Can Arnold and Bruce Save the World?

[Lisa!]

I guess slacking is a form of boredom.

That's a relief!

 

[franznietzsche]

I'm by the water. It's way colder here!

I call shenanigans. Weather reports put the nightime lows as five degrees colder in the valley than on the coast.

 

[wolram]

I guess i can be classed as a mega slacker ,i have about an hours worth of house work per day and that is it.
Tomorrow is marbles day, i may get a result, i just hope the white coated accountants have their figures right.

 

[Redbelly98]

I'll have to post here later. Right now I've got stuff to do.

 

[franznietzsche]

I'll have to post here later. Right now I've got stuff to do.

Clearly a lie, why else would you have posted it here?

 

[Moonbear]

It's good to know that professors have busy work too.

Yep, we have a LOT of it. Enjoy being a student while it lasts. Actually, most of the semester, I'm glad not to be a student anymore. But, during final exams, it sure would be easier to just show up and take an exam than to have to do all the grading afterward. One more glass of wine and I'll be ready to tackle the 120 practical exams I have to grade tonight. If they would just get all the answers right, this would be so much easier.

But, I survived my first semester of full-time teaching! I'm still alive, all four exams I had to give today (all at the same time) are done, and none of the students have decided to slash my tires. I think it was a success!

 

[franznietzsche]

Yep, we have a LOT of it. Enjoy being a student while it lasts. Actually, most of the semester, I'm glad not to be a student anymore. But, during final exams, it sure would be easier to just show up and take an exam than to have to do all the grading afterward. One more glass of wine and I'll be ready to tackle the 120 practical exams I have to grade tonight. If they would just get all the answers right, this would be so much easier.

But, I survived my first semester of full-time teaching! I'm still alive, all four exams I had to give today (all at the same time) are done, and none of the students have decided to slash my tires. I think it was a success!

Well, seeing as I'll never be a professor, I think I'm safe.

This was your first semester full time teaching? I thought you had been teaching premeds for a while?

 

[Moonbear]

Do people who have a lot to do but aren't in the mood to do anything, qualify to post here?:shy:

I hope so, because that's why I"m here right now.

 

[Moonbear]

This was your first semester full time teaching? I thought you had been teaching premeds for a while?

Not full time before. I was previously doing research the rest of the time. Actually, I think this semester was a bit more than full time teaching. You disappeared for a while...I moved departments and am doing considerably less research. Got tired of banging my head against the wall and praying for funding and opted for just teaching with a little collaborative research on the side. Compared to research, this semester has been a breeze, actually. Just this week has been hectic, because I was literally expected to be in four places at once today with exams for the courses I'm teaching ALL conflicting. And, of course with final exams looming, I couldn't so much as walk the three doors from my office to the bathroom without a student jumping out from a corner and asking me questions.

Next semester will feel quite easy by comparison...it's back to teaching the med students in the course I've been teaching all along, with plenty of time to work on other endeavors. I'm starting to write a textbook, for example. I have a pretty good outline worked out, and all of chapter 1. It'll be nice to have some time to get back to it in earnest. I want to offer as much of it as possible to my students next year as a supplement to their required text and see how they perceive it so I can edit accordingly.

 

[Math Is Hard]

I just turned in my last paper. Now I have nothing to do. This feels very unnatural. I feel panicky. I need to sign up for something. I need a class. And some homeowrk. I need my inhaler.

 

[franznietzsche]

Not full time before. I was previously doing research the rest of the time. Actually, I think this semester was a bit more than full time teaching. You disappeared for a while...I moved departments and am doing considerably less research. Got tired of banging my head against the wall and praying for funding and opted for just teaching with a little collaborative research on the side. Compared to research, this semester has been a breeze, actually. Just this week has been hectic, because I was literally expected to be in four places at once today with exams for the courses I'm teaching ALL conflicting. And, of course with final exams looming, I couldn't so much as walk the three doors from my office to the bathroom without a student jumping out from a corner and asking me questions.

Next semester will feel quite easy by comparison...it's back to teaching the med students in the course I've been teaching all along, with plenty of time to work on other endeavors. I'm starting to write a textbook, for example. I have a pretty good outline worked out, and all of chapter 1. It'll be nice to have some time to get back to it in earnest. I want to offer as much of it as possible to my students next year as a supplement to their required text and see how they perceive it so I can edit accordingly.

