Done with one class. Nice to start my grad career with an A. Turning in another seminar paper tomorrow and this semester is in the books. 12 more days of teaching and then a two week vacation. I need it.

My semester is over after a final last night. Glad to have about 5 weeks off before the real fun begins.

Dropped off the seminar paper, we will be meeting for drinks next week to receive our papers.

First time ever not having finals, feels weird but fantastic.

 

And then I remember that my friends left on campus are out drinking right now...

Last final of grad school next week and then I'm finally done. Going to feel fantastic to not have to sit in a classroom after being at work all day.

I have three finals next week (Professional Responsibility, Evidence and Health Law) with fourth that has a paper due that Friday (Federal Jurisdiction). I'm finally done the following Tuesday (Wills, Trusts & Estates). But after that my cousin is up here for a few days, so that should be a fun time before heading back to Chicago for Christmas.

All due on Tuesday:

 

Spanish Cinema final paper

German Cinema final essays

History final paper (American Film Ratings)

 

Did a pretty simple Spanish final yesterday.

Done with one class. Nice to start my grad career with an A. Turning in another seminar paper tomorrow and this semester is in the books. 12 more days of teaching and then a two week vacation. I need it.

 

Yep, definitely ready for a vacation. I'm a grad student as well, and this semester has been crazy. I have a few labs to grade, and then get through this week (9 days until my two week vacation).

Yep, definitely ready for a vacation. I'm a grad student as well, and this semester has been crazy. I have a few labs to grade, and then get through this week (9 days until my two week vacation).

 

It sounds like you are also doing a TA/GA thing. If I add anything my second year it may be a return to coaching, but just two Lit classes about killed me. Next semester it is The History of English Renaissance Women Poets and a class on Literary Theories. Both are reduced seat time, but my last two reduced seat time met all but two weeks.

Turned in a project that I was dreading. Had to COLD CALL a RANDOM PERSON out of the MUNCIE PHONE BOOK, and go TO THEIR HOUSE and try and find a story to shoot on them. Ended up taking the way most students probably go w/ this project and used a person that was referred to me by a friend. Just can't wait to be through with this class and HOPEFULLY pass it if he curves our grade a s*** ton. I currently sit at a 47% in the class. LOL. And for journalism classes, we need a 73% or higher to pass.

Turning in a revised paper this afternoon, then I am finished! More importantly, I'm hoping to get this published (fingers crossed).

 

Looks like I'll be finishing this semester with 2 A's/2 A-'s or 2 A's/1 or 2 B+'s. Damn you, grade deflation

 

It sounds like you are also doing a TA/GA thing. If I add anything my second year it may be a return to coaching, but just two Lit classes about killed me. Next semester it is The History of English Renaissance Women Poets and a class on Literary Theories. Both are reduced seat time, but my last two reduced seat time met all but two weeks.

 

What are you studying in grad school? Are you still teaching?

Turned in a project that I was dreading. Had to COLD CALL a RANDOM PERSON out of the MUNCIE PHONE BOOK, and go TO THEIR HOUSE and try and find a story to shoot on them. Ended up taking the way most students probably go w/ this project and used a person that was referred to me by a friend. Just can't wait to be through with this class and HOPEFULLY pass it if he curves our grade a s*** ton. I currently sit at a 47% in the class. LOL. And for journalism classes, we need a 73% or higher to pass.

WTF kind of class makes you do cold-calling?

WTF kind of class makes you do cold-calling?

 

In Memphis, cold calls are likely to rear some very interesting stories

I currently sit at a 47% in the class.

 

WTF are you doing?

I'm so glad I'm done with school and have been for more than a decade. Looking back at all of this it reminds me of how annoying it was.

In Memphis, cold calls are likely to rear some very interesting stories

I've spent many weeks doing cold-calls to alums and gotten some interesting stories involving the Manhattan and Apollo projects, but that was for a job, not a class.

WTF kind of class makes you do cold-calling?

 

A dumb class. It's a "video storytelling" class. Cold calling someone and showing up at their house is just downright dangerous, and Muncie isn't the safest town, either.

WTF are you doing?

