It's only the fact that I keep much more paper than I should (even though it is properly labeled and filed) that I discovered hard-copy proof of God's sense of humor.
Exhibit A: As a high school senior, when asked that perennially annoying question, "What do you want to do after high school?" I was quick to answer: go to college and major in English. The inevitable follow-up response: "What are you going to do with that, teach?" SIGH. I don't know why everyone thinks that the only occupation for an English major is to teach English (or become an editor, which every English major secretly dreams of but only a lucky few manage to achieve). I had no idea what I wanted to do AFTER college, except for one certainty, which I voiced over and over and over again: I DO NOT WANT TO BE A TEACHER. A terrifying idea for an introverted nerdy bibliophile.
Yet as the years passed, my neat little file system contained a folder called "Teaching Ideas," which occasionally increased in thickness ... until the day when I pulled it out because I was actually a teacher in need of Teaching Ideas.
Good one, God.
Exhibit B: My hobbies and interests included reading, journaling, swing dancing, reading, scrapbooking, running, reading, and organizing friends and relatives' closets, bedrooms, and offices.
Yet as the years passed, my neat little file system gained a new entry called "Organizing Business." Even though I always thought, I will NEVER EVER OWN MY OWN BUSINESS. A terrifying idea for an introverted scaredy-cat who did not inherit a lick of business sense from her banker father. Until one day when I pulled it out because I was in fact starting my own organizing business.
Got me again, God.
It might be time to go through my papers again - and see what's around the bend. Who knew file folders could predict the future?
Showing posts with label teaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label teaching. Show all posts
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Cookbook Wars
When I taught high school English, I waged three major campaigns:
(1) Try to get at least 5 hours of sleep each night.
(2) Catch students smoking in the female student bathroom next door to my classroom by using my youthful good looks to trick them into thinking I was a student also, though my conservative, decidedly UN-teenaged trendy clothes should have given it away, so that when I walked into the bathroom, they didn't immediately flush the evidence down the toilet. You'd think they'd learn to stop smoking in THAT bathroom, at least.
(3) Impress upon star-struck adolescents that cheating (which includes plagiarism) does NOT get you far in life, despite numerous multi-millionaire athletes' doping actions to the contrary.
It turns out that there's a controversy surrounding the new cookbook written by Jerry Seinfeld's wife Jessica. I bought Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food [published October 2007] because I liked the premise, the book's format is easy-to-use, and including comments from the Seinfeld kids (and Jerry) about the recipes is a clever addition. I was pleasantly surprised (or not surprised?) to find great humor throughout the book as Seinfeld tackles the monumental job of trying to get kids to eat healthy food.
But Missy Chase Lapine, the author of The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals, claims that Jessica Seinfeld plagiarized her book [published April 2007].
You can read about the lawsuit Lapine has brought against Seinfeld here. I hope that the allegation isn't true, but we'll see how it plays out.
In the mean time, student plagiarizers beware. Teachers know that you really DON'T write that well, and that if you were smarter, you wouldn't pick the very first article that appears in your Google search to plagiarize.
(1) Try to get at least 5 hours of sleep each night.
(2) Catch students smoking in the female student bathroom next door to my classroom by using my youthful good looks to trick them into thinking I was a student also, though my conservative, decidedly UN-teenaged trendy clothes should have given it away, so that when I walked into the bathroom, they didn't immediately flush the evidence down the toilet. You'd think they'd learn to stop smoking in THAT bathroom, at least.
(3) Impress upon star-struck adolescents that cheating (which includes plagiarism) does NOT get you far in life, despite numerous multi-millionaire athletes' doping actions to the contrary.
It turns out that there's a controversy surrounding the new cookbook written by Jerry Seinfeld's wife Jessica. I bought Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food [published October 2007] because I liked the premise, the book's format is easy-to-use, and including comments from the Seinfeld kids (and Jerry) about the recipes is a clever addition. I was pleasantly surprised (or not surprised?) to find great humor throughout the book as Seinfeld tackles the monumental job of trying to get kids to eat healthy food.
But Missy Chase Lapine, the author of The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals, claims that Jessica Seinfeld plagiarized her book [published April 2007].
You can read about the lawsuit Lapine has brought against Seinfeld here. I hope that the allegation isn't true, but we'll see how it plays out.
