Done

with Spring semester of 2009.

The final exam is graded (with a tiny curve) and all grades have been entered.  And I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders.  One course done... many more to come in the future.

Unfortunately, as much as I enjoy teaching, I won't be teaching next semester.  I had a course (Baby Bio) all lined up for Fall, but I had to ask the Dean to remove me from the schedule.  You see, Mr. TempProf and I recently found out we are expecting our first child.  And I don't think I could handle an evening class, 2 nights a week, at 8 months pregnant.   (Especially when you add to that working a full-time post-doc job)

So, as I started this blog to talk about my adventures in teaching, and won't be teaching for a year, this blog will probably not be too active.  I definitely plan to bring it back though as soon as I re-enter the teaching world.  Which will happen.  Cause despite the difficulties I had this semester, I think this is what I'm meant to do.

-TempProf

The Home Stretch

I can see it.  I can hear it.  My weary body is beginning to breathe a sound of relief.

Only 2 more lectures to go and then a final exam.  I can do this. 

Lab is finished with.  They had their final the other night, and I've already graded them and tallied the lab grades.

Now just to get through the remaining 3 classes, and then I will have time to devout solely to research.   

I'm on the schedule to teach again come Fall, after a much needed summer break.  We'll see if my class fills.  Registration hasn't started yet.

Read My Mind

Do you know I expect students to read my mind?

Hm-mmm.

Or at least that was what I was informed of yesterday by a student.

He had an issue with his last exam.   I should say he had multiple issues with the exam (mainly stemming from the fact that he got a 62% on it), but I will spare you the details.  Instead I will focus on the fact that apparently I expect my students to read my mind.  Heaven forbid that the information asked about was not only in the book but was also in my lecture powerpoint and was extensively covered in class.

However, this particular student, when asked a short answer question to provide all the major differences between Topic A and Topic B, thought that providing just one difference should have been enough to get him full credit on the question.   He didn't understand why he got less than partial credit on the question and he argued and argued with me.   He kept coming back to the same statement, "I didn't know I was expected to read your mind."

How does fully and completely answering the question require any mind-reading?   I believe, and correct me if I'm wrong, that it simply requires actually reading the material, paying attention in class, and studying.

But apparently that is too much to ask, and I should just give everyone full credit if they throw the words DNA, RNA or protein into their answer.

Evaluations

So yesterday I had to hand out the "professor evaluation" forms.  Or actually, my designated student handed them out and collected them, placing them in a sealed envelope, which I then deposited on the administrative assistant's desk.

Do I wonder what they say?   Yeah.

Am I nervous about what they say?  Yeah.

But thats a good thing, right?  'Cause if I didn't care at all about being a good professor or teacher, then I wouldn't care what the evaluations said, right?  Right?

I don't expect to get perfect scores, since really I am a new fledgling teacher just learning to spread her wings and fly.  There is a lot of room for improvement and the rationale side of me knows that.   But the other side of me just wants everyone to like me and think that I'm doing a good job.

Unrealistic, eh?

Especially the everyone like me bit.   Outside of the classroom everyone doesn't like me, so why would all my students like me?  Especially those that are currently failing.

 Apparently the assistant dean reads through the evaluations and will talk to me about them at my end of year review.  Will there be anything useful to help me become a better instructor in those evaluations?   My gut says no.

So has anyone ever benefited from student evaluations?

Also, and this is kinda related.... has anyone ever looked themselves up on Rate My Professor?  'Cause I have.  And I think I'm going to wait awhile before doing it again.

Exam Time

So that time has rolled around again.   Time to write another exam.   I think when I was a student (eons and eons ago, just kidding!) I thought professors had it really easy.  They just had to pick some random questions, throw them on a piece of paper, and print out enough copies for the entire class.  Then when I picked up the book and instructors CD and realized there was a test bank of questions, I thought how hard can this be?   It's only now, having written one exam previously, that I realize how much work it takes. 

I also think its a lot easier to take an exam than it is to write an exam.  I would much rather spend my time studying a subject, take an hour+ exam and be done, then spend hours upon hours of trying to come up with questions to test the knowledge of the students.  Questions that are interesting and challenging, but not too challenging.  Questions that make sense to people besides me, the writer.  Questions that at least some portion of the class will be able to successfully answer!

Writing a good exam is an art.  And I am not even close to perfecting that art form yet.

Bad Lab Instructor

I got tattled on this AM.

Apparently one of my lab tables didn't completely empty every single drop of water out of their beakers last night after cleaning them.  So the lab this morning had to dry them out.

How do I know this?  I got an e-mail from the "head" lab person this AM requesting that I more properly ensure my students clean up after themselves.

Being in the great mood I'm in.... I sent a very lovely e-mail back apologizing, saying it wouldn't happen again, and if we were informing of equipment not properly maintained, here were my complaints.... And then I proceeded to list the unfortunate things I've had to deal with this semester, but which I just initially shrugged off as an accident.

Spiteful today?  Not in the least.....

"Is that the same thing as a lobster boy?"

That is an actual quote from my class last week.   

