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Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Tuesday Tidbits

  • Got my annual evaluation yesterday and my dean had nothing but praise for me. Cuz I'm awesome. On the evaluation itself, he even wrote that I am one of "the most effective instructors in the department." Boo-ya!
  • I got an invitation to participate in the Oxford Round Table -- a yearly conference held in Oxford each year -- since the subject this year is 19th Century Women's Writing (I teach a literature class that focuses on 19th C Women Novelists). I got incredibly excited about it until I saw that the conference is held July 5-10. Ummmm, I'm gonna be about 36 weeks pregnant then and flying across the Atlantic is really not possible. Dammit!
  • While I was grading essays yesterday, I found a plagiarized essay. The whole thing is not directly lifted, but entire paragraphs come from uncited sources, and other parts are summarized from uncited sources. I emailed the student and asked him to come meet with me privately so we can discuss this.
  • My stated plagiarism policy on my syllabus is that if a student "knowingly submits any work that is not his or hers and does not cite it correctly" then the penalty is automatic course failure. But generally, I like to conference with the student first to try and understand their situation and offer alternatives.
  • But I would really love to fail this guy. He's constantly absent, often late, and sits there in class with this attitude that just says, "Go ahead and try to to teach me something." However, I have to be equitable.
  • Yesterday, when Jerry got home from work, he found this little Daschund without a collar roaming around the parking lot in front of our building. Not wanting to just leave it in the parking lot (he was afraid she'd get hit by a car) but not wanting to bring her inside (who knows how a strange dog will act with Scooter), he went door to door in our community and eventually found the unit she belonged to.
  • Apparently, the woman who answered the door said her children, who were fishing by the canal, were supposed to be watching the dog. Clearly, they weren't.
  • What gets me though is that the dog had no collar on, thus no tags on. If she'd had a collar with tags, we could have just called the phone number or gone to the address. Sometimes I think people can be so careless with their pets.
  • We had a pretty stellar performance at bowling last night, and in our 2nd game, we rocked the hiz-ouse! Unfortunately, we kinda tanked in our 3rd game, but we still won quite a few points and we each had some good games.
  • Today, I have lots to do: Classes to teach, then errands to run, then a house to clean. We have friends arriving tomorrow evening from out of town, and they're staying the night with us Wednesday night before we all cruise on Thursday.
  • So I guess that means I gots to go!
  • Check ya later dudes!

26 comments:

kristen said...

Fail his ass. Kids are coddled too much these days.

Unknown said...

good job on your annual evaluation!

ours are coming up soon. makes everyone crazy.

soon i will find out how much of a 0% raise I deserve (no raises, but we're still getting evaluating...gotta love the economy)

Wes said...

We already KNEW you were awesome ;-) Can I sub on your conference! I know all about literature and women writing stuff...

RunningLaur said...

Congrats on the good review - that's a great feeling!

I want to know what happens with the word thief, it sounds quite exciting. Not as exciting as a cruise (yay!) but exciting!

Lily on the Road said...

Right on Kristen, don't let him play you!

Sorry about your conference, too bad they can't cybercast it for you...(is there such a word? LOL)

Marcy said...

LMAO I'm with Kristen.

CONGRATS on the annual evaluation. Very nice job, chica ;D

Razz said...

Congrats on the eval! I'd love to be a fly on the wall for the conference. I want to see his justifications - if any.

C said...

Damn. It would have been nice to meet you.

I agree with the others--fail him. Fail him good.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps you could convince them to move the Round Table to Oxford, Mississippi! Certainly a different vibe, but hey...

Plagarize his ass right to the curb.

Marlene said...

Congratulations on your kick-ass evaluation! And what an hono(u)r to be invited to the round table @ Oxford. Hopefully you'll get another opportunity when you're not busting at the seams with a babe.

Unknown said...

Kudos to Jerry for getting the little guy home, it sounds like his owners are not the best:(

Nike+ said...

Hello Jess,
Congratulations for your blog.
An email to get in touch?

X-Country2 said...

You really are a teaching rockstar! Bummer you won't make Oxford, but like the Oscars, it's an honor just to be nominiated. :o)

Aron said...

CONGRATS on the great review!! too bad about the round table timing :(

good luck with the student meeting... you have to let us know how it goes.

Anonymous said...

You'll have to let us know how things go with the student!

Aka Alice said...

Yay on the great eval!

I hate finding plagiarized papers. I know that students plagiarize for a whole host of reasons (from not knowing better, to being lazy, to panic), but I'm always a bit insulted. I think "what...did you think I'm ignorant and I wouldn't be able to tell your work from another's?" (or perhaps he was just hoping for the "ignore" part...). GAH!

We can't fail students in the course based on a single plagiarized paper here (college policy), but can fail them on the assignment only... Isn't that nuts?

Anonymous said...

Great job on the eval. Bummer on the timing of the conference. That would have been awesome. Ah well, just the first of many sacrifices you'll make in the name of motherhood. ;o)

teacherwoman said...

No fun dealing with students like that. My students try to cheat by copying off of each other's work, but they must think I am really stupid to not catch them looking. LOL.

SavvyFitChica said...

pretty active day for ya! First, congrats on your awesome review, you deserve it I'm sure. Second, I'm sorry you can't go to Oxford, that really stinks. I use the word "crap" a lot...does that count as women's literature at all?

I think the kid should definitely be held accountable, but that's just my two cents.

Peace out chica!!!

Marci said...

Ug I hate plagarism. I say fail him, only because us high school teachers say "you are only getting a zero now but they may boot your butt out the door at university/college". But its very fair of you to interview the student first. Congrats on a great review!

Shannon said...

"Cheaters Never Win" I hope you nail his butt to the fence if he DID do it.

I tell my "little students" (I teach Advanced Reading) that "I don't ever want to see you guys steal someone else's work!" I'm getting them ready for you!

MN Mom said...

Thankfully you found the dogs home! Shannon and I rescued a pit bull, very sweet, but no way did I want to over-nite it with Angel around, so I had to pay for three days at a shelter and spaying. I was talking to a gal at Petsmart the next day, told her the story and she ended up adopting her! Nice end to what could have been bad. The shelter told me they have to put-down most pit bulls because no one will adopt them.

Unknown said...

Glad you came out with flying colors on your annual eval.
Hey.. wondering if I can represent you for the Oxford thing! Just prepare a statement for me and I will use in sign language. The people at Oxford will not have a clue to what I am saying and they will think your presentation is out of the world.

Laurel said...

Great job on the evaluation! But we already knew you were awesome.

sRod said...

So I'm guessing your students haven't found your blog?

Agate Lake Girl said...

Hopefully the dog woman was at least appreciative. I once spent hours making phone calls and tracking down the owner of a dog and when I delivered it, she didn't even act nice about it. It wasn't like I was looking for a reward, but a thanks might have been nice.

Sorry about the Oxford thing - still a great honor though!