A few semesters ago a student was flustered by a tricky concept question, so I asked if she would like to do the next equation based problem: "Would you like to do a little math to feel better?" Her "no. why would you say that?!" me: "just a little grounding plug and chug?"
Not for grad students, but I have used a rubric for senior undergrads presenting papers in seminar
Just used an energy drink to wash down my blood pressure meds. That seems fine, right?
I have not been excited about the start of the semester because I am exhausted. But reading my students survey responses is doing me a world of good: "I'm excited for this class" "I don't like chemistry but I'm ready to have my perception changed" "Even if I struggle, I promise I am trying"
I didn't use a lock down browser--mostly because I didnt have access to one through my institution.
I dont have a solid plan for this fall yet! I was thinking about using something like the IFAT scratch cards; but this is something I'm supposed to be figuring out in the next four weeks 🙃
I gave online, unproctored quizzes since 2020. Pre-AI I successfully used grouped MC + algorithm calculation questions prevent direct copying. I do not mean to discourage you, but this semester I am moving back to in-person quizzes--probably group and gamified tbd--bc of AI cheating
I once had a student argue this re: a grade. "The syllabus grading scheme is reported to the ones place and if you round my grade to that many significant figures I should receive [LETTER]"
Three blue ceramic pots with yellow and orange marigolds and a rainbow pinwheel
A photo of a triangular purple flower with long green leaves
There are my marigolds. The spiderwort did that themselves
I do a somewhat flipped classroom. Happy to send slides, schedule, videos, and worksheets. If you’re still looking
I also try to emphasize that mistakes are part of any human processing! I'll tell them "the difference between an expert and a beginner is not that an expert never makes mistakes, but that the expert knows to check for them" and try to make it neutral part of their journey to mastery
I try to reframe from "look how you messed up" to "look how much you already know" with statements like "well it's clear from your work you're building on a good understanding of this concept, so now we can work on nailing the details"
My stupid way of doing that is adding a table and then making the cells square
Honestly a mixed bag, it was definitely helpful to just be like “I dont care if you have a list, the rule is you can’t work today” but there were also weeks where not working (grading) on Saturday lowkey fucked the rest of the week. I’m still reflecting on what 2025 will hold
For 2024 a goal was: not work two Saturdays a month. And today, the last Saturday of 2024, I’m proud to report I worked no Saturdays this year.
I don’t really do resolutions but at the beginning of each year I check in with myself to see if “how I’m spending my days” is indeed “how I want to spend my life”, and set soft goals
Highly recommend being silly with your friends if you can. Earlier this week I promised a friend I’d sing Let It Go in a Sméagol voice if she did a chore she was avoiding. Goofing off helped us both. Make art for your friends etc.
I have never found aggregated MC data as helpful as actually looking thru students work and asking “wtf why is everybody dividing by 2 in this problem” but yes
You could probably automate 2 (we already do in certain assignments) while providing in class/formative ways to still spend time on 1? At least I’ve been wondering about it
Well, right now “grading” is actually two cognitive steps. 1) spend time looking at students work to figure out what the hell they know/misunderstand/assume and 2) provide points/feedback to students.
Yeah I think a lot about how *currently* close grading feels like an important way to be in conversation with students but it doesn’t have to be. Like there are other ways I could “listen” to them if the course was structured differently
I feel this deeply. Maybe I’m over interpreting but I feel like I learn so much by paying deep attention to my students work
Photo of a small wooden Christmas ornament with a surprised face
The face of a percussionist who just realized they lost count and have no idea when to come in with the cymbals
My goal is actually to get grading done *before* break so I can spend time staring into the void waiting for my brain to come back online 🤞
I'm supposed to be grading so naturally I decided to join bksy