The context?  We were talking about apoptosis (aka- programmed cell death) and how it is an  essential part of normal development.  The example I provided was how a developing chicken foot undergoes extensive apoptosis whilst a duck's does not, hence the remnant of webbing in the duck's foot and not in the chickens.

So my favorite student (that was sarcasm there... this individual is actually the one who drives me nuts and can push every single one of my buttons - story on that to come tomorrow) raises his hand, and that was the question he asked.

"Is that the same thing as a lobster boy?"

I had no idea how to respond and I'm sure my face showed that.   I hadn't the foggiest idea what he was referring to.   So I ask him if he can explain what he means and he goes on to say, 

"You know, the people in carnival freak shows that have lobster claws for hands."

Looking back on it now, I guess I can see where he is coming from, and how the question related to the topic at hand.  But at the time I was just so perplexed all I could respond with was...

"Sam*, I don't know anything about any lobster boys."

*= real name has been removed for sake of privacy.  Not that I seriously believe "Sam" actually reads my bog, but one never knows.

Updates

The quiz cheater was not in lab this week.   

This morning upon checking my roster, I find the student has withdrawn from the class.  Am I bothered by this?  Not at all.   This was the same student who, after receiving a 61 on the first exam, asked me if I could just drop the exam.  Not very likely I informed them in response.

I guess they decided to just take a "W" on their transcript rather than get the grade that would be coming to them.

Now come lecture time this week I need to inform the students of their grades in the class up to this point and let them know that March 26th is the last day they can withdraw from the class without having to provide any reason.  Do I think any of them will do this?   Yeah, unfortunately I do.   The couple of students that haven't attended really any lectures... they'll probably withdraw.  The student who didn't even show up for the first exam (15% of the final grade) and still thinks they can pass...they'll probably withdraw.

Oh well.....  thats the way it goes, right?  If they don't think they'll get a B, some will just drop.  Or am I incorrect in that assumption?

And, I have to keep reminding myself to not take it personally.  Why is that so hard?  All I want to do is teach them.  Get them to learn something in the science department.

Not a 100%

I feel like I am not giving a 100%.

Not a 100% that I could give to my research.

Not a 100% that I could give to teaching.

Not a 100% that I could give to my husband.

Not a 100% that I could give to my dogs.

I am capable of so much more.   But there are only so many hours in a day.  And after awhile, to be honest, my brain just shuts down.

Spring Break is over

I teach again tomorrow.  

Which is okay.   Though I must admit, I did rather enjoy the last week of not having to rush and get everything done.  Of actually being able to sit and eat dinner with my husband.  Having the time to take the doggies for walks in the evening.  All this instead of running straight from lab to the college, holding office hours and then heading to class for 3 hours.

Did I accomplish all I wanted to?

Well, lets see....

- got all assignments graded and recorded CHECK

- got 2 powerpoint presentations assembled CHECK

- am half-way through lecture notes for 1st lecture CHECK

and I forget what else was on my list....

Oh well, I'm content with it.  And thats all that matters.

And starting tomorrow I'll have more entertaining student stories to share.  Thats always a bonus.

I don't get it....

So I gave my lab students an option last week.  I had been hearing grumblings about how unreasonable I am with not accepting late assignments.  So I decided to be the nice guy (for once.. no really, I think I'm overly nice and accommodating, my husband says I'm a softy when it comes to my students) and announced in lab that I would accept one late assignment from them all.  

However, there were two stipulations: 

1) it had to be e-mailed to me by midnight Sunday, March 8th (5 days after announcing this)

2) the grade would be based out of 80% rather than a 100%.   For most of them, this would mean  potentially getting an 80 on an assignment they previously had a 0 on.

The students were all very enthused and profusely thanked me.

Fast forward to Monday, March 9th.  I check my e-mail.  And have 1 assignment in there.  From a student who has gotten perfect scores on every assignment, yet had to miss one class due to a death in the family, and thus needed to make up a homework.

1.  In case you missed that, here it is again.  1.

Out of 31 students.  Each of which had at least one assignment missing and would have to take a 0 for that grade unless they used this opportunity to make it up.

I think I was in disbelief.  Do students these days really not care?  Or is it just this bunch?  I have to believe there are better students out there, otherwise I just don't think I can continue on the academic track.  Am I just setting myself up for only dealing with a lower quality student by adjuncting at a community college?   (That sounds so egotistical and I apologize.)  And if so, does that mean my experience of adjuncting there is not really serving the purpose I intended it to, to give me a realistic view of what its like to teach.

ps- I also got another e-mail this morning from a student complete with their make-up assignment.  (sigh)  What part of "by midnight on Sunday, March 8th" did they not understand?

Decisions about grading

(again, thanks for all the advice received, and please don't hate me if I didn't take your suggestion!)

Okay, so after returning my first ever exam, in which the average grade was just average (a low C for those wondering), this is what I decided to do.

I returned the exam to them and let them correct their answers.

I know, I generated a heck of a lot more work for myself, but I just felt by them going back over their exams, using their books and notes to identify the correct response, that they might actually semi-learn some of the material they initially answered wrong.

