Back to School for GrownUps

Well - since the 10 bloggers in my Entrecard list all show 31 days - I have no way to know which of my other top droppers might also have dropped that consistently.

So - will have to post all 25 Top Droppers showing in my feed, I s’pose….  thank you to all of you… and to all of my other visitors from Entrecard, linkreferral, or whatever else brings you here.

Would love to hear from y’all …why not stop & drop a comment or two sometime?  Even if you’re not a Back-to-Schooler, I am always happy to hear from visitors… and if you are, were, or wanna-be a Back-to-Schooler … let me know and I will happily add you to the Back-to-Schooler blogroll over there —–>

• Artbeat Inspirations
• The Way I See It
• Marriage and Beyond
• Photography by KML
• Retro Yakking
• Trade Forex Online
• Bingo Sites Online for Women
• DedeAndro™
• Tech Spotlight
• Paperkraft.net
• My Life in Italy
• What’s On My Mind Today

You probably already know that people do not all learn the same way. Some of us tend to be more auditory; some are more visual, and some people learn by doing…and all to varying degrees.

Knowing where you fit can be helpful - not just in terms of helping you to DO what you need to do in order to learn effectively, but also in making decisions about the type of program or course to take, or what sort of learning situation, in other words, you should look for. And, of course, in figuring out what sort of career you might do well in, as well.

If you are strictly a hands on type of learner, you are probably going to be frustrated as all heck in course that is all lecture. Most profs SHOULD have enough sense to know that in any class groupings they are going to have students who learn better in each of the areas - but not all subjects lend themselves easily to all styles of learning …and not all profs are skilled at finding ways to change it up to accomodate everyone.

There are bunches of online versions of tests to tell you your learning style - but chances are you already have a pretty good sense of what works for you.

Those of use who are more hands on tend to be bored by lectures; those who fill their notes with drawings and diagrams are propably more visual than others, and so on …

There are a number of different inventories and measures available… some that are more detailed than others - and some online sites that are clearly more interested in selling you stuff than in actually telling you anything useful about your learning styles. Here are a few that seem more useful than some:

• Abiator’s Learning Styles Inventories Tests - the ones I tried were straightforward - no registration required.  Information provided for both teachers and learners.
• Learning-Styles-Online.com also includes information and tests - their tests differ in that they offer a graphical, detailed representation of where you fit. You are required to register to get your results, but while they would like you to buy full access and a manual, they do provide you with the basics with the free membership.
• Dr. Richard Felder is a prof at North Carolina State U, and his site, while rather academic and uh… plain (as in visually B O R I N G) does include bunches of information about learning styles, especially the Felder-Silverman Learning Style Model (go figure ). The inventory itself is here , and no registration is required.

So - what is your learning style? And what strategies do you use to make it work for you?

I often joke, when I am teaching, that someone deserves a sticker.

I don’t usually actually have stickers with me… although I do have many at home: I like stickers! Always have

Anyway … today, while teaching, I told someone that if I had my stickers, I would definitely give him one, because I really liked the fact that he was helping some other students that were having some trouble with the queries we were working on.

Stickers?

Oh sure, I told them… I even have airplane stickers because I teach them (aviation students).

Cool! They want airplane stickers.

And they are going to get them, too.

Because the silliness about airplane stickers changed the dynamics of the entire room.

Before then, many of the people were tense & frustrated. People who had missed any classes up until then - many of whom did not have textbooks…which drives me nuts and makes ME frustrated (I can cope with a few people sharing texts - but if you’re not going to come to class religiously, you damn well had best buy a book - and not only that, DO THE WORK YOU MISS!!!! …don’t expect me to keep 30+ people who do come to class and are ready to move on waiting for you - and yes, all of this is CLEARLY stated in the syllabus).

Anyway - today was a review period, and I encourage people to work together to figure stuff out without ME having to tell them (it sticks better) ….but really, the room had largely divided into people who knew what they were doing working together in small groups, and people who were totally lost & floundering making no progress except when I could get to them. I was getting frustrated, especially with people sitting idle and not even TRYING to figure things out while they waited for me…. GRRRRRRRRRR!!!!

But after that one off the cuff comment about stickers everything changed.

They got it …. all of them.

The students who knew what to do, within minutes, it seemed, were scattered around the room helping the students who needed help. And - after one quick redirection: helping = no touching of the mouse - they aren’t allowed to just reach over and do it for them; have to teach them, using words - not only because the learner will be more likely to learn it, but ESPECIALLY because the best way to learn something well is to have to explain it to someone else.

