Last week was one of those weeks when I heard from four different former students. Two contacted me via Facebook and another I spoke to face to face. They all shared common sentiments–my class and the course materials made a difference. Previously, I’ve blogged or tweeted about these sorts of contacts. And, I have to say, I never get tired of the messages, emails or cards. It’s not about narcissism–no it’s really about the fact that feminism sometimes “ferments” and the student “gets” what I said or a reading finally makes sense during lecture, a month later, or 3 years later. The things that they remember are amazing, too.

I know that most instructors have days that we leave the classroom and we’ve owned it–we’ve rocked it. And, then there are other classes and you leave feeling  a little dejected. Things didn’t go as planned. These three students reminded me that for some of them the consequences of the class are there, but something happens to inspire them or remind them about the discussion. I am glad to know that I am making a difference in students’ lives–academically and personally.

I can give a deep yoga breath of relief. Letting go has been easy. The TAs seem happy with the increased autonomy. Glad to allow them more opportunities on their own. The test questions they suggested were good. And, I incorporated some of them into the exam. I think each time I work with a different group of TAs this will get easier and easier.

What the TAs hopefully understand is that they are crucial to the success of the class. A disorganized TA who is “phoning it in” will not perform as well. Our undergrads not only smell fear, but they also sense when you don’t want to be there. And, this extends to instructors. I was just chatting with a colleague from another department about our jobs and she concurred that academics are pretty lucky. I repeat: we get paid to talk, think, and write.

The TAs are lucky too, as they get to have such an important role in the students’ learning. My hope is that letting go allows the TAs to flourish and that they will try out things with the students.

This post is about #WCV11 and offering some opinions about the event. There was lots of positive energy at the opening event and Paul Holmes was energetic.

Right now I am at a blogging panel and it’s great to hear seasoned bloggers talking about their experiences blogging. Glad to know that some schedule and others just blog when they get a chance.

I try to blog when I feel like I have something to say, but there are definitely other times when I will schedule blogs. For me, it’s a matter of organization and those epiphany moments. Then, there is also responding to politics, news, popular culture, or even something that might have taken place at work.

I also blog when I feel inspired about something and need to share it or perhaps just write about it. Learning lots from the three speakers–Lorraine Murphy, Mike Vardy, and Rebeca Bolwitt. I follow Murphy on Twitter and love her posts that combine commentary about Social Media and culture.

I appreciate the flow of the panel–definitely geared to discussion with the attendees. Smart to have a microphone for questions. That said, why does everyone seem to want to make money from blogging? Does it have to be monetized?

In response to the question about making money from blogging Lorraine Murphy explains, “Long form more thoughtful essays” are on the upswing.  I am not looking to make money from blogging, but rather make connections with people in academe, in my community, and in politics. To clarify, when I say community, I actually mean the multiple communities that I have: on campus, women, Latinas/os, Americans, feminists, etc. Lots of different communities.

Mike Vardy is speaking to the importance of making more connections–guest posting can be useful, as well as Tweeting in order to hit different groups and sites. Good point. Overall, enjoying Word Camp and like that there are three different streams to the conference: Beginner, Advanced, and Mixed Tape, which offer attendees different tracks.

I will make some suggestions, though, the panel sessions needed short abstracts to explain the presentation. I loved the coffee, rooms, overall location, free parking, and it’s been great to meet more people face to face, too. Without even asking, got offered notes from a great Nerds On Site employee! She took notes at a panel that I didn’t go to and immediately emailed me notes. How cool is that?!

There are still more panels to go, but wanted to share these preliminary comments about the event.

I wonder what Mark Twain would think about the recent change in his beloved Huckleberry Finn? Would he be up in arms? Canada recently joined the censorship debates via Dire Strait’s song “Money for Nothing” being censored due to derogatory word in the lyrics.

These points were discussed last night in my Feminist Political Thought, when we were thinking about words and their power. Now, we did chat about how some argue that words don’t have power unless we give them that power. I disagree with this. I think there are loaded words, if you will, that have such a heavy history.

But, what do we then owe to one another? In today’s local paper (the Times Colonist) several people wrote in to continue this discussion about censorship. And, one of the things that I was left with–is that it’s so easy to cast easy uncomplicated opinions when you are from a place of privilege. When you might not be the “out” group who experience racism or heterosexism, for instance.