Writing textbooks and teaching? Gah.

 

[Redbelly98]

Clearly a lie, why else would you have posted it here?

This sentence is a lie as well.

 

[Redbelly98]

I can not run across the frog and toad, my minced pies do not use infrared and it is like a coal hole out there.

Cor, strike a light (then)!

Even that was a problem, i only had fork handles and they were down to the last half inch.

Did you half-inch 'em?

Perhaps I should send the bill round … that would turn on the heat!

Hey, i aint no tea leaf, and you can keep plod of my turf.

Briticisms are running amok!

 

[turbo]

Ever watched "braveheart". Dem's my legs.

 

[leopard]

You can always google the 1 man 1 jar video.

 

[franznietzsche]

I just turned in my last paper. Now I have nothing to do. This feels very unnatural. I feel panicky. I need to sign up for something. I need a class. And some homeowrk. I need my inhaler.

That's a normal reaction. Take two red bulls and call me in the morning.

 

[Lisa!]

I hope so, because that's why I"m here right now.

It seems like only busy people get bored!

 

[tiny-tim]

Briticisms are running amok!

Don'ta mok wot you don'ta understand!

 

[wolram]

So far no one has come up with (there is all ways some thing to do), as one of my ex bosses used to say, this is when i made a waste rag container that resembled a coal scuttle, not very practicle says my boss--------------.

 

[franznietzsche]

It seems like only busy people get bored!

No, only bored people feel busy.

 

[Lisa!]

So far no one has come up with (there is all ways some thing to do), as one of my ex bosses used to say, this is when i made a waste rag container that resembled a coal scuttle, not very practicle says my boss--------------.

hmmm...sure, there is! For example you can start a thread like this or maybe posting in GD

 

[Lisa!]

No, only bored people feel busy.

I choose you as the philosophy guru!

 

[gabbagabbahey]

I choose you as the philosophy guru!

I guess that settles it: Nietzsche really was a great philosopher

 

[franznietzsche]

So far no one has come up with (there is all ways some thing to do), as one of my ex bosses used to say, this is when i made a waste rag container that resembled a coal scuttle, not very practicle says my boss--------------.

I have no idea what that sentence means. It defies all of my linguistic comprehension (which is admittedly fairly poor to begin with).

 

[Moonbear]

No, only bored people feel busy.

I choose you as the philosophy guru!

When I read Franz's comment there, I thought the same thing...we might have to toss him into the philosophy forum if he keeps saying stuff like that.

I know how MIH feels. It's really weird to go from working really hard to suddenly having free time again, and trying to remember how one uses it. I couldn't quite kick the habit, myself. I graded the half of the exams I was supposed to do last night (the other instructor in the course and I usually share the grading, so I grade half the questions then hand them over and she grades the other half just so neither of us has to suffer through all of them). But, apparently that glass of wine I had really did help the students grades (or maybe I finally scared them into studying harder by telling them this was going to be the hardest exam of the year ), and then realized it wasn't as painful as usual. Even the students who are failing made life easy by just going through the motions and not really trying so left lots of blank answers that are easy to grade instead of trying to decipher their bizarre guesses. So, I went ahead and graded the rest of them last night. An early Christmas present for my coworker.

 

[wolram]

Amok used to be a landlord of a country pub, i suppose one could run him for ten bob
on occasion if he was feeling flush.

 

[noumed]

It's really weird to go from working really hard to suddenly having free time again

Now that you mention it. I've only started this job in July, fresh out of college, so I'm still used to the fast-paced academic environment where you always have something to do every night. Now that I'm working, I have all this free time after work, and it's just weird! Oh, how I wish I could do homework again.

 

[lisab]

Now that you mention it. I've only started this job in July, fresh out of college, so I'm still used to the fast-paced academic environment where you always have something to do every night. Now that I'm working, I have all this free time after work, and it's just weird! Oh, how I wish I could do homework again.

I adjusted instantly .

 

[Moonbear]

Now that you mention it. I've only started this job in July, fresh out of college, so I'm still used to the fast-paced academic environment where you always have something to do every night. Now that I'm working, I have all this free time after work, and it's just weird! Oh, how I wish I could do homework again.

