segues from the excellent to the disturbing

[lunabee34]

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.

Comments

[princessofgeeks]

So awful about the employee with the breakdown. Hope they got some help!!!!

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.

[lunabee34]

I hope so, too. That's really scary. Josh said the paramedics came; he didn't see the police, so hopefully the guy did get some actual help and just not thrown into jail.

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.

[princessofgeeks]

Sounds like your evaluation instrument actually asks you to quantify things that are, you know, quantifiable!

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.

[lunabee34]

We also don't get a lot of formal evaluation of our teaching and here are some of the ways we measure the effectiveness of our teaching:

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?

[princessofgeeks]

Yes, all these are great ideas and we have never formally implemented any of them on my campus. We have a lot to learn for sure.

[lunabee34]

That's a shame.

At least you will be shed of it soon. Not your circus; not your monkeys. :)

[misbegotten]

Annual evaluations are the worst. But I'm glad you get something out of them! Congrats on conquering the Faculty Senate.

Are you going to bar Sammy from getting in the fireplace, or help? ;)

[lunabee34]

Oh, bar.

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

[musesfool]

Oh that sounds scary - I hope the guy in the grocery store gets real help.

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.

[lunabee34]

Me too. Such a bad situation all around.

I would be very annoyed at having to do something that's meaningless.

[gloss]

I hope the guy *and* Josh are doing better today than yesterday. That's so scary and awful.

I should join journalsandplanners so I can be y'all's token source of horror. So many crumpled pages and coffee rings and everything else...

[lunabee34]

Josh is much better. I hope the guy is, too. :(

We do not discriminate on the basis of aesthetics at journalsandplanners. All are welcome. :D

[amejisuto]

Congratulations on getting elected! That's so great!

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.

[lunabee34]

Thank you my dear! :D

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.

[amejisuto]

Compressed air sounds like a giant cat hissing so their claws tend to come out as they run. But I think it works better than water.

Gosh, I'm glad the other employees there were able to help him out. Still, that had to be jarring for the customers.

[minoanmiss]

*sends you lots of hugs to share with Josh* That sounds deeply unsettling indeed.

[lunabee34]

Thank you. It was pretty scary. I hope that guy is okay.

[corvidology]

Congrats on your further work towards world domination! Obviously fuelled by your annual evaluations! \o/

I'm sorry Josh and everyone else had to live through that. It must have been terrifying!

[lunabee34]

Everyone will be five minutes early and answer their emails within one business day!

*cue maniacal laughter*

I just hope that guy is alright; he is clearly not well.

[corvidology]

Everyone will be five minutes early and answer their emails within one business day

I think you should add 'miracle worker' to your evaluation! :D

[lunabee34]

Well, if I'm going to rule the world, I might as well shoot for the moon.

[aphrodite_mine]

Huzzah for chair and tooting your own horn - I feel similarly, it is really wonderful to be acknowledged for things you know you did well.

[lunabee34]

It really is a good feeling. :D

[archersangel]

I got elected chair of Faculty Senate for next academic year.

yay!

[lunabee34]

*takes a bow*

<3

[starwatcher]

annual evaluations. . . . "I'm awesome. Look at all this amazing shit I did this year and recognize!"

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...

[lunabee34]

That does sound really frustrating. We do goals for the upcoming year but those are in areas we can plan for; we know what we'll be researching or what committees we'll be volunteering for.

That is some awesome shit to be doing! Love the tactile versions of games.

[lyr]

2. Go, you! I fully support your plans for world domination.

[lunabee34]

Oh good. I was hoping to tap you for my cabinet.

[torachan]

Congrats!

And wtf re: the store!? Yikes!

[lunabee34]

Thank you!

I feel sorry for everybody that had to deal with that; I hope the guy gets help.

[chelseagirl]

I went to SWPACA so many years ago -- it was before I got married so at least 20. It was really large and really good.

[lunabee34]

I'm looking forward to it! And I have a colleague to travel with, so that alleviates some of my anxiety about flying and traveling by myself.

[oracne]

Congratulations on the world domination!

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.

[lunabee34]

Thank you.

I hope so, too. It's scary and sad.

[umadoshi]

I got elected chair of Faculty Senate for next academic year. My plans for world domination continue apace.

Huzzah! *hugs*

I hope the guy from the store got actual help. How upsetting for everyone. ;_;

[lunabee34]

Thank you!!

I hope so too. :(

[nyctanthes]

1. Box cutters...They're very scary.

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.

[lunabee34]

*high five*

I am already getting invited to meetings and schmoozings as chair elect. It's fascinating.

Yay for joining.

I should make another post soon.

[spikedluv]

*salutes you!

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.

[lunabee34]

Kitty! <3

I'm glad everyone was okay too. When Josh first texted me about it, I got really scared.

[ariadne83]

I just want to say, OMG I love planners so much. I buy way too many different kinds because I just love them

[lunabee34]

That sounds very familiar. LOL I can't help myself!

[china_shop]

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!"

*hearts you so much*

*skritches to Sammy*

[lunabee34]

Heee.

Right back at ya.