Here is a little interview video I did for a speech I gave tonight. http://www.screencast.com/t/BTsQGqUspNve
Josh Evans gave me the idea of using Voki to create a talking cat. I knew I wanted to have the interview between myself and the cat. I thought about doing something really complicated like figureing how to video the back of my head interviewing someone seen on the laptop screen. But I didn't want to try a lot of new things. I also thought about doing the interview with a video of the cat's comments and space cut for where I would put my line. I'd speak on cue and to time from the floor. But that also seemed too much of a challenge. As my friend Lilli Ann knows, I'm no actress (I don't have those skills, although I do have more than enough ego (when I'm feeling a big bulge in my low self-esteem).
Finally, I decided I'd rather do it completely pre-recorded (less stress).
I'm glad that I was the only one who noticed (or commented within my hearing) that I'd left out stuff (I had all kinds of references I wanted to make about the video montage that I just forgot). Well, one of the public speaking books I used to use had a saying about keeping it short, that no one will hate you for taking less time than expected.
I spoke at the faculty convocation at COCC about what cats can teach us about excellence in instruction. I worked hard on the speech and was paniking before I gave it (during the opening statement by Prez Middleton defining "convocation" I was sitting in the back and listening to my heart pretend to be a kettledrum.
I'm so glad my colleague Carol Higginbotham was named teacher of the year. She's so quiet but every-time she says something it's valuable.
For more information about cat videos see: http://www.walkerart.org/calendar/2014/internet-cat-video-festival-2014
Friday, May 30, 2014
Thursday, May 29, 2014
12 WDL Complex Blessing
I'm blessed to be a member of the Public Employees Retirement System and yet challenged by the complexity of managing the details inherent in the blessing. Today I've been struggling with figuring out all the paperwork that I need when I meet with an adviser for an individual counseling session tomorrow. The biggest issue is, "What should I do with my IAP account?" I've made a tentative decision. At least I think it's tentative. I have thirty days, I think, to rethink. Maybe. I'm kind of confused.
I have a bad head for money and have been so caught up with other stuff related to the approaching life-change that I haven't given this material as much consideration as I should have done. One of the troubles with PERS is that any decision one makes is made forever. Another problem with PERS is a website that looks like it was constructed by gnomes in the early 1990s and not assessed for manageability since. (It's as easy to navigate as the Bering Sea.) And of course another issue are the attacks on the system made by those who hold the idea that pensions are payments for not working rather than deferred payments for work already performed.
I have rarely given much thought to money except during the few times when I've been extremely poor. There was that one school year when I was separated first from my spouse and then from my job as a grad student at ISU. I was cashing the few checks I got at grocery stores and sticking the rent money on a run-down furnished apartment in the freezer box of a 25 year old refrigerator. That was the year I gleaned food from garbage cans behind Albertsons and Smiths, took various items to pawn shops with no plan to pick them up and sold plasma.
But I always knew I had a way out. Some people don't have that hope. Those of us who do are either blessed or lucky, depending on one's theological perspective.
So, that's what I've been doing all evening rather than contributing something worthwhile to this blog.
I have a bad head for money and have been so caught up with other stuff related to the approaching life-change that I haven't given this material as much consideration as I should have done. One of the troubles with PERS is that any decision one makes is made forever. Another problem with PERS is a website that looks like it was constructed by gnomes in the early 1990s and not assessed for manageability since. (It's as easy to navigate as the Bering Sea.) And of course another issue are the attacks on the system made by those who hold the idea that pensions are payments for not working rather than deferred payments for work already performed.
I have rarely given much thought to money except during the few times when I've been extremely poor. There was that one school year when I was separated first from my spouse and then from my job as a grad student at ISU. I was cashing the few checks I got at grocery stores and sticking the rent money on a run-down furnished apartment in the freezer box of a 25 year old refrigerator. That was the year I gleaned food from garbage cans behind Albertsons and Smiths, took various items to pawn shops with no plan to pick them up and sold plasma.