Some people who I had been marked and left already somehow ended up back in the room …. they poked their heads in looking for someone, and ended up back in there… helping, laughing, teaching…. learning.

Just the way I like it.

Well … it’s just about ….um… how the heck do you spell that word… unaminous, that’s it… thank goodness for spellcheck (in Word)…

It is just about unaminous … most people who commented about reasons to go back to school - or not - agreed that money is a big factor.

Education = better job opportunities, independence and better pay.  

Patricia found more rewarding and interesting (and better paid) jobs as a result of earning her doctorate.  CurvyQueenBee is headed for a career in Psychology; a much more attractive option than what would be available in her area without higher education. Drofen ’s on the road to a better paying career, too, as are Jenni, who is on the road to financial independence (and being an awesome role model for her daughter in the process) and melisann , who is considering a law degree.

Money is often an issue in people deciding NOT to go back to school, as well, as both Stephanie and *lynne* mentioned.  It definitely is a huge investment - in time, energy & resources - it isn’t worth it for everyone …and sometimes the time just isn’t right.

Education = change

Me, I first went back to college (computer programmer analyst) because I was totally and completely burned out in social work and mental health support services - I needed a way to earn a living that did not involve working with messed up people. No offense to messed up people…I am one on occasion …but I just had nothing left to give, and I thought I would like a little cubicle of my own. Turned out, not so much. Those that can, do …those that can’t - or can, but hate it, teach

Then, several years later, I went back, again, as a sanity strategy… I was spending way too much time at home with my mother-in-law, who had Alzheimers, and who, at the time, was altogether too fond of  being in my personal space. I was not teaching enough that first summer semester, and she was driving me NUTS. So Ross suggested I “go take a course or something”.  The rest is history …took 2 courses, got a 94 and a 97% and that was that…. started full time that fall, and have been going year round (and also teaching) ever since.

While the potential $$ is very much part of the reason Ross keeps encouraging me to go on …especially since I got the OGS (the big scholarship)… for me, it’s less about the $$ and more about the learning and the doing and the feeling that I can do well at it. And now I am totally excited about the possibility of pulling all of my ~stuff~ together and going back to where I started … making a difference in the lives of emotionally and behaviourally challenged young people. I loved working with those kids… can’t do that any more… but I can still make a difference.

Education = positive role modelling 

Jenni mentioned the role modelling aspect of going back to school… I think it bears repeating. We all want the best for our kids - and by showing them that we really believe that school is worth the sacrifice and hard work, I hope we can encourage them to make the most of their own opportunities.

There are probably as many reasons to go back to school - or not - as there are back to schoolers… but seems to me that these are the major ones, and that the money question factors in pretty consistently. What do you think? 

So …I am supposed to be writing a new Statement of Interest/Plan of Study at the moment…and I have actually made some progress on that…but in the back of my mind, I have also been coming up with potential topics for blog posts for this blog.

I’m thinking that I might get a few posts drafted in advance so that on those days when I just can’t get to coming up with new articles, I will have a store of ready-to-go posts to draw on. Far more proactive than I usually am - are you impressed? 

Anyway …I have come up with a few, including:

• Why people go back to school (going back to the article where I asked you for your input on that topic and writing it up, as I meant to do)
• Deciding between online and in-person courses
• Choosing a program
• Test-taking strategies (especially for people who suck at a particular type of tests - in my case, that would be multiple choice)
• Taking a break (giving oneself permission to take time OFF occasionally; something Ross thinks I also suck at - and he is probably right)
• Learning styles
• Reviews and links of/to other Back to Schoolers blogs

So … there is a fair bit of scope there…. but I am also very interested in hearing about what visitors to this blog would like me to write about, too. Are there topics that you think I should spend more time on? Less? Anything in particular that I should address? Resource links that I should be adding?

What would you like to see here? Your thoughts are very much valued & appreciated!

FINALLY!

What a relief. I started an online course in Psychology through Athabasca U way back … figured I could get it finished and out of the way before I got too far into my graduate school studies. I figured wrong.

I should have been able to do it - but online courses, particularly those from Athabasca, are very much a self-directed affair. I’ve taken other online courses, through my undergrad university, and those came with a schedule and due dates - but with Athabasca, the only deadline is the end of the course - you have 6 full months to get ‘er done, and it is up to you to manage it and DO it. You have to be self-disciplined; I am - obviously - not. Or not enough, anyway.

While I did get all the reading and quizzes done within a very short time, I just couldn’t seem to get the essay finished to my satisfaction. And then, when it was right down to the wire and I had booked my exam and had the essay almost done, I had the car accident and messed everything up.

