The past couple of days
Nov. 20th, 2008 02:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scottahillThe past couple of days have been very busy. On the one hand, Jen was out of town at a conference, so I had Miriam to watch. On the other hand, I had an exam to give today which I had to write. They're now taking the exam and so I feel a certain sense of relief. (I'll have to grade it, but frankly I don't feel the need to finish grading until after Thanksgiving. :)
The test seems very long, and since my tests seem to be long even when I don't think they are, it worries me. The problem is that it covers way too much material. I attempted to divide the class up thematically (Optics, Electricity, and then Magnetism) which meant that the first test was rather short. Thanks to having to skip class on Tuesday because of Miriam, I made arrangements so that I'm giving this class during their usual 3-hour lab period. They should have plenty of time-- 3 hours and all-- but I promised them I wasn't going to write a 3-hour test, and so I'm feeling guilty. I've probably been overapologetic about it, actually. I get too worried about my students' feelings, because basically I'm trying to get them to like me. There is a certain amount of sense to that career-wise, since they will be filling out evaluations, but tough professors are often beloved as well, so long as they're fair. By promising my students things I later can't deliver, I may be undermining that fairness. (Mind you, I have a decent relationship with my students, as far as I can tell. I still think back to my evaluations from last semester, though, which were not really good.)
Did I ever mention that proctoring an exam is really boring? :) COme to think of it, it's a lot like the worst bits of babysitting: you have to stay in one place, you have to keep one eye on your wards, and so you can't really concentrate on any work or reading you may want to do. Fortunately I can touch-type and watch them at the same time, so maybe I'll just ramble on here for a while. :)
Other news:
* Jen is suffering from what she calls her worst cold in a couple of years-- and during her conference to boot. It made flying particularly painful. She now has laryngitis. Miriam also has a cold (plenty of snot but not too sad), and coincidentally my Dad has laryngitis as well. Hope I'm not next; my throat does feel a little dry....
* I can tell Miriam "go hug your elephant" and she'll go lie on top of her stuffed elephant, even if it's in the other room. Language development! She also knows the word "Mummy" although she doesn't use it very often herself. I'm trying to teach her the word "up"; I think she says "dah" for "up" right now ("dah" might mean "change elevation"-- "down" or "up" interchangeably as appropriate. Then again, "dah" is pretty much her all-purpose word.)
* Miriam doesn't get much time around other babies, but when she does she's pretty good: she takes an interest in them, pats them gently on the head or arm when she can reach, and hands things to them. It's really fun to see two babies "communicating" with each other-- waving, exchanging rocks or leaves, etc.
* I've been eating out at restaurants way too much. The thing is that I just work better in restaurants, and after a day watching Miriam I need to get out of the house. I wonder if my working-at-home problem has something to do with my furniture. I think I need an immobile seat to sit on while I'm working; rolling office chairs (or rickety dining room chairs) make me feel skittish. At Williams I used to do my best work lying on those heavy tables in the Physics classrooms, with occasional breaks at the blackboard. What I'd really love is to replace my office chair at home with one of those restaurant booths: heavy, comfortable, but still positioning you at the right angle to interact with the table. I also hate my desk because it has a board running underneath it (making an H shape from above) which keeps me from stretching my legs out. I'm also curious whether the height of the desk matters: I'm thinking that I ought to bring a tape measure with me to various restaurants where I work well, measure the heights of chair and desk, and compare to those in my office spaces (at home and work). Crazy?
Guess that's it for now.
The test seems very long, and since my tests seem to be long even when I don't think they are, it worries me. The problem is that it covers way too much material. I attempted to divide the class up thematically (Optics, Electricity, and then Magnetism) which meant that the first test was rather short. Thanks to having to skip class on Tuesday because of Miriam, I made arrangements so that I'm giving this class during their usual 3-hour lab period. They should have plenty of time-- 3 hours and all-- but I promised them I wasn't going to write a 3-hour test, and so I'm feeling guilty. I've probably been overapologetic about it, actually. I get too worried about my students' feelings, because basically I'm trying to get them to like me. There is a certain amount of sense to that career-wise, since they will be filling out evaluations, but tough professors are often beloved as well, so long as they're fair. By promising my students things I later can't deliver, I may be undermining that fairness. (Mind you, I have a decent relationship with my students, as far as I can tell. I still think back to my evaluations from last semester, though, which were not really good.)
Did I ever mention that proctoring an exam is really boring? :) COme to think of it, it's a lot like the worst bits of babysitting: you have to stay in one place, you have to keep one eye on your wards, and so you can't really concentrate on any work or reading you may want to do. Fortunately I can touch-type and watch them at the same time, so maybe I'll just ramble on here for a while. :)
Other news:
* Jen is suffering from what she calls her worst cold in a couple of years-- and during her conference to boot. It made flying particularly painful. She now has laryngitis. Miriam also has a cold (plenty of snot but not too sad), and coincidentally my Dad has laryngitis as well. Hope I'm not next; my throat does feel a little dry....
* I can tell Miriam "go hug your elephant" and she'll go lie on top of her stuffed elephant, even if it's in the other room. Language development! She also knows the word "Mummy" although she doesn't use it very often herself. I'm trying to teach her the word "up"; I think she says "dah" for "up" right now ("dah" might mean "change elevation"-- "down" or "up" interchangeably as appropriate. Then again, "dah" is pretty much her all-purpose word.)
* Miriam doesn't get much time around other babies, but when she does she's pretty good: she takes an interest in them, pats them gently on the head or arm when she can reach, and hands things to them. It's really fun to see two babies "communicating" with each other-- waving, exchanging rocks or leaves, etc.
* I've been eating out at restaurants way too much. The thing is that I just work better in restaurants, and after a day watching Miriam I need to get out of the house. I wonder if my working-at-home problem has something to do with my furniture. I think I need an immobile seat to sit on while I'm working; rolling office chairs (or rickety dining room chairs) make me feel skittish. At Williams I used to do my best work lying on those heavy tables in the Physics classrooms, with occasional breaks at the blackboard. What I'd really love is to replace my office chair at home with one of those restaurant booths: heavy, comfortable, but still positioning you at the right angle to interact with the table. I also hate my desk because it has a board running underneath it (making an H shape from above) which keeps me from stretching my legs out. I'm also curious whether the height of the desk matters: I'm thinking that I ought to bring a tape measure with me to various restaurants where I work well, measure the heights of chair and desk, and compare to those in my office spaces (at home and work). Crazy?
Guess that's it for now.
