You’d think there would be something profound about the 30th of September we could use for motivation. If there is, we don’t know it. Sure, we could say something about how tomorrow is a new month and a fresh start, but a fresh start means little if you’re perpetually carrying the same questions month to month.
Enter the Eberly Center’s “Solve a Teaching Problem” site. Provided by the folks at Carnegie Mellon University in the United States, this ambitious project aims to answer any question that may arise in the classroom – for student teachers and seasoned professors alike. Here you’ll find advice on everything from what to do when group work falls flat to how to motivate students who just aren’t into your course. On the latter subject, the Center offers the following:
As students struggle to balance competing goals, they have to prioritize. To motivate students to prioritize the work for your class, it is helpful to clearly demonstrate its value and relevance to their current and future academic goals, their intended professions, and their personal interests. Pointing out these links can be particularly important in courses that are not in the students’ majors. For example, an instructor teaching a basic composition course might specifically discuss the ways in which learning to make a reasoned argument can help students in a wide range of majors and professions.
So if you’re searching for motivation this Monday, you can perhaps take comfort in knowing definitively that you clearly aren’t the only one with these types of questions. Some of the answers here aren’t bad either. Enjoy!
The “Tale of Two Fridays” plays out every week. It’s the best of days, it’s the worst of days, it’s a day for fun, it’s a day for finishing up, it’s the end of the week, it’s the start of the weekend, it’s a huge relief, it’s a huge ordeal – in short, Friday is the best day of the week because it’s the start off the weekend. It’s also the worst day of the week because you’ll probably use the weekend to catch up on your to do list, and that’s nothing to look forward to.
With that in mind, we present two links – one for each Friday tale you may find yourself a part of today:
If this Friday is the celebratory kind and you’re looking for something to set the mood, dailyhaha.com has put together a fantastic collection of funny animal memes, and let’s not pretend that we’re above funny animal memes.
If it’s the reverse and this Friday’s workload has got you down on life, the “Time Management Ninja” Craig Jarrow has solutions for your work-day woes. Read them here in 7 Things to Eliminate to Make Your Fridays More Productive.
‘Baby steps’ are what people always preach, but have you started thinking about publication? Whether you are interested in higher education or just looking to present your research, at some point you will need to think about the best way to share your work with the academic community or any other community your work might benefit. That means you’ll need to think about publication, and that means you’ll need to find ways and places to publish.
For undergraduate and graduate students alike, the very idea of publication often seems like an unachievable goal. The reality is that it is never too early to start submitting your work. If the only thing holding you back is the proverbial fear of rejection, you might want to read Brian Martin’s essay on Learning to Love Rejection.
So where does one start when looking to submit? It’s best to familiarize yourself with the places publishers go when they are looking for submissions. Aside from combing publishers’ websites, often it is easiest to start by checking for Call for Papers (CFPs) on a popular Listserv. The University of Pennsylvania’s Department of English operates a comprehensive website compiling CFPs ranging widely in subject matter and format. Check the site regularly for current CFPs relevant to your field.
If and when you do decide to explore publication, proceed with caution. Just as you would for any resource you include in your research, scrutinize potential publishers to make sure you won’t be taken advantage of. A while back we stumbled upon this list of “predatory publishers” put together by an independent scholar. While the list itself is up for debate, the discussion of how to spot publishers with questionable intentions can help you determine for your self if you’re being taken advantage of.
Sometimes it’s a hard-knock life for GAs and TAs. Aside from learning to juggle fifty concerns at once, there doesn’t always appear to be much love or respect for the student teacher or researcher. Constantly taking the brunt of grading concerns and being reminded about “how much harder things are in the real world” can take their toll.
That’s why it’s nice to find the odd, optimistic piece on higher education from an otherwise cynical forum. It may be tough love, but Luke McKinney’s semi-recent Cracked article on the 6 Important Things Nobody Tells You About Grad School has some good points to make about staying the course and embracing what we do. For those of you who may be struggling to see the value in teaching, McKinney offers the following:
We’re overturning the stereotype of scientists as shy communication misfires, but it became a stereotype for a reason. It’s still true of some students. And they still need to learn how to deal with people. It doesn’t matter if you’re studying artificial intelligence in drone bodies: Until you get those researchobots finished, people who can communicate with others will still do better in every field. And when you do get them finished, charismatic public speakers will become even more important, standing with one foot on a burning drone to urge the human resistance to seize the time machine.
Read more: http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-important-things-nobody-tells-you-about-grad-school_p2/#ixzz2fg4ANTyh
Today is Friday, the finish line of the week. The problem is that for some of you the week isn’t really finished until you drag yourself through that Friday lab/study group/program meeting/etc. With that in mind, we present two light-hearted comics to brighten your day. Hopefully they make the final drudgery slightly more bearable.
