tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84470248760042238692011-12-23T12:30:33.329-08:00staceynoreply@blogger.comBlogger101100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8447024876004223869.post-12619567463288985762011-05-20T11:24:00.000-07:002011-05-20T14:35:24.076-07:00

I don't really have a lot to say about these two stories that have come across my screen in the past day, or so. Only, perhaps, that I won't ever understand the need to pass these kinds of laws.Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker to Prevent Same-Sex Couples Hospital Visitation RightsAnd that, thankfully, there are people out there who fight better and smarter than me, and remind me to keep on

staceynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8447024876004223869.post-15573401037593057112011-05-15T09:15:00.000-07:002011-05-15T09:28:12.484-07:00

Sometimes when I read the news, especially online, I look for examples of how standard written English is changing. This activity reminds me that teaching students that a well placed and meaningful "lolz," as in this example, is absolutely acceptable for particular audience and purpose. As equally important as knowing the difference between the words "definitely" and "defiantly."I am currently

staceynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8447024876004223869.post-35674695522278571742011-05-03T06:17:00.000-07:002011-05-04T12:44:13.671-07:00

I've been thinking quite a lot, lately, about what makes a good status message, for example. Or what makes a really good tweet. I mean, there are people who get popular from this kind of stuff. They've got particular style. They know how to say something funny, poignant, relevant, etc. in very short form.And how is this form the same/different from the art of the thesis? If not, that, really, the

staceynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8447024876004223869.post-4007368487891516532011-04-28T07:37:00.000-07:002011-04-28T08:00:12.228-07:00

I'm trying to write some final exam questions for my Introduction to Literature class. A few weeks ago, I had a question rattling around in my head. It had something to do with the dramatic conventions of tragedy. For inspiration, I started leafing through some textbooks. I refer quite often to the theater text, published in 1989, that I used as an undergraduate.The introductory material to the

staceynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8447024876004223869.post-85177322759836915382011-03-20T12:05:00.000-07:002011-03-20T12:17:35.913-07:00

What does it mean to be a teacher of excellence?

staceynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8447024876004223869.post-9305264636243167092010-10-30T11:12:00.000-07:002010-10-30T12:37:17.097-07:00

Over lunch with a colleague the other day, I tried sanity checking my semester thus far. What better way to test whether things are working than to say them out loud between meatball subs and people we trust. Perhaps there's a magic to naming the things we're struggling with -- putting our worries into words -- that makes them poof into vanishing. Because of course, that's exactly what

staceynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8447024876004223869.post-44129327724986195262010-10-17T09:31:00.000-07:002010-10-17T09:56:01.761-07:00

This morning, I've been thinking about the role of new media in my composition classroom. I got stuck, for some reason, on the issue of plagiarism.Copying or using other people's thoughts, words, ideas, etc. has changed so much in the past decade, or so. And while us old schoolers might have been panic-stricken enough to contemplate writing out, word for word, that article we found in a dusty

staceynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8447024876004223869.post-51224136986546291142010-10-16T10:35:00.000-07:002010-10-16T15:39:21.809-07:00

I've been delaying marking student work all morning. In between doing nothing and something, I ran across a piece of writing about my twitchy attitudes as an undergraduate. So, I started playing with pages and putting together some short pieces. It all needs more work. Which means, it's probably time to start that grading..

staceynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8447024876004223869.post-35776787244769381042010-10-07T15:32:00.000-07:002010-10-07T15:33:26.768-07:00

My students don't like homework. Not only do they not like homework, even though I work hard trying to make every exercise interesting or at least relevant to their overall goals and skills in the class, they don't do their homework.Sigh.I spent weeks feeling irritated about this problem. I mean, it is their education. And I cannot count the number of times I have said "your choice" in response

staceynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8447024876004223869.post-14381392082076994502010-10-04T14:47:00.000-07:002010-10-04T16:42:28.517-07:00

At some point in our mad-dash-as-newly-married-people to buy a house, we saw something on one of those HGTV House Hunter type shows that stuck with us: the theory of filling the room.Most people won't see that it's a bedroom, for example, if there isn't a bed in it.Teaching feels like an exercise in this theory, sometimes. Unless you can show them the thing, then it doesn't exist and won't

staceynoreply@blogger.com0