You could always go to graduate school. That would cure the problem for a few more years.

I think my students are going to lynch me soon! If I don't pop my head in here tomorrow, someone make sure they haven't strung me up somewhere. They did really well on their practical exam, but very poorly on the final written exam. We decided to scale up all the final grades a little bit to make up for it. So, now I'm getting emails..."Will there be a curve on the final exam?" I had to explain that the couple of PERCENTAGE points we scaled up the final grades were worth a lot more than the couple of points I could have added to the final exam. And...I KNOW I'm going to regret my attempt to explain that they don't want me to curve their other course, because it would lower many of their grades (there are roughly equal numbers of As, Bs and Cs and then just a couple Ds and Fs). I probably should have quit while I was ahead and not attempted to explain normal distributions to them and the concept of curving grades.

At least the students in my other class are very happy. They all mostly got As and Bs on my final exam in that course. The biggest problem in that one was that they were over-thinking questions, expecting them to be harder. I kept telling them that exam was the one to help boost their grades after the previous two exams that were very grueling, but they really didn't believe me.

 

[turbo]

I probably should have quit while I was ahead and not attempted to explain normal distributions to them and the concept of curving grades.

Ooh! Can-of-worms time.

I was pretty happy about scaling on normal distribution curves at times, though. I missed almost an entire month of engineering school due to back-to-back bronchitis and mononucleosis. I had missed homework, recitations, etc, and when I emerged from my final exam in Inorganic Chemistry, I felt like someone had punched me in the gut. It was that bad. It turns out that I scored an A and ended up with a B for the semester. I thought I'd flunked out of school and instead I was offered a 5-year scholarship in Pulp and Paper (only 5 per year out of engineering cadres of over 300 students). Yay for scaling!

 

[Moonbear]

Ooh! Can-of-worms time.

I was pretty happy about scaling on normal distribution curves at times, though. I missed almost an entire month of engineering school due to back-to-back bronchitis and mononucleosis. I had missed homework, recitations, etc, and when I emerged from my final exam in Inorganic Chemistry, I felt like someone had punched me in the gut. It was that bad. It turns out that I scored an A and ended up with a B for the semester. I thought I'd flunked out of school and instead I was offered a 5-year scholarship in Pulp and Paper (only 5 per year out of engineering cadres of over 300 students). Yay for scaling!

Yeah, it's always the ones you think will do poorly who do well. We had a student with mono take the final exam and get an A. When he contacted us to let us know he had mono, I immediately suggested allowing him to take an untimed test since the fatigue from that illness really can make it hard to do well on an exam (since he just wanted us to know he was sick in case it affected his grade, but didn't ask for a make-up exam or special consideration, I knew he was telling the truth without seeing a doctor's note...the ones who are faking illness are always asking for extra time to study). He chose to show up for the regular exam anyway, and did very well.

 

[wolram]

Spray, spray, that should get rid of the doer's.

 

[Math Is Hard]

It's a shame you can't just use the Stairs Grading Method, MB:

http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2006/12/a_guide_to_grad.html

 

[physics girl phd]

... apparently that glass of wine I had really did help the students grades...

I should imbibe that next time I feel overwhelmed by grading.

We unfortunately have no stairs (unless you count the eight floors up to our apartment... that would sure separate the wheat from the chaff!)

 

[Moonbear]

It's a shame you can't just use the Stairs Grading Method, MB:

http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2006/12/a_guide_to_grad.html

Of course those of us with many years of teaching experience are familiar with the technique, though the comments were hilarious! I can't believe a student asked somewhere in the middle why it takes so long to get grades back though. Don't they know that between the glass of wine and aging, it takes a while to gather the papers back up off the stairs?

Actually, I think the real reason to delay posting grades is to wait until the students are off-campus for the holiday break, so can't swarm the office to beg for those last few points. Unfortunately, the course coordinator promised the exam grades would be available by today! That means they still have two days before they leave town to gather up their pitchforks and torches.

If they spent as much time studying as they spent quibbling over points, they wouldn't need to quibble!

My favorite email so far..."I spent days studying for the exam. I don't understand why I did so badly." I was very tempted to reply with an explanation that we've been covering the material for the final for the past month, so perhaps that student should have been studying for a MONTH, not just DAYS.