In the mean time, student plagiarizers beware. Teachers know that you really DON'T write that well, and that if you were smarter, you wouldn't pick the very first article that appears in your Google search to plagiarize.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Teaching Journalism: The Newspaper Production Cycle
Someone found this blog, saw in my profile that I'd taught high school journalism, and asked me if they could ask me some questions about it.
Since I wouldn't have survived as a journalism teacher (or as a teacher, for that matter!) if I hadn't asked a bajillion questions of kind, patient colleagues, I am always glad to pass on what I've learned - which, unfortunately, not every veteran teacher is willing to do as a help to poor idealistic novices. I love being able to share what I learned the hard way, to help minimize the painful trial and error of others! The knowledge shared here is from four years of teaching a foundational journalism class grades 9-11, four years of advising a high school newspaper staff, and 1 1/2 years of advising a high school yearbook staff. Not a LOT of experience - but just enough!
So, this being the end of the school year, I was asked about the newspaper production cycle. If you would like more details, please let me know!
To give you a VERY general idea of how the production cycle for the Newspaper class worked at the school where I taught:
(1) Every person on staff (so each student in the class) brings in 5 written article ideas (HW from the night before). These can be gleaned from current events, the newspaper, magazines, the Internet, their friends/parents/coworkers/teachers, WHEREVER. (One of our problem areas was with sports, so I usually required that at least 1 of the 5 ideas had to be a sports or related idea.)
(2) That day (and maybe the next), the ideas are presented by each person, just going around in a circle. The editor-in-chief (EIC) and the adviser takes notes. The written ideas - the homework from the night before - are collected at the end of class to count for a grade. Also, while presenting ideas, most tangents are ok, because that's how more ideas are generated (typical brainstorming).
(3) The EIC - we had 2 co-editors - (sometimes with the adviser) organize stories into categories - sports, opinions, features, news, entertainment, etc. They see where deficits are in article ideas, and the class brainstorms some more about the deficit areas to come up with enough ideas. The EICs then choose which story ideas will make the issue, assigns stories to people (some staffs allow people to choose what story they want, but that's an explanation for another day!), and deadlines are announced for research/interviewing, rough drafts, and final drafts. At each stage/phase in the process, work is checked for grade purposes and to make sure people are making progress, as well as to spot problems and answer questions.
(4) The EICs, other editors, and adviser read through stories, etc. etc. (repeated process until final draft is reached).
(5) Page/section editors begin layout of pages, graphics are designed, headlines written, photos taken, etc. (Repeated revision/editing process.)
(6) Finalized version of newspaper is sent to press (we used the local newspaper for printing) and distributed around the school (different schools do distribution differently).
(7) The day after papers are distributed, as a staff we go over the print copy with a fine tooth comb, looking for proofreading mistakes and critiquing story/writing quality, AS WELL AS critiquing layout/design - what could have been better, what comments have they heard in the halls and from friends, etc. (Usually this is done in groups, and then presented to the class and written on the board. I bought magnetic clips to post each page on the board for everyone to see, in addition to the hardcopy each student had in hand.)
(8) The next day after the critique is (ahem) free day, and if they want snacks/food, it is up to THEM to plan it and bring it! Their homework that night of the free day is to bring their 5 ideas the next day for discussion, and the cycle begins again.
Since I wouldn't have survived as a journalism teacher (or as a teacher, for that matter!) if I hadn't asked a bajillion questions of kind, patient colleagues, I am always glad to pass on what I've learned - which, unfortunately, not every veteran teacher is willing to do as a help to poor idealistic novices. I love being able to share what I learned the hard way, to help minimize the painful trial and error of others! The knowledge shared here is from four years of teaching a foundational journalism class grades 9-11, four years of advising a high school newspaper staff, and 1 1/2 years of advising a high school yearbook staff. Not a LOT of experience - but just enough!
So, this being the end of the school year, I was asked about the newspaper production cycle. If you would like more details, please let me know!
To give you a VERY general idea of how the production cycle for the Newspaper class worked at the school where I taught:
(1) Every person on staff (so each student in the class) brings in 5 written article ideas (HW from the night before). These can be gleaned from current events, the newspaper, magazines, the Internet, their friends/parents/coworkers/teachers, WHEREVER. (One of our problem areas was with sports, so I usually required that at least 1 of the 5 ideas had to be a sports or related idea.)
