaluations. I get to the end of mine, and I'm all, "I'm awesome. Look at all this amazing shit I did this year and recognize!" I have never had a problem tooting my own horn (which is perhaps its own kind of problem LOL).
4. Sammy wants to get in the fireplace, so that's A Project for today.
5. I put on my big girl panties and bought my plane ticket for SWPACA, a regional academic conference held in Albuquerque at the end of this month. I am crossing my fingers that I can get most of that + the conference registration reimbursed by my institution.
6. When Josh was at the grocery store yesterday, an employee suddenly started screaming and trying to cut himself with a box cutter in the middle of produce. It was very upsetting. I'm glad everyone in the store ended up okay, including the employee (or least not shot by police or a "good guy" with a gun), but Josh was really shaken up.
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2. I got elected chair of Faculty Senate for next academic year. My plans for world domination continue apace.
3. I am clearly an outlier, but I really enjoy doing annual evaluations. I get to the end of mine, and I'm all, "I'm awesome. Look at all this amazing shit I did this year and recognize!" I have never had a problem tooting my own horn (which is perhaps its own kind of problem LOL).
4. Sammy wants to get in the fireplace, so that's A Project for today.
5. I put on my big girl panties and bought my plane ticket for SWPACA, a regional academic conference held in Albuquerque at the end of this month. I am crossing my fingers that I can get most of that + the conference registration reimbursed by my institution.
6. When Josh was at the grocery store yesterday, an employee suddenly started screaming and trying to cut himself with a box cutter in the middle of produce. It was very upsetting. I'm glad everyone in the store ended up okay, including the employee (or least not shot by police or a "good guy" with a gun), but Josh was really shaken up.
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Date: 2022-02-06 02:16 pm (UTC)I wouldn't mind employee evaluations if they were taken seriously and not just a formality, and/or if they were done in a meaningful way. In all my years of teaching I have never had a "real" one.
Example: at my other school I once got one where all they had to say was to try to take fewer sick days.
???
At least at that school my boss actually came and observed me teaching once.
At my current school my last dean was a guy whose goal in life was to sit with his feet up on his desk and talk about sports all day, every day. His evaluation process for us was a joke. I have a new dean now who seems like a pretty good person who actually wants to do his job, but the evaluation instrument they are using is terrible. I hope he can replace it. Example: It asks me to document evidence of my ethical standards. Um. How exactly does one do that? To fill this one out you basically have to spin a ton of bullshit. Which I do. Unfortunately I am very good at bullshitting.
But I am happy for YOU! And if you ruled the world that would not be such a bad thing.
ALso, have fun in NM!!! Wheeee.
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Date: 2022-02-06 03:48 pm (UTC)I like our current evaluation; it's clearly written and easy to document (no ethics category which is indeed WTF). We have 3 categories: teaching, scholarship, and service. We are in the process of making some system-wide changes to evaluations and the promotion and tenure process, so IDK how it will all shake out eventually, but right now, I like it.
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Date: 2022-02-06 03:55 pm (UTC)In my last sit-down with the new dean I asked him to please change the instrument they are using and also to start observing us teach. I have no idea how they can evaluate my teaching if they don't observe me.
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Date: 2022-02-06 05:48 pm (UTC)1. We can ask peers to evaluate our teaching.
2. We can participate in pedagogy groups at the institution/system/region level. I participate in two groups, and we meet monthly to read the same pedagogy books and articles, discuss, talk about our teaching, implement the things we've learned, and even present/submit articles based on our experiences.
3. Redesign courses to use or continue to use pedagogical best practices in our classrooms and write about them and their effectiveness in our classrooms. So, for example, I've been redesigning all my course assignments to be modeled on Transparency in Learning and Teaching Principles; so my evals have included narratives about doing so and about how much more effective my teaching has become.
4. Redesign courses to use or continue to use progression and retention techniques like weekly announcements in online courses or reaching out to students who miss assignments or low cost no-cost textbooks, etc.
5. Scholarship of teaching and learning: conference presentations, professional development presentations, and publications about pedagogy also count as evidence of effective teaching since these are all about trying something in the classroom.
6. Judicious selection of student evaluation comments and emails.
Maybe some of these could be helpful?
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Date: 2022-02-07 12:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-02-07 11:08 am (UTC)At least you will be shed of it soon. Not your circus; not your monkeys. :)
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Date: 2022-02-06 03:03 pm (UTC)Are you going to bar Sammy from getting in the fireplace, or help? ;)
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Date: 2022-02-06 03:37 pm (UTC)First it must be dusted. Him fooling around with it has shown it is very dusty. Then we must twine the little mesh thing together in the front with wire which will be easy, but he can still nose around the side, so Josh has to figure out how to close that off; it involves metal dowels.
It's a gas fireplace, with a remote control, so we only have to get in there once every couple of years to replace a battery, so closing it off is fine. It just always has a pilot light on, so I don't want him fooling around in there.
