Where's the end?

Another installment of: I Decided To Teach College to Avoid This Type of Sh..oops.. Crap.

I had to send an e-mail to someone, the content of which boiled down to "No, I will not call that student's mother because she's upset that I did not respond to her son's e-mail in what she considered to be a timely fashion."

1) her son missed my four available weeks of advising times.  Four weeks.  Four. Weeks.

2) I had responded to his FIRST e-mail.

3) I had talked to him in the hallway.


But - of course - I'll drop what I'm doing now (you know - teaching the people who are in fact my students) to call this kid's mother "ASAP."

Speaking of - if I were to have entertained the idea of returning this phone call, federal guidlines prevent me from having a conversation with her about her son because he's an ADULT.

Opening Day

Saturday was opening day for Appleton Little League.

The pics are not great because we were behind the fence.

Let me just say.... kid pitch baseball can be boring as hell.  I've been told it will get a little better as the season wears on.... but holy moly that was a long two hours. 

In the machine pitch league, most batters get a hit.  That makes the game move along and provide some excitement.  In kid-pitch, they are either strike outs or walks.  There were very few hits.  There was base-stealing, which seemed like pretty much a foregone conclusion if the pitch did not go directly to the catcher (and even sometimes when it did). 

So, the game was more-or-less played between the pitcher and the catcher and the kids on the field were.... well... insurance.  Anyway.... yikers.  This might be a long season.

To all the no-longer teachers

Want to remember why you left teaching?  Let me remind you.

1) Grading.  OMG, I'm so far behind on grading.  Perhaps my summer vacation will be spent reading a book on teaching without grading.  Is there such a book?  There must be. 

Here's my issues with grading:
a) students rarely look at anything beyond the number - UNLESS - all you put on there is a number.  I'm pretty sure they like the idea that you've given them feedback more than they like the feedback.  Here - let me spend several hours giving you detailed feedback on what you should improve = same mistakes next time.  Fine, not worth my time, so here's a number of points. "Wait - why did I lose 2 points here? I don't understand why Jimmy got 5 points and I got 4.5 points." 

I think I might start writing illegible gibberish just to look like feedback.

b) partial credit.  I'm going to move to an all-or-nothing system.  No partial credit ever.  I fielded a question today on would I let them turn in work FROM A MULTIPLE CHOICE EXAM for partial credit.  Um.  No.  You don't get to have "the best of both worlds" when it comes to tests.  Either you can solve the problem having no idea what the answer might be and I'll give you some credit for trying if you get it wrong.  OR - you can have the opportunity to see a select set of possible answers and choose the one supported by your work.  You can't use a set of answers to get "pretty close" to the correct answer and then ask for partial credit on it.  I don't know if you worked from the problem to the answer or from the answer backwards.  Either way - you have a 25% chance of getting it right by guessing!  You don't get to take the correct score for the shit you guessed on and then add more points for the ones you didn't.

c) extra credit.  You are in college.  There is no more extra credit.  Welcome to Life.

2) Annoying students.  This semester I have a student who sits through my class without taking any notes "to better pay attention to what I'm saying" and then comes in to my office for an extra hour a week because he can't figure out how to do the homework problems.  You know what would help.  NOTES.  I even suggested that he just periodically take out his cell phone and snap a picture of the whiteboard.  Nope. 

I've also been asked for extra credit, partial credit (see above), and credit for trying.  I've had students tell me that they can't make the final exam time - THE DATE WAS AVAILABLE ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE SEMESTER.  You had 4 months to figure it out.  I have no sympathy.

And then students who expect me to solve their problems.  knock-knock.... here's the horrible story of my life right now and why I was unable to do x,y,z.  My response: I'm terribly sorry to hear that.  Student: so.......  Me: so........  long awkward pause.  Here's the thing.  I don't pretend to know anyone's motivations.  If you have something going on - come to me with a PLAN.  My brother died, could I have an extra week to do this assignment?  Me: yes, sure.  Student: My brother died.  Me: Oh, I'm sorry. 

Which one got you what you wanted?  I don't know what will work for you and if I propose something unworkable - then I'm the one who ends up being unreasonable.  "My brother died and Prof. Douglas only gave a 2 day extension.  It was due on the same day as the funeral.  Can you believe it?"


I know that it's the end of the year and I am tired and grumpy.  It feels a little better to rant for a few minutes.

Time past

The next new phase - puberty - medically verified.

We've been taking Allison to the endocrinologist about every six months for about the last few years.  We've been working under the assumption that she was following a "late bloomer" pattern and her bone age scans indicated growth plate space and "young" bones.

Well, the last six months kinda creeped up on us and Allison hit puberty.  I blame our lack of recognizing this on a few things.

1) her monstrously fast growing brother, who looks every day like he's prepared for flood waters by cropping his pants.  When both of them are growing at the same freakishly fast rate - there's nothing to compare with.  The "control group" was not stable.

2) that girl wears nothing but skirts.  Sure - that ankle length skirt is now a mid-calf skirt; but it still looks good and it's not totally noticeable.

3) she's still the shortest person her age around.  Again - comparatively speaking - she has not caught up.
 

So, what does this mean?  Well, her most recent bone age suggested a pretty typical 12 year old.  Yep - her actual age.  Not three years behind, not "lots of time to grow."  The doctor predicted that she's 'maybe' hit 5 feet tall when she's done.  But, I'm not sure he'd put a wager down on that.