(2) That day (and maybe the next), the ideas are presented by each person, just going around in a circle. The editor-in-chief (EIC) and the adviser takes notes. The written ideas - the homework from the night before - are collected at the end of class to count for a grade. Also, while presenting ideas, most tangents are ok, because that's how more ideas are generated (typical brainstorming).
(3) The EIC - we had 2 co-editors - (sometimes with the adviser) organize stories into categories - sports, opinions, features, news, entertainment, etc. They see where deficits are in article ideas, and the class brainstorms some more about the deficit areas to come up with enough ideas. The EICs then choose which story ideas will make the issue, assigns stories to people (some staffs allow people to choose what story they want, but that's an explanation for another day!), and deadlines are announced for research/interviewing, rough drafts, and final drafts. At each stage/phase in the process, work is checked for grade purposes and to make sure people are making progress, as well as to spot problems and answer questions.
(4) The EICs, other editors, and adviser read through stories, etc. etc. (repeated process until final draft is reached).
(5) Page/section editors begin layout of pages, graphics are designed, headlines written, photos taken, etc. (Repeated revision/editing process.)
(6) Finalized version of newspaper is sent to press (we used the local newspaper for printing) and distributed around the school (different schools do distribution differently).
(7) The day after papers are distributed, as a staff we go over the print copy with a fine tooth comb, looking for proofreading mistakes and critiquing story/writing quality, AS WELL AS critiquing layout/design - what could have been better, what comments have they heard in the halls and from friends, etc. (Usually this is done in groups, and then presented to the class and written on the board. I bought magnetic clips to post each page on the board for everyone to see, in addition to the hardcopy each student had in hand.)
(8) The next day after the critique is (ahem) free day, and if they want snacks/food, it is up to THEM to plan it and bring it! Their homework that night of the free day is to bring their 5 ideas the next day for discussion, and the cycle begins again.
Teaching Journalism: Choosing Article Topics, Portfolios & Final Exams
Someone found this blog, saw in my profile that I'd taught high school journalism, and asked me if they could ask me some questions about it.
Since I wouldn't have survived as a journalism teacher (or as a teacher, for that matter!) if I hadn't asked a bajillion questions of kind, patient colleagues, I am always glad to pass on what I've learned - which, unfortunately, not every veteran teacher is willing to do as a help to poor idealistic novices. I love being able to share what I learned the hard way, to help minimize the painful trial and error of others! The knowledge shared here is from four years of teaching a foundational journalism class grades 9-11, four years of advising a high school newspaper staff, and 1 1/2 years of advising a high school yearbook staff. Not a LOT of experience - but just enough!
So, this being the end of the school year, I was asked about choosing article topics, final exams, and portfolios. If you would like more details, please let me know!
It sounds like the kids who are in the class don't necessarily want to be there.... Do they really want to take the class, or is it one of those unfortunate dumping grounds for kids who didn't get into the elective of their choice? Also, do you actually have a printed product that's distributed, or is it like creative writing class, where they just turn in work whose only "audience" is you? That will make a difference in how you go about things.
When I took over the journalism program at my school, I followed a fantastic teacher who had decades of experience, so the kids I inherited were serious about what they were doing (not to mention, the first year I advised, they also knew more than me!).
Our school had a not very common approach: we had a pre-requisite Journalism class that students had to take in order to be accepted into the Newspaper or Yearbook classes (to prevent it from being a dumping ground; our guidance department was very good about sticking to this rule). I taught the Journalism class as well as the NP & YB classes.
To answer your question about how topics are chosen - this student newspaper was very student-driven (makes less work for the adviser that way!), with the adviser having absolute, final oversight over everything, of course. But the students knew if they wanted their peers to read any of it, it had to be interesting. AND they had also already learned (in the pre-requisite Journalism class) about "what is news" and how to identify it, honing the skill of deciding what people will find interesting to read, as well as what is important to present. (For example, even though high school kids may not find the war in Iraq interesting, it IS news, and needs to be covered somehow at some point; so the challenge for a conscientious staff is to find an angle on the war that will interest their peers, and answer the big question, "Why should they care?".)
Only occasionally did I step in and say "I think you should include ___ topic." (More often, it was gently leading them to consider topics that would be of interest to the majority of the student body!)