Or pulling out the decorative rocks. Which he has done already. LOL
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Date: 2022-02-06 04:03 pm (UTC)Our annual reviews are bullshit and everyone knows it - for a few years we didn't even do them because there is no money involved even if you get a good one - and our process has just started. I'm glad you like doing yours though.
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Date: 2022-02-07 11:07 am (UTC)I would be very annoyed at having to do something that's meaningless.
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Date: 2022-02-06 04:22 pm (UTC)I should join
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Date: 2022-02-07 11:09 am (UTC)We do not discriminate on the basis of aesthetics at
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Date: 2022-02-06 05:00 pm (UTC)And you are awesome! Glad to hear you say it though! LOL!
Hopefully, you can scare Sammy out of that. I use one of those cans of compressed air to scare Max, it works better than water because half the time the little booger is sitting on my computer.
I hope you can get a reimbursement. That would be bad if you couldn't.
Holy crud! I'm glad Josh is okay. I mean, did the man do it by accident or did he have a psychotic break? That sounds so scary.
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Date: 2022-02-07 11:11 am (UTC)Compressed air is such a good idea. I definitely would prefer that to spraying water everywhere. LOL
I will get some reimbursed for sure. I just want it all!
I think it must have been some kind of mental health episode. Josh said he was just incoherently screaming. But he said the response was instant; all the employees around instantly restrained him and more instantly showed up, and all the patrons quickly and quietly exited the area, which is exactly what you want to happen in a situation like that.
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Date: 2022-02-07 06:36 pm (UTC)Gosh, I'm glad the other employees there were able to help him out. Still, that had to be jarring for the customers.
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Date: 2022-02-06 06:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-02-07 11:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-02-06 11:36 pm (UTC)I'm sorry Josh and everyone else had to live through that. It must have been terrifying!
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Date: 2022-02-07 11:13 am (UTC)*cue maniacal laughter*
I just hope that guy is alright; he is clearly not well.
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Date: 2022-02-07 03:02 pm (UTC)I think you should add 'miracle worker' to your evaluation! :D
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Date: 2022-02-08 11:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-02-07 12:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-02-07 11:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-02-07 01:50 am (UTC)yay!
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Date: 2022-02-07 11:13 am (UTC)<3
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Date: 2022-02-07 05:57 am (UTC)That makes sense. In my school, we had to submit self-improvement plans by the middle of October. Like, "Tell us what amazing shit you'll be doing this year." And it's such a crock, because we do amazing shit when the need arises, and we don't know what the need will be until it shows up!!!
Like the year I devised tactile versions of games so that the blind student could play games with the sighted students. (I saved 5 mins at the end of every other session for game-playing as a reward for good work.) Or the year I helped the teachers rework their mandated lesson-plan forms to [a] save space on the page and [b] be easier to use. Or the year I spent searching the internet and making vocabulary cards to help the Spec Ed teacher. I didn't know ANY of those in October! Grrr...
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Date: 2022-02-07 11:15 am (UTC)That is some awesome shit to be doing! Love the tactile versions of games.
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Date: 2022-02-07 06:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-02-07 11:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-02-07 06:31 am (UTC)And wtf re: the store!? Yikes!
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Date: 2022-02-07 11:18 am (UTC)I feel sorry for everybody that had to deal with that; I hope the guy gets help.
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Date: 2022-02-07 09:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-02-07 11:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-02-07 03:12 pm (UTC)That poor employee - I'm glad it was resolved, and I hope things work out for him and the witnesses both. I'd be upset about it, too.
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Date: 2022-02-08 11:07 am (UTC)I hope so, too. It's scary and sad.
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Date: 2022-02-09 02:30 am (UTC)Huzzah! *hugs*
I hope the guy from the store got actual help. How upsetting for everyone. ;_;
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Date: 2022-02-10 11:12 am (UTC)I hope so too. :(
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Date: 2022-02-11 01:46 pm (UTC)2. Yay for faculty senate!
3. I have joined journals and planners. Not because I am the kind of person who uses a planner (my to-do lists are on scrap paper and my calendar is google). But I do enjoy reading about other people's organization, heh.
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Date: 2022-02-11 10:31 pm (UTC)I am already getting invited to meetings and schmoozings as chair elect. It's fascinating.
Yay for joining.
I should make another post soon.
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Date: 2022-02-12 07:01 pm (UTC)At first I was like, Sammy? Then I thought, did kitten happen? And I scrolled back and yes, kitten happened!! I can't wait to check out that post. *g*
That does sound very upsetting! I'm glad everyone is alright, if shaken.
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Date: 2022-02-12 10:55 pm (UTC)I'm glad everyone was okay too. When Josh first texted me about it, I got really scared.
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Date: 2022-02-16 02:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-02-16 09:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-02-23 11:14 pm (UTC)*hearts you so much*
*skritches to Sammy*
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Date: 2022-02-24 02:02 am (UTC)Right back at ya.