Athabasca were very accomodating, and allowed me an extra 2 months to finish (and waived the normal extension fee, also). And as of today, finally, I got ‘er done. Did the exam yesterday; sent the essay off today. YAY for me!

I know that my final mark won’t likely be as high as I would like it to be - I DO so detest multiple choice exams!! But it is done, DONE, DONE!!! 

Unless the prof really hates my essay, it should still be an A, I hope…. just not as high an A as I would like :)  Hell, at this point, I am so glad to be DONE that I’d even live with a B. If I hafta.

I had to stop by the Athabasca website earlier today and got caught up in looking at other courses I would like to take… LOOK!!  …they even have graduate level courses that I could take…. but Stephanie, my favourite rocket scientist, happened to pop up on my MSN in time to dissuade me from doing anything foolish   Extra courses can wait until I’m through this current batch of courses…. maybe in May ….. when as far as I know, I will ~only~ have my major research paper to write …..

Here are my responses to the interview questions Patricia, from Subjective Soup (and Communication Exchange) sent me.  Wanna play? If you would like to participate in an interview as well, let me know and I shall come up with a set of 5 questions just for you.  

1.  I do not see a photograph of you on any of your blogs.  Please describe what you look like.

Would it be cheating to just post a photo instead? I hope not :)  I like my new student ID photo better than the graduation photo I have posted here, cuz I like my new glasses better than the ones I had here, but just too lazy to get off my butt and go scan if for you, so this will have to do.

2.  You attend school in Canada and I attended school and taught school in the U. S.  What similarities and differences are there between the educational systems of the two countries?

Honestly, not having attended/taught in the US I am not entirely sure. I do know that it seems to me that here in Canada, colleges and universities tend to offer very different programs - although more and more now, college programs seem to be creating ties to university programs so that one can finish with a university degree - but that was not common until very recently.

The other difference, according to my psychology text, is that US colleges have a 50% drop out rate - and that many of those students who do manage to complete their programs often take significantly longer than the program is designed to take - taking 6 years to complete a 4 year program, for example. While not all Canadian students are successful in completing their post-secondary education, I think that our statistics are somewhat more encouraging … I was shocked when I read that section of the textbook and actually went and checked.

3.  I know you are in graduate school.  What exactly is your major?  What courses have you taken and what courses do you have left to complete?

This is - depending on how you count them - my fourth post secondary school program. I did a college diploma in Child and Youth Work (with Deaf Option) right out of high school, then, almost 20 years later, I went back and took a diploma in Computer Programmer Analyst.

Because I do well in school and had decent marks, I got bunches of transfer credits, and was able to complete a 4 year Honours degree in English through Laurentian University in just 2 years. During my Honours year, I was able to do an Honours essay instead of the 4th year seminar course I would otherwise have had to take. My topic was “Margaret Laurence: The Self as Writer and the Writing Self”, and I won the university’s English essay competition with it.

Right now, I am doing a Masters in English, Public Texts at Trent University in Peterborough Ontario. I am doing the Major Research Project (MRP) option, which is a one year plan. I started in September ‘08, and should finish in August of ‘09. My coursework right now includes a required course in Public Texts and a colloquium that meets every couple of weeks or so.  On top of those I have 4 electives to do - last semester I did Fiction/Nonfiction and Textual Transmissions, and this semester I am doing The Making of Early Canadian Books and Viral Contagion.

I am also just finishing up an extra online course in Adolescent Psychology, which doesn’t apply towards my degree but which I took as an additional course to provide me with a wee bit more credibility re: my interest in working on issues related to the function of fiction for adolescents and emerging adults.

My MRP - which is a 50+ page paper that I will write over the summer semester - is related to publishing and emerging adults. And my hope is that I will be accepted to go on into a PhD program, where my research will result in a textbook and other resources to promote the use of fiction in therapeutic recreation programming for adolescents with behavioural and emotional challenges, specifically within residential treatment programs.

4.  You write your blog for Today.com.  Just how does that work?

When I signed up for Today.com, the deal was that they would pay $1/day for the first (approved) 100+ word article you posted each day, plus $2 for every 1000 unique viewers. That rate was guaranteed for the first month - after that, they rate your blog regularly and can adjust up or down as they deem fit.

Recently, they have changed their program so that now, new bloggers start out with only the $2/1000 page views - but their blogs too are subject to regular review and can be adjusted up or down.

Today pays when you reach a $50 payout level - which, with 2 blogs, I’ve been able to earn consistently since the first full month of blogging. Plus, even though they are a Canadian company, they pay in US funds, so that works for me too …with the exchange rate, I come out a bit ahead.