If you have students who were sort of dumped in the class, and it's not really because they want to be in journalism class, I would do this first step yourself: scour around and find maybe 20 topics that cover the different sections - sports, news, features (the biggest category of all, because it's basically "anything and everything"), entertainment, and opinion/editorial. Have those as a backup.
Get magazines and newspapers from the library AND tell the kids as a HW assignment that they have to bring in at least 1 magazine or newspaper (or 2-3, depending on the economic background of the kids - and always offer to help out any kids with this, if they need it).
Then put them into small groups and have each group look through what was brought and, as a group, list 5 potential ideas they glean from looking through the materials (1 idea for sports, 1 for an opinion piece, 1 for entertainment - the easy one for them!, 1 for news and 2 feature ideas; make sure they know what these types of articles are!).
If you don't think students are able to bring in the magazines & newspapers on their own, then use the ones from the library. Then each group can go around and share their ideas. Generate ideas that way, if they won't do it on their own at home (I DID have problems with some students who obviously didn't do their homework of coming up with 5 ideas - it is very obvious, when they have nothing to say in front of their peers!).
That's one of the beauties of newspaper/yearbook classes: because the product is a team effort, when one person slacks, it makes everyone look bad. So the students hold each other accountable, not just you the adviser.
With a portfolio, ideally, the portfolio would be compiled all year, and include a paste-up of everything they have written that YEAR, including anything they designed, graphics created, photos taken THAT WERE PUBLISHED, if someone helped write just a headline, etc. As they compiled it all year, they would be responsible for writing up a brief analysis of each item (good points, bad points, even comments from others, what they could do to improve next time, etc.). The portfolio would be collected at the end of each grading period.
If you're already at the end of the year, I would have them do the above analysis only for the most recent/last issue; I'm a picky person, so I also require them to have it be neat, typed, creative, etc. because as journalists, details like that are also important (it's about the whole package, the presentation).
And, to help you with the grading (though they don't have to know that's the purpose!), if you feel comfortable and think the kids won't be shy about speaking honestly when evaluating, you can have them evaluate each other's portfolios, using a simple but comprehensive rubric, so they know what things to look for and to judge them on. (You can also offer a decent prize to the person with the best portfolio as more motivation). This peer evaluation can take place during exam review week, if your school has that, and students can be working on completing the portfolio after the last issue of the newspaper is done; this is what can "fill the time" until school ends.
For exams, I do something different at the end of the fall semester than the spring, because Christmas break usually falls in the middle of the production cycle. For the spring semester, I usually gave an easier exam because I was overloaded and more worried about writing the exams for my English classes.
The essay-format exam is easy for them to do and easy for you to grade (so they don't need to review or study for it - part of the perks of working hard all year and being in an elective class). It takes them almost an hour to complete the exam (well, the people who answer seriously), and I tell them they have to FILL at least one sheet of notebook paper, front AND back (or 2 fronts) or I won't even accept the "completed" exam from them. The exam is basically a comprehensive evaluation of their own work, progress, and product, an evaluation of the staff's productivity and the newspaper's improvement (or lack of), and considerations and goals for the next year.
Keep in mind, though, the main reason I allowed the exam to be this easy is because, since they had to take the pre-requisite Journalism class, I know they know basic newspaper/journalism skills already. If they don't answer the exam questions completely (like if a question has 3 parts and they only answered the first part), then I grade accordingly; it's more of a completion grade.
(If I'd had more time to write more of an exam for NP class, I would have also added a short portion that tested them on NP design; the journalism class has to cover so much that we don't have much time to go over NP-specific design. So I tried to go into much more detail on that during the NP class as the year progressed, using The Newspaper Designer's Handbook as my "textbook." I just used my own copy because it's so expensive. So I would have also added that to the NP final exam.)
Since I wouldn't have survived as a journalism teacher (or as a teacher, for that matter!) if I hadn't asked a bajillion questions of kind, patient colleagues, I am always glad to pass on what I've learned - which, unfortunately, not every veteran teacher is willing to do as a help to poor idealistic novices. I love being able to share what I learned the hard way, to help minimize the painful trial and error of others! The knowledge shared here is from four years of teaching a foundational journalism class grades 9-11, four years of advising a high school newspaper staff, and 1 1/2 years of advising a high school yearbook staff. Not a LOT of experience - but just enough!
So, this being the end of the school year, I was asked about choosing article topics, final exams, and portfolios. If you would like more details, please let me know!