I'm a little annoyed that we've been watching and waiting under the assumption that we had more time.  OTOH, I'm not sure I would have changed anything even if we would have known.  So, perhaps I'm just annoyed in general. Or maybe I just like that idea that there were options (if we wanted them) and now there are not more options.

We were left with the directive to "maximize her nutrition over the next 6 months" to take advantage of the growing that she's doing. I would love a doctor to tell me to eat as much as I wanted....

Are you done blogging?

So - there haven't been too many blog posts lately.  There are three main reasons for that.

First, I've been crazy busy.  The kids stuff is taking up more time. I'm trying to work a little more for the final push for tenure, provided my governor doesn't abolish it in the next 6 months, which would really piss me off.  And we've been working on projects around the house.  Yay - floors!

Secondly, I don't have that much that is interesting to say.  Since our days are filled with work, more work, and kids stuff.... it's kindof mundane.  As everyone gets older, there are fewer "new" things going on.... fewer "firsts."

Which leads me to the primary reason I think I'm not writing as much any more - the interesting things that do happen are happening to the kids and not to me.  At some point, the story of their days is less about mom and more about them. As they get older they are more self-conscious, and I respect that they won't want everyone to know about everything in their lives anymore (It's NOT a pimple, Mom. I. don't. get. PIMPLES!). 

Additionally, I've been consciously trying to step back a little and let them be more self-directed.  Admittedly, this has varying success, as Allison loves to make big bowls of ice cream as soon as we leave the house.  But, they need to be more independent and I need to let them and I need to quit writing about them for the world to see.  Someday they might read this.... GASP!

I may find a new thread to occupy the blog.  I can chronicle the last 8 months pre-tenure.  That would be Exciting.  Or maybe we'll just periodically post a picture or two.  Who knows.

3 days

We have three days to convince Allison she wants to go to camp.  Good luck to us.  :)

Our kids are going off to camp this summer.  Each one a week.  Without us.  Jacob is super excited to go to the YMCA camp and probably equally excited that his cousin Paddy is going with him.  He's full of logical kid-camp questions, like "Where will we sleep?  How big is the lake?  Do we get to fish?  Do we get to swim? Are there bathrooms?"

Allison, OTOH, is full of reasons why camp is a terrible, terrible idea. "I don't want to go.  I'll miss you.  I'll miss the cat. I don't have room in my life for any more friends."  Her camp would be for kids with disabilities that are specifically social needs - like Asperger's, ADHD, or high-functioning autism.  She has to interview for a spot in the camp, and the interview is Sunday.

Mostly, she probably has the exact same concerns Jacob has because it's a new experience and she has no context for it.  However, where Jacob throws his concerns into the Grand New Adventure category; Allison has thrown hers into the Massive Source of Anxiety category.

So, we're pushing her a little. Twelve year olds can go to camp.  They can be independent and meet new people and get outside their comfort zone and it's OK.  Reassure me.  Then reassure her.

My thoughts on why Wisconsin politics is frustrating

They are, once again, dire times for higher education in Wisconsin.  (why did we move here?  oh yeah - the weather!)

There's a hidden seed of hatred in my heart, one that used to blossom whenever I thought of George W. Bush's pointless war efforts; and now returns when I see a photo of our illustrious governor, Scott Walker.  He's just.... so.... smug.


So to balance an unfunded property tax cut (ooooo - we all got like $25!!!) he's proposing a $300 million dollar budget cut to the UW System, along with a tuition freeze for two years (so he can look good when he campaigns for president), in exchange for "some" freedom of the UW System to get out from under so much legislative control.

Well.... start saving that $25 now because you're going to need it when tuition at UW Madison goes up $5000.  I'd have to save my $25 tax break for how many years to cover that .... oh .... 200 years!  Well, good deal for me! 

Perhaps my kids would rather attend UW-Oshkosh who might raise their tuition a measly $2000. And live at home!  Wait.... I think none of us want that.

Sometime society decided that college is primarily a jobs training program.  And as a jobs-training program, the benefits of a college education go directly to the individual who receives the education.  Ergo - the individual should have to pay for said education since that individual is reaping the benefits.

EXCEPT - that when costs began to be passed off to the individual (or rather, their parents) we all threw a collective shit-fit about rising tuition costs.  Newsflash! The cost of educating people has not gone up.  Your state quit giving you a scholarship in the form of state support to your university system.

So - here's the deal - we cannot have our cake and eat it too.  It costs money to run a college.  We can privatize the whole damn thing and taxpayers can quit "supporting" those fat cat academics.  Let the market sort it out, but likely a quality education will cost about $20,000 a year.  (But think of all the taxes we'll save!!!).  We'll price out low income and place-bound students.  But that's OK.  I mean, if the return on an investment will pay out in increased salary, then the market will adjust accordingly.  And all those people who don't realize that.... well.... this is 'Murica and there's bootstraps and all that.  Besides, there's always factories to go work in.  Oh, wait.....

OR - we can keep tuition down by giving students within our state a scholarship (in the form of tax dollars from state to university) to attend the public university in our state at a subsidized cost.  We keep in-state tuition low and accessible to all residents.  Oh, we'll also be supplying businesses in our state with a healthy and steady stream of educated professionals to work for them.  We'll be richer because we'll have artists and businesses and low crime.  We'll be happier because we won't be pulling our hair out, concerned about how to pay for a quality education for our kids.  Terrible!!!  I have to give back my $25!!!


And - I swear - if I hear about ANYONE I know voting for Scott Walker for President - I may never speak to you again.  Republican? .... I can find you someone better than this cheesewad turd trying to ooze his way beyond the cheddar curtain.