Category Archives: teaching

News of the Day: Virginia Tech Shooting

This is terrible news: A gunman ambushed and killed a campus police officer and was later reported to have been found dead on Thursday at Virginia Tech University, the site of one of the worst shooting rampages in U.S. history. … Continue reading

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The Response Problem

There’s a certain type of question/response that really bothers me, and I’m not sure whether the proliferation of Facebook/Twitter/Social Media has exacerbated the problem or just made it more obvious. The problem goes like this: Person A: I have issue … Continue reading

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Daily frustration

Someone decided to shampoo the carpets in my classroom last night. Great! Only… they didn’t get any further than moving all the furniture. Less than great.

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Where e-mails go to die

Is this true? John Leguizamo, quoted in a piece on e-mail etiquette at the New York Times: “There’s a business courtesy you learn in your late 20s,” Mr. Leguizamo said. “After you get fired enough times. But before that, you … Continue reading

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Best student comment ever

Yesterday, I got my student evaluations for the Spring Term from one of the three campuses I taught at, and within them was the single best student comment I’ve ever received. Not best as in “earnest and loving,” but best … Continue reading

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College prof makes colleagues into action figure heroes

A professor at the University of the Ozarks made action figures celebrating some of his colleagues: An action figure junkie, Dr. Weiss’s hobby is customizing action figures from the manufacturer Jakks Pacific. And it dawned on him that he thought … Continue reading

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Fascinating discussion on plagiarism

This deserves deeper thought and commentary from me, but it’s a good read for those who might be interested. Dialogue between a professor and a person paid to write papers.

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Danza says class act isn't just for show

Apparently, Tony Danza has a new reality show where he’s teaching English in a Northeast Philadelphia high school. “Teach” shows Danza teaching a daily double-session of English to a hand-picked class of students — hand-picked to be troublesome, I guess, … Continue reading

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The explaining authority

My class for the term is finally starting to gel, even though today we had “outright lecture” to start things off. I absolutely hate having to revert to a high-school format of terms-and-definitions with a creative writing class, but I … Continue reading

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Thoughts on Walter Mitty and his secrets

“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber is the first piece of short fiction that I teach in my Intro to Fiction course. It’s a good place to start, I think, because it’s a piece that has both … Continue reading

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