It sounds like the kids who are in the class don't necessarily want to be there.... Do they really want to take the class, or is it one of those unfortunate dumping grounds for kids who didn't get into the elective of their choice? Also, do you actually have a printed product that's distributed, or is it like creative writing class, where they just turn in work whose only "audience" is you? That will make a difference in how you go about things.
When I took over the journalism program at my school, I followed a fantastic teacher who had decades of experience, so the kids I inherited were serious about what they were doing (not to mention, the first year I advised, they also knew more than me!).
Our school had a not very common approach: we had a pre-requisite Journalism class that students had to take in order to be accepted into the Newspaper or Yearbook classes (to prevent it from being a dumping ground; our guidance department was very good about sticking to this rule). I taught the Journalism class as well as the NP & YB classes.
To answer your question about how topics are chosen - this student newspaper was very student-driven (makes less work for the adviser that way!), with the adviser having absolute, final oversight over everything, of course. But the students knew if they wanted their peers to read any of it, it had to be interesting. AND they had also already learned (in the pre-requisite Journalism class) about "what is news" and how to identify it, honing the skill of deciding what people will find interesting to read, as well as what is important to present. (For example, even though high school kids may not find the war in Iraq interesting, it IS news, and needs to be covered somehow at some point; so the challenge for a conscientious staff is to find an angle on the war that will interest their peers, and answer the big question, "Why should they care?".)
Only occasionally did I step in and say "I think you should include ___ topic." (More often, it was gently leading them to consider topics that would be of interest to the majority of the student body!)
If you have students who were sort of dumped in the class, and it's not really because they want to be in journalism class, I would do this first step yourself: scour around and find maybe 20 topics that cover the different sections - sports, news, features (the biggest category of all, because it's basically "anything and everything"), entertainment, and opinion/editorial. Have those as a backup.
Get magazines and newspapers from the library AND tell the kids as a HW assignment that they have to bring in at least 1 magazine or newspaper (or 2-3, depending on the economic background of the kids - and always offer to help out any kids with this, if they need it).
Then put them into small groups and have each group look through what was brought and, as a group, list 5 potential ideas they glean from looking through the materials (1 idea for sports, 1 for an opinion piece, 1 for entertainment - the easy one for them!, 1 for news and 2 feature ideas; make sure they know what these types of articles are!).
If you don't think students are able to bring in the magazines & newspapers on their own, then use the ones from the library. Then each group can go around and share their ideas. Generate ideas that way, if they won't do it on their own at home (I DID have problems with some students who obviously didn't do their homework of coming up with 5 ideas - it is very obvious, when they have nothing to say in front of their peers!).
That's one of the beauties of newspaper/yearbook classes: because the product is a team effort, when one person slacks, it makes everyone look bad. So the students hold each other accountable, not just you the adviser.
With a portfolio, ideally, the portfolio would be compiled all year, and include a paste-up of everything they have written that YEAR, including anything they designed, graphics created, photos taken THAT WERE PUBLISHED, if someone helped write just a headline, etc. As they compiled it all year, they would be responsible for writing up a brief analysis of each item (good points, bad points, even comments from others, what they could do to improve next time, etc.). The portfolio would be collected at the end of each grading period.
If you're already at the end of the year, I would have them do the above analysis only for the most recent/last issue; I'm a picky person, so I also require them to have it be neat, typed, creative, etc. because as journalists, details like that are also important (it's about the whole package, the presentation).
And, to help you with the grading (though they don't have to know that's the purpose!), if you feel comfortable and think the kids won't be shy about speaking honestly when evaluating, you can have them evaluate each other's portfolios, using a simple but comprehensive rubric, so they know what things to look for and to judge them on. (You can also offer a decent prize to the person with the best portfolio as more motivation). This peer evaluation can take place during exam review week, if your school has that, and students can be working on completing the portfolio after the last issue of the newspaper is done; this is what can "fill the time" until school ends.
For exams, I do something different at the end of the fall semester than the spring, because Christmas break usually falls in the middle of the production cycle. For the spring semester, I usually gave an easier exam because I was overloaded and more worried about writing the exams for my English classes.