While the amount I earn doesn’t sound like much, it is sure a heck of a lot more than I will ever manage to earn on my personal blog, flitting.org. Last time I checked there, I had a whopping .02c earned from Google Adsense!

Given that my time for blogging and promoting is somewhat limited by the fact that I am pretty busy with the school thing (and I also teach 3 sections of relational database at the college I used to go to), Today.com works very well for me…. I especially like the community aspect. I  participate in the forum, along with a bunch of other Today.com bloggers and, most impressively, the staff, who are FAR and away more involved and responsive to our input than are the management of any other site I have been involved with.

5.  I believe you said you have children.  Can you tell us about them?

I have two kids, both girls. They are only 14 months apart; Tamara is 24 and Jessa is 23 now. Both are college graduates now. Tamara studied PR and is looking for a job in her field, and Jess studied Early Childhood Education and is working in a day care.

The two of them share an apartment in Oshawa, which is about an hour away from where I go to school - I don’t see them as often as I would like now that I can’t drive though :(  Did manage a trip this week though, since it was my birthday (Monday).

I linked their names up there to their blogs on Today.com, although they are nowhere near as active as the mommy is. Oh, and my mom just got her new blog up and running today, too.

Plus, Ross & I also have 2 beautiful grandbabies (his daughter’s boys)

And can’t forget my dog - this is Ross & Scrooge, our walker hound.

One of the good things about being in grad school is that - at least for this year - I don’t need to do exams much anymore.

I mark them …but I don’t WRITE any o’ my own.

I rather like that.

But with the course I have been taking online in Adolescent Psychology through Athabasca U… no such luck. I was supposed to write the exam during the last week of November last year … which those of you who read regularly may remember, was the same week I wrecked my car and my wrists. Athabasca kindly allowed me an extension …so tomorrow is the day.

I am SO not ready! I did read the entire textbook, write the paper (although still haven’t done the Works Cited page and emailed it to the prof - will do that this weekend for sure), and do the quizzes … but that was MONTHS ago. As I have been rereading the text and my notes this week everything is totally familiar…but I have little confidence in my ability to pull what I need when I need it. My brain just doesn’t work that way when I want it to anymore.

(That’s a worry, too - will have to write a couple of comprehensive exams for my PhD - if I get in - that scares the bejeebers out o’ me…. but anyway…)

To add to my stress, I did not, apparently, register for my exam the “RIGHT” way. Silly me …. I thought that given that I was not asking for any accomodation aside from the fact that I had asked to be allowed to provide my own keyboard to plug into one of their computers ….should mean that I would not have to jump through the hoops required of those who are requesting accomodations based on special needs.

Yes I did do the forms …. right after the acccident … so that, if I did need accomodations by the time I wrote the exam, I could use them …but….

I  am tired of being slapped for not doing things the right way. I have received an email telling me that I had done the wrong form - I used the one that is for the ‘regular’ exam rather than for the special approved for accomodations due to disability form and I should be sure not to do that again or I won’t be allowed any of the accomodations - you know, those accomodations I DON’T WANT… yeah, those ones.

In response to that, I emailed saying that I was not requesting…blah blah blah … to which I received an actual phone call to clarify …

And just to make me REALLY REALLY GLAD that I EVER filled out their *^&(%^&%#! paperwork IN CASE I NEEDED IT, today I was copied on an email about my accomodations  … and about making SURE that students who are in need of accomodations give enough notice and I know it is not your fault that students sometimes fail to ….

I really, REALLY wanted to respond to the email. I mean *^&(%^&%#! really!

But I was a good girl and resisted the temptation.

I shall finish this course and - hopefully- be done with the whole thing…. honestly, at this point, their ~helpfullness~ has aggravated me to the point that I am SO not inclined to sign up for another course with Athabasca any time soon.

I know they are trying to be helpful - but treating me like an idiot is not helpful. Nor are the repeated ~bad girl~ messages. Seriously.

I teach 3 sections of the same course…. all students in the same semester of the same program.

You would think that the classes would be relatively similar…but they are SO not.

Part of it is due to class size, I think… both of my Monday classes are quite a bit bigger than the Tuesday group …. and attendance in the Tuesday group is abysmal compared to the other 2.

But some of it is just good ol’ dynamics - how many know (and like) each other, who the leaders are, and so on.