But I always knew I had a way out. Some people don't have that hope. Those of us who do are either blessed or lucky, depending on one's theological perspective.
So, that's what I've been doing all evening rather than contributing something worthwhile to this blog.
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
13 WDL Student Evaluations
I have not read my student evaluations since they went completely online after my sabbatical. I haven't felt the need. I figured my department chair would let me know if I was seriously screwing up in any way. Also, I have erroneously believed that online evaluation skewed lower. It seems I was wrong. The University of Oregon has dedicated an entire web page to data driven justification of the move to online. And according to the paper, by David Fike, et al, "Online vs. Paper Evaluations of Faculty: When Less is Just as Good" (Journal of Effective Teaching), online evals get fewer responses but they offer pretty much the same results as in-class evaluations.
Last Friday I threw out 22 years of paper evaluations. Dropped them into the little blue recycling bin that now blesses my office. (I think this is a super development -- personal recycling bins. I used to bring in my own paper bag.) I saved a few evaluation packets from the fire just to share with you.
In Winter, 1989, the evaluations had ratings from 5 - 1 (5 being high and 1 being low). There were twelve areas for evaluation plus a section for comments.
The last set of evaluations I actually looked at were those from Fall, 2011, before I went on my last sabbatical. Ratings had expanded to seven levels and evaluated areas had declined to eight:
Over the years I've been teaching I've paid far more attention to the negative comments than the positive ones. This is partially because, as a human, I'm programmed to do so. [It's the old evolutionary deal with not seeing the tiger being more costly than not seeing the berries.] But also because the negative comments give me something to work on. I've consistently adjusted my teaching over the years based on those student comments which are specific enough to give provide ways to better deliver my product. Of course, I've only made changes when more than one student complained about a particular aspect of my teaching or of the class, and only when that complaint seemed pertinent. When adjustments, to classes or myself, seemed appropriate, I sometimes used them as a source of ideas for my Professional Improvement Plans.
Of course, sometimes student comments are just wack. Like the comment from a speech class in fall 2011 about me showing a picture of a naked man on the first day of class. This did not happen. I did have a slide of a man holding a large appropriately placed leaf over his hips and naughty bits in my lecture on visual aids (with the comment that people should pay attention to audience standards for taste and decorum) but that picture didn't appear until halfway through the quarter. Perhaps that was that particular student's first day. And then there are all those classes in which one student will write that I show respect to everyone in class and another, in the same class, will say that I'm narrow-minded.
One student, writing in Winter, 1989 SP 112 wrote: "These evaluations are rather ridiculous. All they actually do is evaluate how the students are doing in a class. I.e., IF the student is getting an "A" the instructor will, more than likely, do well in evaluation. If a student is doing poorly -- the instructor, in his/her eyes, must be unorganized -- unfair -- uninterested, etc. I think these should be abolished!"
While I wrote very similar comments on teacher evaluations when I was a student at Idaho State, I came to disagree with that perspective. Student evals are often actually helpful. And, when I was feeling down about a class, they often cheered me up with their positive comments about how I cared about the topics, was knowledgeable, and was fair and caring. (And the occasional notes about my hairstyle or shoes du jour.)
Now, as I review the positive identity messages in these old evaluations, I understand what my therapist means about the part of the job I'll be sad about leaving. I really haven't been allowing that to sink in. I will miss having a positive impact on others. I will miss the empowerment inherent in public speaking and interpersonal communication. I will miss the fun of the classroom performance and meeting the challenge of the bootcamp. And of course I will miss having people say nice things about me in writing.
But not for long.
Last Friday I threw out 22 years of paper evaluations. Dropped them into the little blue recycling bin that now blesses my office. (I think this is a super development -- personal recycling bins. I used to bring in my own paper bag.) I saved a few evaluation packets from the fire just to share with you.
In Winter, 1989, the evaluations had ratings from 5 - 1 (5 being high and 1 being low). There were twelve areas for evaluation plus a section for comments.
- Organization of subject matter.
- Knowledge of subject matter.