The essay-format exam is easy for them to do and easy for you to grade (so they don't need to review or study for it - part of the perks of working hard all year and being in an elective class). It takes them almost an hour to complete the exam (well, the people who answer seriously), and I tell them they have to FILL at least one sheet of notebook paper, front AND back (or 2 fronts) or I won't even accept the "completed" exam from them. The exam is basically a comprehensive evaluation of their own work, progress, and product, an evaluation of the staff's productivity and the newspaper's improvement (or lack of), and considerations and goals for the next year.
Keep in mind, though, the main reason I allowed the exam to be this easy is because, since they had to take the pre-requisite Journalism class, I know they know basic newspaper/journalism skills already. If they don't answer the exam questions completely (like if a question has 3 parts and they only answered the first part), then I grade accordingly; it's more of a completion grade.
(If I'd had more time to write more of an exam for NP class, I would have also added a short portion that tested them on NP design; the journalism class has to cover so much that we don't have much time to go over NP-specific design. So I tried to go into much more detail on that during the NP class as the year progressed, using The Newspaper Designer's Handbook as my "textbook." I just used my own copy because it's so expensive. So I would have also added that to the NP final exam.)
Friday, May 25, 2007
Desk-perate Housewife
In the course of public school teaching, one must accept the inevitable: switching rooms during the week of testing. One year, I was assigned the job of "bathroom-reliever," the person who travels from room to room providing a 15-minute break to the teacher proctoring the test. I entered a math teacher's room and attempted to watch students and work on finalizing grades while sitting at the teacher's desk.
I say "attempt" because it's hard to do anything when one is so horrified at the sight that greets them. This teacher's large desk was piled high, end to end, with papers, in no discernible order. I estimate that the piles reached an approximate height of at least one foot; I would have measured the stacks with a ruler, but that would assume I could find one amidst all the chaos, math classroom notwithstanding.
To this day, I recall the nightmare that this teacher called a desk and remember how glad I was to leave the room and never return. I think I went back to my own room to begin an organizing frenzy, but those captive students who remained behind must have failed the test just from looking up and seeing that desk every few seconds.
Those who know me well know that I am a certified Neat Freak. I am the Queen of Organization, the Desk Diva, the Arbiter of Order.
Lately, however, my desk area has been more of an orifice for paper than an office. I enjoy creating neat piles of paper that are organized by purpose, but these piles reveal a grotesque lack of order. As I type this, my forearms are supported by two commingled piles that in turn overlap with another pile that make it difficult to answer the phone.
While the state of my desk nowhere approaches the desk of the teacher I relieved long ago, it is causing lasting emotional damage as the random stacks slowly increase. I am sure it also bothers my poor beleaguered husband as he moves piles around to reach the computer, never thinking that his job description as husband included "miner."
Obviously, it is my own fault for letting it get this far, and there is only one way to tackle this Mt. Everest: one thing at a time, or babysteps as FlyLady would say, with a reward at the end. Turn on the iPod, move the sleeping puppy away from snuggling up to the desk, and get the job done so we can EARN that 4:30 matinee to go see Pirates 3.
I say "attempt" because it's hard to do anything when one is so horrified at the sight that greets them. This teacher's large desk was piled high, end to end, with papers, in no discernible order. I estimate that the piles reached an approximate height of at least one foot; I would have measured the stacks with a ruler, but that would assume I could find one amidst all the chaos, math classroom notwithstanding.
To this day, I recall the nightmare that this teacher called a desk and remember how glad I was to leave the room and never return. I think I went back to my own room to begin an organizing frenzy, but those captive students who remained behind must have failed the test just from looking up and seeing that desk every few seconds.
Those who know me well know that I am a certified Neat Freak. I am the Queen of Organization, the Desk Diva, the Arbiter of Order.
Lately, however, my desk area has been more of an orifice for paper than an office. I enjoy creating neat piles of paper that are organized by purpose, but these piles reveal a grotesque lack of order. As I type this, my forearms are supported by two commingled piles that in turn overlap with another pile that make it difficult to answer the phone.
While the state of my desk nowhere approaches the desk of the teacher I relieved long ago, it is causing lasting emotional damage as the random stacks slowly increase. I am sure it also bothers my poor beleaguered husband as he moves piles around to reach the computer, never thinking that his job description as husband included "miner."
Obviously, it is my own fault for letting it get this far, and there is only one way to tackle this Mt. Everest: one thing at a time, or babysteps as FlyLady would say, with a reward at the end. Turn on the iPod, move the sleeping puppy away from snuggling up to the desk, and get the job done so we can EARN that 4:30 matinee to go see Pirates 3.