First, this helpful guide from PHD Comics will help you decide whether it’s really worth it to ask that question.
Second, because academia often leads to existential crises (especially on Fridays), here is a site re-imagining Garfield comics in a way that would make Chuck Palahniuk proud.
Another week, another Monday. To make sure you don’t get sucked into Monday’s negativity, here’s an old productivity tip from Matt Might at the University of Utah:
“If you must procrastinate, try to procrastinate on something with a later deadline rather than something frivolous. I often spend the day before a submission deadline working on my next paper or grant proposal.”
For more tips from Might’s grad-school days, click here.
You Survived Your First Week
As the first full week of classes, this was your first real test as GAs/TAs. Now that it’s Friday afternoon, we can officially say that you made it.
But did you make it unscathed? Was your first real week so successful that you’re ready for more? If so, then kudos.
Unfortunately, many of you will not have been so lucky. No doubt some of you found this week difficult; most of you probably found the whole thing overwhelming. The most important thing you need to know is that this is all very normal.
So now that you’ve survived that first week, let’s celebrate this Friday by getting you thinking about some ways to survive those weeks ahead.
Staying On Top Of Things
At this point in your academic career, you may have found your work-life balance. Even if you have, becoming a GA/TA can throw that balance out of whack. If your first week left you wondering how you’ll make time to stay up-to-date while doing everything else, Ashley Sanders has some great advice on how to keep up with all the info you need to know.
Realize You’re Not Alone
That may sound like the title of a 90’s pop-ballad, but the point is that you aren’t the first to find balancing roles difficult. There’s a very good chance that other GAs and TAs have encountered the same difficulties you might be facing right now. This guide from Katherine Eltringham is a useful piece to read and reread as you encounter new challenges adjusting to life as a GA or TA.
Make Time For Other Things
Yes, your schedule will get even more hectic as the semester rolls on. While juggling your work, your research, and the concerns of your students or supervisor, it can feel like you never have time for yourself. So how do you deal with the stress? On that topic, there’s no more reliable authority than Buzzfeed. And if you’re looking for distractions, then why not check here?
Greg here. Just contemplating the upcoming GATAcademy festivities and reminiscing a little. It’s hard to believe that this will be my third time attending this event. Part of me feels old, but mostly I feel fortunate to be part of something so worthwhile. I thought I’d share with you the ten things I love most about GATAcademy, in no particular order. Enjoy!
1.) The Buttons – Over the last few years, the GATA Network has put together some world-class buttons. A lot of these buttons have been made with the help of GAs and TAs like you, especially through our contest last fall. And who doesn’t appreciate a good button?
2.) Seeing New Tech In Action – The presenters at GATAcademy know their way around a computer console. The first time I taught, I had to have a student show me how to work the equipment in my room. Had I spent more time in workshops on teaching with technology, I might have saved a little face.
3.) The Free Food – Because I’m human. Also because a lunch break at a personal/professional development event with 200+ potential colleagues is the most massive business lunch/networking exercise I’ve ever heard of.
4.) The Icebreakers – Frankly, before my first GATAcademy, I didn’t know there were so many creative ways to introduce people to each other. I’d be lying if I said I haven’t used some of the icebreakers I learned from GATAcademy in my own courses.
5.) The Q&A (&Q&Q&Q…) – Remember that time in class when you didn’t understand the problem on the blackboard but didn’t want to be the one to ask for clarification? And remember how good it felt when someone else asked the question instead, and you realized you weren’t the only one who didn’t understand? I can’t count how many times this scenario played out at the first GATAcademy I attended.
6.) The Variety – This is something I hate-to-love because it makes choosing just one workshop per session so difficult. It’s nice to see workshops that cover everything from assessment to how to handle conflict in the classroom (because let’s none of us pretend we haven’t dreaded the confrontation with an unhappy student). It helps to bring a buddy (or make a friend) who can attend the workshops you miss so that you can compare notes.
7.) The Collective Sigh – It never fails that the tension and anxiety that is palpable from the moment participants walk in the doors in the morning gradually subsides over the course of the day. Nine times out of ten, students leave GATAcademy more confident than when they arrived. I know because I’ve been one of the nine.
8.) The Connections – Before I attended GATAcademy, I had no idea about what sorts of resources were available to GAs and TAs. My department and my advisor did an excellent job of providing me the basics of what to do and how to do it, but GATAcademy introduced me to groups like the Centre for Teaching and Learning and the GATA Network. It helps to have a whole arsenal of resources at your disposal to prepare you for every possibility.
9.) The Handouts – These have become my unofficial textbook to teaching. Everything I’ve been given from GATAcademy over the years is kept in a folder that I revisit regularly.
10.) Making New Friends – Sometimes being a grad student can feel like being the last of your kind in a zoo on a distant planet galaxies away from home. Don’t underestimate the importance of making new friends.
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