- Attitude toward subject
- Ability to explain clearly
- Ability to stimulate thinking
- Speaking ability, voice
- Attitude toward students, etc.
- Fairness of grading
- Tolerance of disagreement
- Out of class assistance
- 10b. How would you rate this instructor?
- 10c. DIFFICULTY OF CLASS
The last set of evaluations I actually looked at were those from Fall, 2011, before I went on my last sabbatical. Ratings had expanded to seven levels and evaluated areas had declined to eight:
- Objectives have been made clear.
- Activities are related to the objectives
- Instructor is well-prepared
- Instructor is available
- Feedback is timely, constructive & clear
- Grades accurately measure learning
- Diverse points of view are respected.
- I would recommend this course.
Over the years I've been teaching I've paid far more attention to the negative comments than the positive ones. This is partially because, as a human, I'm programmed to do so. [It's the old evolutionary deal with not seeing the tiger being more costly than not seeing the berries.] But also because the negative comments give me something to work on. I've consistently adjusted my teaching over the years based on those student comments which are specific enough to give provide ways to better deliver my product. Of course, I've only made changes when more than one student complained about a particular aspect of my teaching or of the class, and only when that complaint seemed pertinent. When adjustments, to classes or myself, seemed appropriate, I sometimes used them as a source of ideas for my Professional Improvement Plans.
Of course, sometimes student comments are just wack. Like the comment from a speech class in fall 2011 about me showing a picture of a naked man on the first day of class. This did not happen. I did have a slide of a man holding a large appropriately placed leaf over his hips and naughty bits in my lecture on visual aids (with the comment that people should pay attention to audience standards for taste and decorum) but that picture didn't appear until halfway through the quarter. Perhaps that was that particular student's first day. And then there are all those classes in which one student will write that I show respect to everyone in class and another, in the same class, will say that I'm narrow-minded.
One student, writing in Winter, 1989 SP 112 wrote: "These evaluations are rather ridiculous. All they actually do is evaluate how the students are doing in a class. I.e., IF the student is getting an "A" the instructor will, more than likely, do well in evaluation. If a student is doing poorly -- the instructor, in his/her eyes, must be unorganized -- unfair -- uninterested, etc. I think these should be abolished!"
While I wrote very similar comments on teacher evaluations when I was a student at Idaho State, I came to disagree with that perspective. Student evals are often actually helpful. And, when I was feeling down about a class, they often cheered me up with their positive comments about how I cared about the topics, was knowledgeable, and was fair and caring. (And the occasional notes about my hairstyle or shoes du jour.)
Now, as I review the positive identity messages in these old evaluations, I understand what my therapist means about the part of the job I'll be sad about leaving. I really haven't been allowing that to sink in. I will miss having a positive impact on others. I will miss the empowerment inherent in public speaking and interpersonal communication. I will miss the fun of the classroom performance and meeting the challenge of the bootcamp. And of course I will miss having people say nice things about me in writing.
But not for long.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
14 WDL (Working Days Left) Last Lecture
 |
| Bend Bulletin, 9/3/1995 |
I was thinking about old tech times because my very last lecture as a college professor was about "Virtual Groups," a lecture based on Chapter Eleven of the wonderful but horribly overpriced textbook I've been using since its first or second iteration in the early 90s: In Mixed Company by J. Dan Rothwell.. Not steadily. I have done due diligence to try and find a cheaper book that was just as well written and documented, but to no avail. Rothwell tells good stories, covers the material thoroughly and has a well constructed text that works for the ten-week quarter.
He works at Cabrillo Community College and is a nice guy. This year at WSCA he got the "master teacher" award. Still, his book, now in its 8th edition, is $135 at Amazon ($77 Kindle). But I've always had one or two copies on reserve in the library for those who can't pay the extortionate price.
But I digress. At the top of this column I pasted a scan from an article I found in the "top drawer" of my rapidly emptying office file cabinet. Written by Barney Lerten (now at KTVZ), the article was entitled "Local computer users discuss future of online services." In it, I call myself a "geek" and say one wise thing about the internet: "It has the power to connect people who might otherwise be isolated . . . For example, the Southern Baptist in the middle of a Catholic city, or the homosexual in Rigby, Idaho, may want to connect with people they find more accepting."