Monday, September 11, 2006
Baby Steps (Disclaimer: This post has nothing to do with babies!)
When we moved, I dumped all 27 boxes of my school/teaching stuff in a corner and ignored it because it rested neatly against the wall; I would deal with it when I felt like it, which could be the next time we move. This school stuff joined the list of "things I'll get to eventually." But lately, on a husband-enforced hiatus from scrapbooking for a few weeks, I have eyed the mountain of boxes, ready to do battle.
I started easy, by going through and pulling out all books, to be sorted and shelved later. Some boxes have books and files mixed together, like one box labeled “11th Grade Honors.” Fully half this box was filled with research papers collected at the end of the year a few years ago. I kept them to use some as examples the next time research papers were assigned, but I haven’t taught that class since. Yesterday I read a few, then stopped to take a break and mull over the next step. Ideally, I should read the research papers again, pick out a few good and bad ones, then throw out [rather, recycle – or burn, to prevent plagiarism?] the rest.
But I don’t want to read them all again. As I read and recalled memories of what each student was like, I also began to have suspicions. The first time I read these papers, I was a first-year teacher. Now, reading them with more experienced eyes, I see many phrasings that could not have been written by that student. At the time, the only criminal I “caught” was the one dumb enough to rip out the pages from a public library reference book to use in his required appendix, stapling said pages to computer paper.
I am physically unable to just throw out all these papers without culling a few to use as future examples, but how to go about it? What about the other projects I will uncover, reviving the same dilemma? And isn’t it time for an ice cream break?
Stepping away from the problem to gain some perspective (a.k.a., “avoiding the problem”), I sat down to read World magazine, to which we subscribe. I enjoy reading Andree Seu’s columns, as she reflects on everyday life. Her column in this week's issue could have been written by ME, it describes me so accurately, not to mention eerily corresponds to my current predicament. Some excerpts (full text is here):
I guess I’ll put the box of 11th grade papers aside for now and do the next task, which is put files into piles according to grade/class, since everything was haphazardly shoved together into boxes when I packed at school. And maybe Jesus will return before I have to return to the pile of research papers and make a decision.
I started easy, by going through and pulling out all books, to be sorted and shelved later. Some boxes have books and files mixed together, like one box labeled “11th Grade Honors.” Fully half this box was filled with research papers collected at the end of the year a few years ago. I kept them to use some as examples the next time research papers were assigned, but I haven’t taught that class since. Yesterday I read a few, then stopped to take a break and mull over the next step. Ideally, I should read the research papers again, pick out a few good and bad ones, then throw out [rather, recycle – or burn, to prevent plagiarism?] the rest.But I don’t want to read them all again. As I read and recalled memories of what each student was like, I also began to have suspicions. The first time I read these papers, I was a first-year teacher. Now, reading them with more experienced eyes, I see many phrasings that could not have been written by that student. At the time, the only criminal I “caught” was the one dumb enough to rip out the pages from a public library reference book to use in his required appendix, stapling said pages to computer paper.
I am physically unable to just throw out all these papers without culling a few to use as future examples, but how to go about it? What about the other projects I will uncover, reviving the same dilemma? And isn’t it time for an ice cream break?
Stepping away from the problem to gain some perspective (a.k.a., “avoiding the problem”), I sat down to read World magazine, to which we subscribe. I enjoy reading Andree Seu’s columns, as she reflects on everyday life. Her column in this week's issue could have been written by ME, it describes me so accurately, not to mention eerily corresponds to my current predicament. Some excerpts (full text is here):
If you have the same problem I have—walking around in a cloud of vaguely nagging uncompleted tasks—management consultant David Allen has suggestions for Getting Things Done. Look at the book as an elaboration of "doing the next thing," which, in its Christian application, involves acknowledging the following division of labor: Trust the loving and omniscient God to protect your life; you, attend to the next required action.
The fact is that 80 percent of everything in every drawer in your house never gets used. And you know in your heart that every new paper you throw on the pile on your desk renders the paper directly beneath it exponentially less likely to be dealt with. So you have started another pile in another area of the house for "urgent-urgent things," to distinguish them from "urgent things" languishing in the first pile.