Really excited to attend this year’s BlogHer conference. I’ll be Tweeting!

Given my profession as a college professor, I am surrounded my young people, by students. And, this year if I could wish them anything it would be more positive thinking. I know that some will scoff and say, “They are so self-indulgent and have a sense of self-entitlement.” Well, that really is a small percentage in my opinion. There is a larger contingent who are really trying to figure things out—who they are in the world and what they want to do.

My wish to students is for more positive thinking. Remember that there are people who believe in you and your success. This does not mean that I am going to give you A’s. No, I do not give grades, students earn them. If you get a grade you do not like, this does not mean that I do not like you or that somehow the rubric was unfair. Instead, take a step back, inhale and exhale and own your performance. Then, think about how much research, time, and writing you put into the assignment. Go into your classes and assignments with a positive attitude. The attitude and interest in your classes can carry you a long way.

As I have previously said on this blog and on www.equality101.net is that so much of what I do is validating students. Yes, you are on the right track. Yes, that paper topic sounds promising. However, you ultimately have to do the work. Your first step is being honest and optimistic.

I was at the gym this morning and heard two retired men talking about how they were not looking forward to next week at the gym. Why? They chatted about how the New Year’s Resolution crowd would clog the gym for the first few weeks of January. I understood their comments. I realize that  January will be a circus at the Hot Yoga studio, but thankfully when I work out on campus I am there too early for the students. It’s me, other staff, and the athletes.

I do not believe in New Year’s Resolutions. I understand that they are motivating for some people; however, I like to think that regardless of the month I have resolved to attempt to do better. This might include making sure that I spend more time with my loved ones or resolving to not take work home. I do believe in lists, though. I have monthly lists or sometimes even term lists of things to do. I actually stopped writing for a minute to print out my Jan 2011 to do list.

Typically half way through one of my upper division courses I will distribute a handout that speaks to letters of reference. Most students are not aware of the process. My handout spells out my wants. For instance, in a perfect world I expect a resume, a copy of the letter of intent, information about the courses that the student had with me and the earned grades, and any other important matter.

My advice is that the student needs to be organized. Make sure that the request is as painless as possible for the instructor. You do not want us to have to send you multiple emails for information. One year I had a former student not contact me after repeated emails. I wrote the letter as requested, but was not given the password to submit it.  After the deadline I bumped into him in the hallway and was met with a, “I didn’t need your letter after all.” I immediately informed him that this was rude and unprofessional. I will never write that student a letter again.

One very organized student sent me an excel spreadsheet with the programs, deadlines, and other matter in the spreadsheet. This was really useful as I was writing multiple letters for her. Some programs had online letter submissions and others didn’t. Then, add to that the assessments that you also have to include. The files can be unforgiving and multiple this by writing upwards of three dozen letters and you can see that it can get really busy.

Full-time regular faculty get paid (essentially) to write letter. Contingent faculty (sessionals/adjuncts) do not, so remember that a thank you card it appreciated by all. If you don’t have time to do so, then even an email is fine. And, by all means let the faculty know the outcome. If you would like to see my handout, please drop me an email. Happy to share it.

One of the ways that most faculty ring in the upcoming New Year is with copious amounts of letter writing. This morning I finally finished the last batch of one dozen letters of reference for graduate school and other important opportunities for current and former students. I have come to realize that I enjoy this process. My policy is to say yes to students who have earned a B+ or better in my courses.

Some of my colleagues write letters for students who have had two or more courses or only earned an A- or better. Given that so many of our courses are taught by contingent faculty it might be hard for a student to get two classes with the same instructor. And, knowing that some students “take one for the team” in one class, I know that in four short months I might not see a students best work. Instead, I might see the best that they can do at that particular moment. I usually find out the full story during my office hours. This helps me understand what is going on for the student, but I cannot let this information change my overall assessment of the work.

I am keeping my fingers crossed for these students. So many of them have so much promise and I hope that their dreams are answered with their want to attend grad school, art school, architecture school and more. Good luck! Happy to help you out with this next chapter.