This comment (combined with my early shopping history) shows that I was well ahead of Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel. Rothwell opens his chapter on Virtual groups with a story about the Today Show pair who, during a break in 1994, talked about the internet beginning with Gumbel's question, "What is the Internet, anyway?"
Friday, May 23, 2014
15 Feminist Finale
My last lecture (ever!) in the Philosophy of Love class was on three feminist readings in our textbook: selections from Emma Goldman, Simone de Beauvoir, and Shulamith Firestone. I began with my usual schtick of asking, "How many of you are feminists?" and getting a small showing of hands followed up by two questions that get everyone's hands up. "How many of you believe women should vote?" "How many of you believe a woman has the right to her own earnings?" And then I tell them they are ALL feminists.
The discussion this time, however, just made my heart glad. There was one man, father of a 16 year old girl, who said that he wanted her to grow up strong so that she could take care of herself. Others talked about valuing equal relationships in love and appreciating what the feminists had to say about that.
I remembered back to my early years at COCC when I was very pushy about people calling me Ms. if they used my last name. Then I realized that I was being perceived as authoritarian and bitchy -- setting an unhappy and combative tone the first day. So I gave up that fight and simply asked for them to put Professor or Doctor in front of my name, if they needed to give me a title.
I'm proud of the work I've done over the years in the love-education courses, Philosophy of Love and Communicating Love. I hope and believe I've given those students who paid attention a larger view of the concept of love and also some tools to withstand some of the seductions of romance.
On Tuesday I focused on Existentialism and a reading from Being and Nothingness about the conflict inherent in love -- that as we love we seek to devour the freedom of the other that makes our freedom possible. This quarter we've had several good discussions about the problem of love versus duty -- is it possible to love someone if one is "supposed to" do so? I hadn't seen so clearly before how the reading the textbook offers from the letters of Heloise has some of the same criticism of marriage as that offered several centuries later by both Emma Goldman and Jean Paul Sartre. These are the opinions I held when I was swearing to my sister, in August 1973, that I would never get married. And a few weeks later I was. And I still am.
דער מענטש טראַכט און גאָט לאַכט
The discussion this time, however, just made my heart glad. There was one man, father of a 16 year old girl, who said that he wanted her to grow up strong so that she could take care of herself. Others talked about valuing equal relationships in love and appreciating what the feminists had to say about that.
I remembered back to my early years at COCC when I was very pushy about people calling me Ms. if they used my last name. Then I realized that I was being perceived as authoritarian and bitchy -- setting an unhappy and combative tone the first day. So I gave up that fight and simply asked for them to put Professor or Doctor in front of my name, if they needed to give me a title.
I'm proud of the work I've done over the years in the love-education courses, Philosophy of Love and Communicating Love. I hope and believe I've given those students who paid attention a larger view of the concept of love and also some tools to withstand some of the seductions of romance.
On Tuesday I focused on Existentialism and a reading from Being and Nothingness about the conflict inherent in love -- that as we love we seek to devour the freedom of the other that makes our freedom possible. This quarter we've had several good discussions about the problem of love versus duty -- is it possible to love someone if one is "supposed to" do so? I hadn't seen so clearly before how the reading the textbook offers from the letters of Heloise has some of the same criticism of marriage as that offered several centuries later by both Emma Goldman and Jean Paul Sartre. These are the opinions I held when I was swearing to my sister, in August 1973, that I would never get married. And a few weeks later I was. And I still am.
דער מענטש טראַכט און גאָט לאַכט
- Der mentsh trakht un Got lakht.
- Man plans and God laughs.
16 Late Post About Teeth
This should have gone up last night but I was captured by Turner Classic Movies. (When people ask me about my post-retirement plans I should be saying, "Catching up on old movies at TCM.)