 

It's hard to have a passing grade in the class when the professor gives you a -5/100 on a project. Yeah, -5%. Insane, right?

 

He has a rubric he uses, but instead of every other teacher in the world, it's not like you get a score like "Lighting - ?? out of 10" or "Creativity - ?? out of 10" like most rubrics look. No. He has a rubric that looks like this... "Jump cut: -5 points" "Flash frame: -25 points" "Low lighting: -10 points".

 

So on the project I got a -5% on, he counted something like 13 jump cuts in my story,and I lost 5 points EVERY TIME. So right off the bat, there goes 65 points from my grade. Then he counted bad lighting, a shaky scene, other stuff, and it all ended up to -5 points. Even if a teacher was s***ty enough to grade on a system like this, you would think he would put it in the system as just a 0/100. Nope. He actually entered it as -5/100 in the grade book. So I actually would have a better grade if I TURNED IN NOTHING.

 

On the following project, I got a 10/100. A lot of people are failing the class, which is why every year he has to curve the final grades 10-15%, so it doesn't make him look bad as a prof when everyone fails. But at a 47%, I'm not sure how close I can get to that 73% mark I need.

Oh, and he offered an extra credit assignment for us to do, since the grades are so bad in his class. I did it, of course, checked gradebook, and I received a 55/100. He didn't enter it as "extra points", like the term "extra credit" implies, and how the rest of the teaching world does it. He simply just made it an extra assignment. While a 55/100 actually DID make my grade rise, it also hardens my score where it is. So now it will be harder to climb out of the hole I'm in with a good score on my final project. For at least 1 person in the class, the extra credit assignment actually made his grade GO DOWN. Ridiculous.

Talked to the prof after class. He said he is going to change how the extra credit was input, will change how our first 3 assignments were weighted (out of 100 instead out of only 10), and the curve looks to be about 15%. He also said I actually have a 63% in the class, before he adds participation points. So I may actually end up with like an 85% in the class. LOL. What an awful, awful grading system he does.

Talked to the prof after class. He said he is going to change how the extra credit was input, will change how our first 3 assignments were weighted (out of 100 instead out of only 10), and the curve looks to be about 15%. He also said I actually have a 63% in the class, before he adds participation points. So I may actually end up with like an 85% in the class. LOL. What an awful, awful grading system he does.

 

 

Good to hear it seems like it will work out well for you. He sounds like a terrible fecking @rsehole, though!

It sounds like you are also doing a TA/GA thing. If I add anything my second year it may be a return to coaching, but just two Lit classes about killed me. Next semester it is The History of English Renaissance Women Poets and a class on Literary Theories. Both are reduced seat time, but my last two reduced seat time met all but two weeks.

 

What is GA? This is my third year of being a TA and I'm ready for it to be over. I don't think being a TA takes up a bunch of my time, it's just the lack of effort which bothers me and chasing down students to turn in their reports. I'm just really looking forward to this break

What is GA? This is my third year of being a TA and I'm ready for it to be over. I don't think being a TA takes up a bunch of my time, it's just the lack of effort which bothers me and chasing down students to turn in their reports. I'm just really looking forward to this break

 

I assume Graduate Assistant.

Turning in a revised paper this afternoon, then I am finished! More importantly, I'm hoping to get this published (fingers crossed).

 

Looks like I'll be finishing this semester with 2 A's/2 A-'s or 2 A's/1 or 2 B+'s. Damn you, grade deflation

 

 

 

What are you studying in grad school? Are you still teaching?

 

Literature. Still teaching, but i stopped coaching while I'm working on the degree. But, the principal asked me to mentor a new teacher, which I am. Then yesterday I was asked by another new teacher to mentor her. The extra money doesn't make up for coaching, but it helps. Texas Tech has a non resident PhD program I have my eyes on.

What is GA? This is my third year of being a TA and I'm ready for it to be over. I don't think being a TA takes up a bunch of my time, it's just the lack of effort which bothers me and chasing down students to turn in their reports. I'm just really looking forward to this break

 

Yes, graduate assistant. Here you would be helping with research not teaching. I was offered a spot with one if my professors to help with a book project he's got going. We couldn't make the schedule work out or I would have jumped on it.