All these are invisible monkeys on your back, not unlike Pilgrim's burden in the John Bunyan tale, except it's not sin but mental clutter that robs your peace. God would have you free of this ("We have the mind of Christ"—1 Corinthians 2:16). It's not a moral issue, of course, except in the sense that everything under the sun is a moral issue, in a cosmos owned by God. Keeping your rafters from sagging is a moral issue (Ecclesiastes 10:18). …
Is it bugging you that you haven't read your Bible in about six months? Okay, either live with the gnawing discomfort or take the next action. Maybe the next action is, "Where's my Bible? Honey, do we own a Bible?" Or maybe what's shipwrecked your good intentions is something as small as the looming imagined hassle of not knowing where to start in your reading—Old Testament or New Testament? Make an intuitive stab at that decision, then break the Bible open to the place on your night table, so that tomorrow morning you won't be waylaid by that other psychological barrier of having actually to thumb through for the right page. …
I guess I’ll put the box of 11th grade papers aside for now and do the next task, which is put files into piles according to grade/class, since everything was haphazardly shoved together into boxes when I packed at school. And maybe Jesus will return before I have to return to the pile of research papers and make a decision.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Scrapbookers Anonymous
For someone who is a serious conformist, I can be surprisingly nonconventional where technology, trends, and current developments are concerned. All my friends couldn’t wait to turn 16 and start driving; my dad had to threaten me to get me to practice at 17. Everyone in my church singles’ group had a cell phone to stay in touch; I refused to get one and preferred to remain inaccessible. And we all know how I used to feel about blogs.
Scrapbooking fell into the same category. “Everyone is doing it right now” – so I don’t want to. Isn’t it as expensive a habit as drugs? The purpose of preserving memories and photos was commendable, but the complicated designs with millions of stickers and ribbons and stamps were beyond my powers of imagination and skill. Besides, I had my own outlet for creativity as I advised high school students on the newspaper and yearbook staffs. Scrapbooking, pshaw.
I should have recognized that keeping ticket stubs and making sure programs (heaven forbid) don’t get bent was a sign, and lessons learned in the past didn’t mean anything, either: all throughout college and grad school, I maintained when asked that I was NOT going to use my English degree to be a teacher … but I secretly kept adding to a file in my drawer labeled “Teaching Ideas.”
So I’m forced to confess: I have joined the scrapbooking cult. Too many little papers and a LOT of photos were piling up (there must be some undiscovered law of physics that states when one is touring Europe, hundreds of photos will be taken).
For my husband’s sanity, I am striving to deal with my new addiction slowly and not be solely responsible for keeping Michael’s or Joann’s in business. (But what is one to do when the paper is not 59 cents a sheet, but on sale – 4 for $1.00?? It would be stupid not to stock up, of course.) I have finished almost 10 pages of our London honeymoon book, which is about halfway, I figure.
I think I’ll take a break from hunching over the table and go fold the wrinkled laundry….
Then, as a reward, head over to Michael’s to buy a new edge punch. Or two.
Scrapbooking fell into the same category. “Everyone is doing it right now” – so I don’t want to. Isn’t it as expensive a habit as drugs? The purpose of preserving memories and photos was commendable, but the complicated designs with millions of stickers and ribbons and stamps were beyond my powers of imagination and skill. Besides, I had my own outlet for creativity as I advised high school students on the newspaper and yearbook staffs. Scrapbooking, pshaw.
I should have recognized that keeping ticket stubs and making sure programs (heaven forbid) don’t get bent was a sign, and lessons learned in the past didn’t mean anything, either: all throughout college and grad school, I maintained when asked that I was NOT going to use my English degree to be a teacher … but I secretly kept adding to a file in my drawer labeled “Teaching Ideas.”
So I’m forced to confess: I have joined the scrapbooking cult. Too many little papers and a LOT of photos were piling up (there must be some undiscovered law of physics that states when one is touring Europe, hundreds of photos will be taken).
For my husband’s sanity, I am striving to deal with my new addiction slowly and not be solely responsible for keeping Michael’s or Joann’s in business. (But what is one to do when the paper is not 59 cents a sheet, but on sale – 4 for $1.00?? It would be stupid not to stock up, of course.) I have finished almost 10 pages of our London honeymoon book, which is about halfway, I figure.
I think I’ll take a break from hunching over the table and go fold the wrinkled laundry….
Then, as a reward, head over to Michael’s to buy a new edge punch. Or two.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)