Yesterday I was having a tooth repaired at Timm Family Dentistry and when I was waiting for Doc Andy I chatted with a young female assistant. She said her name was Nichole and would I mind if she assisted today. She explained that she was a student in training from COCC. I said, "That's awesome."
That made her smile. She noted that she didn't expect someone to say that it was awesome to have a student practice on them. I added, "It's not quite as awesome as having a culinary student practice on me."
Then she asked if I minded if her teacher observed. I asked, "Is it Deb?" Nichole was surprised I knew Deb Davies. I told her I'd served on committees with Deb. Deb is one of COCC's great teacher/leaders. She's the program coordinator of Dental Assisting. She is the person behind the low cost dental clinic at COCC. I have great admiration for her. When she arrived we talked a bit about massage (she was going to get a Japanese facial massage yesterday afternoon at COCC's LMT program) until Doc Andy entered and packed my mouth with cotton. Then Deb observed as Nichole used the blue tube to suck water out of my mouth and Andy ground a front tooth so the magic replacement substance could stick to my chipped enamel.
It's fun to see students out putting their COCC educations to work. Of course my favorite COCC student story is that of the cooks at Ariana. Great food and a truly fine dining experience built on the talents of two COCC culinary students. I was so excited in early spring to hear that the whole family business flew out to New York to prepare a meal for 60 for the non-profit James Beard Foundation. Here's the amazing menu:
Yesterday I was having a tooth repaired at Timm Family Dentistry and when I was waiting for Doc Andy I chatted with a young female assistant. She said her name was Nichole and would I mind if she assisted today. She explained that she was a student in training from COCC. I said, "That's awesome."
That made her smile. She noted that she didn't expect someone to say that it was awesome to have a student practice on them. I added, "It's not quite as awesome as having a culinary student practice on me."
Then she asked if I minded if her teacher observed. I asked, "Is it Deb?" Nichole was surprised I knew Deb Davies. I told her I'd served on committees with Deb. Deb is one of COCC's great teacher/leaders. She's the program coordinator of Dental Assisting. She is the person behind the low cost dental clinic at COCC. I have great admiration for her. When she arrived we talked a bit about massage (she was going to get a Japanese facial massage yesterday afternoon at COCC's LMT program) until Doc Andy entered and packed my mouth with cotton. Then Deb observed as Nichole used the blue tube to suck water out of my mouth and Andy ground a front tooth so the magic replacement substance could stick to my chipped enamel.
It's fun to see students out putting their COCC educations to work. Of course my favorite COCC student story is that of the cooks at Ariana. Great food and a truly fine dining experience built on the talents of two COCC culinary students. I was so excited in early spring to hear that the whole family business flew out to New York to prepare a meal for 60 for the non-profit James Beard Foundation. Here's the amazing menu:
-
Hors d'Oeuvre
- Foie Gras Mousse–Filled Gougères with Huckleberry Jam
- Smoked Columbia River Sturgeon with Roasted Ramp Crème Fraîche and Gold Potatoes
- Pork Belly with Radishes, Chiles, and Lime
- Argyle Vintage Brut 2010
- Westside 75 > Bendistillery Crater Lake Gin with Clear Creek Distillery Williams Pear Brandy, Lemon Juice, and Argyle Vintage Brut 2010
-
Dinner
- Celery Bisque with Dungeness Crab and Lemon
- Bethel Heights Vineyard Chardonnay 2012
- Venison Carpaccio with Horseradish, Spring Onions, and Parmesan Crackers
- WillaKenzie Estate Gamay Noir 2011
- Wild Oregon Salmon with Black Trumpet Mushrooms, Truffle–Caviar Beurre Blanc, and Oregon Truffles
- Domaine Drouhin Dundee Hills Pinot Noir 2010
- Slow-Braised Beef Short Ribs with Parmesan Polenta and Spring Garlic Gremolata
- Doubleback Cabernet Sauvignon 2010
- Passion Fruit Curd, Lone Pine Coffee Espuma, Raspberries, and Cocoa Nib Meringue
- Château Ste. Michelle & Dr. Loosen Eroica Riesling Icewine 2006
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