These were my stipulations:

- corrections had to be typed (no way I was wasting more time trying to read illegible chicken scrawl)

- for each corrected answer- they had to give a reason WHY that answer was the correct one.

So, for example, for the handful of true/false questions on the exam, if the statement was actually false, they had to say why it was false and rewrite the question to make it true.  If the right answer was actually true, again they had to give a reason why that was true.  They just couldn't simply change their answer from true and false and get credit for it.

What sort of "credit" did I give them?   Partial credit for each answer corrected.  It worked out to be ~1/4 of a point for each correction.  So the person who scored the highest, this would only knock him/her up 5 pts.  Meanwhile, the person who scored a lowest (the 20) would still get an F, though albeit a higher F.   (Not sure if that made him/her feel any better.. but it turns out it was a moot point, because that person did not turn in a regrade.)

As for curving - I decided to hold off to the end of the course.  So I'm going to put up with the incessant whining about the grades, and then make some adjustment at the end.  What exactly that adjustment will be is still up for grabs.   

Though I definitely say that I have no problems failing someone who hasn't put forth any sort of effort towards the class at all.  

Does that make me mean? 

Wow....

I take a week off from my newly started blog (due to having to present lab meeting and scrambling to get some actual data to present) and come back to actual comments!  People have actually found me and are passing along some great advice.  So to all of you who responded to my "curving" post and any of the other posts, thank you, thank you, thank you!

Now I just have to figure out how to get my huge list of experiments done .... and prepare my next lectures.

All I can say, is thank god for Spring Break.   Never would I have thought I'd enjoy Spring Break just for the fact of having 2 extra nights free this week, and not traveling to Cancun or Miami!  :)   (and no, sadly, I never went to either of those places during college for a Spring Break.. though I did hit up Hilton Head one year!   I'm such a rebel)

So during my week "break" from actual teaching, I have huge goals for myself.   And I'm going to write them out here, so the world can see them.  And then hopefully I'll be more likely to accomplish them:

- grade the resubmitted exams (will explain in next post)

- grade most recent quizzes

- grade most recent lab report

- prepare mini-lecture for next lab class

- prepare next 2 seminar lectures

Yup, you read that right.  Two.   Dos.  Zwei.  Dwa.

I don't set low goals for myself, now do I?

The after shocks

of returning an exam started a mere hour after class let out.

The first e-mail rolled into my account.   It began in a great way, an attempt to compliment me on being a good teacher.  However, the compliment failed as the student misspelled my name in the greeting.  And addressed me as "Mr."   Last time I checked, I was very obviously female.  Not even Prof. or Dr.  but Mr.?!?!?!? 

Moving past that little (what the heck) BIG faux pas, the student then proceeded to ask me to drop the lowest "quiz" grade.  I believe he actually meant exam in his statement.... since this was directly after he received the score of his not-so-great exam.  However, due to the massive amount of grammatical errors and misspelled words, I am a tad unsure to the true meaning of his e-mail.  I responded very politely (although I had to resist the urge to write back to Ms. Student) and informed him that if he reviewed his syllabus he would recall that the lowest quiz grade is in fact dropped, however all exams will count towards the final grade.

I don't think that was the answer he wanted.

Why...

does the copier always jam or break down when you have 10 minutes till class time, need to finish copying enough quizzes for the entire class....and still need to wolf down the crackers that are serving as your dinner?

(sigh)

It's going to be one of those nights.

The First Post

I have been debating whether to start a "professional" blog for awhile.  And finally today (during a spurt of procrastination) succumbed to the desire.  I am not sure how witty or entertaining the general public will find my stories, but its worth a shot.  And we will see how this blog develops over time.  Together.

To start off, I need to tell you a little about myself, without giving away completely who I am.  Why the shroud of secrecy?  No real reason... besides the fact if any of my students were ever to see this site, there might be some issues.  So for now, I will be Temporary Prof.    Or, Dr. Temporary Prof to be more accurate and reflective of the 7 years it took me to get through graduate school (and that hard earned title of "Doctor of Philosophy").

Now my background in as little words as possible:

1st) Oldest child (out of 2) born to two non-scientist parents

2nd) Undergraduate at a private university where I got my first introduction to research by performing a summer student internship that turned into a part-time student internship during the remainder of college.

3rd) Graduate student in biological sciences at a prestigious private university.  (Why did I feel the need to add prestigious there?  I guess for my own ego boost)

4th) Thesis lab was thankfully very well funded, so I had (what I now realize to be) a non-average graduate career where money was not a limiting factor and there was no trouble with doing the  $$$ experiments.

5th) Currently employed full time job as a post-doctoral fellow at a site of major research.

6th) Also, currently employed as an adjunct faculty member at a local community college, where I teaching an introductory biology course (hence forward referred to as Baby Bio or Bio101) and its corresponding laboratory.

7th)  Oh, yeah..... and I'm female.   Married to a non-scientist and mom to two fur-babies, that would be of the canine type.

So I think thats good enough for now.   And either later today or tomorrow.... the stories of my first year teaching will start.

Enjoy.