One of the biggest differences is the fact that the larger groups have more non-traditional/mature students. Those who are fully cognizant of how much it is costing to be there tend to take the whole experience a whole lot more seriously than do those whose families are paying - or even who are attending via student loans - they tend not to see it as “their” money until they have to pay it back. An awful lot of them that didn’t bother to do the reading I had assigned them … 4 whole pages that they had a whole week to read … I did a pop quiz re: the reading and people either did REALLY well, or really badly - hardly any in the middle.  Hopefully the next time I ask them to read something before class, they will be more likely to (yes, there will be another quiz) - but I’m not counting on it… few seemed at all concerned about their poor showing. *sigh*

Should be an interesting semester.

I hope Patricia over at the Communciation Exchange (and Subjective Soup) won’t mind that I have swiped her title…

Patricia’s article about Making Mistakes got me thinking about a particular prof - and about one mistake that I could easily have made - but didn’t.

I am generally considered - at least in academia - to be a good writer. And that is often reflected in my marks, especially for essays. I have been known, even, to on occasion, receive a 100% on papers. When it came time to approach a prof about supervising my major paper  - it would have made sense - in some ways - to choose one of the profs that I knew I could get really high marks from.

I like really high marks.

But I didn’t. In fact, I chose to ask one of the profs that typically gave me marks at the low end …As …but just barely.

I could have worked with other profs - and done well - but with this particular prof, I learned so much more than I would have otherwise, I think. No matter how well written my work was, she always thought it could be better - and helped me to get it there. She was always willing to spend the time that was needed to edit …and while she wouldn’t fix anything for me, she asked the right questions so that by the time it was done, my essay was awesome … even SHE said so :)   Only 90 I ever got from her… and I won the university’s essay competition with it too.

Taking the easy way is often attractive…but clearly, at least for me, easy is not always best.

Being willing to work with someone who points out your mistakes is a darned good way to learn… having someone just tell you you’re wunnerful can be nice…but doesn’t do a darn thing to encourage learning.

One of the biggest differences between non-traditional students and the young ‘uns tends to be the amount of juggling we older students need to do.

I’m actually quite lucky now - when I did my first Back to School as a grown up thing, I was single-parenting 2 teenagers, 1 of whom was a goalie in hockey. Coaches get REALLY cranky if the goalie doesn’t show up! Plus, since OSAP wasn’t nearly enough to cover feeding said goalie, never mind keeping a car on the road and paying rent and all that fun stuff, I was working as well.

When I started back to school the second time, the kids were both off at school  - but hubby’s Mom, who had Alzheimer’s,  was to the point of needing full time care and supervision. We still had our store, too, so Ross was there 7 days a week from noon - 9 p.m. or so … fortunately we had home care that we could schedule around my classes, and his sister could fill in the gaps occasionally - but trying to juggle caregiving, a business and school was a bit ambitious… and of course, I taught as well.

I not only managed it - I did very well. Now that I have less ~issues~ to juggle though, it almost seems harder, not easier.  I think that when I was totally swamped and under constant pressure, I made better use of my time. Procrastinated less, for starters. Usually had my papers well in hand weeks before they were due, over studied, made use of every available minute to read….

There we go - that’s what I need to do - sign up for some volunteer work or some more courses or something, eh?

I don’t have enough to juggle!

How about the rest of you back-to-schoolers….? How goes the juggling?

One of the universities I applied to for my Master’s level was York U, which is in Toronto. Geographically, it is the closest of my options - a bit closer, even, than where I did end up. I am applying there again for my PhD year - but only as a backup to Trent… if I am accepted into the Canadian Studies program at Trent, that is where I will go… probably.

Not that York isn’t a good school - when they are not on strike. They are well known for multi-disciplinary research - and Dr. Raymond Mar, one of the two psychologists whose work I come back to repeatedly in reference to my own, is there. 

But I sure am glad that I didn’t go there this year! They have been on strike since November 6. It is the TAs and contract profs that are out - so if I had gone there, I too would be on strike. Been there, done that - hated it. When the college I work for went out, I didn’t actually have to walk the picket line due to health issues - but I hated the whole thing anyway.

I teach. I love to teach. And I love to learn. Got no interest in walking picket lines, and I am very glad that I’m not caught up in this one.

At this point, the management have asked for a vote on the last offer; that is taking place shortly, and if the offer passes, classes could start again Jan. 22. If it doesn’t, it seems likely that students will lose their semester, and possibly all sorts of job and grad school opportunities. Even if it does, it is a mess - they will have to somehow cram a whole lot of uncompleted Fall semester content and exams in before they can even get started on the Winter semester courses, which for most started almost 2 weeks ago now.

Definitely a mess.

When the topic of blogging first came up at the beginning of this school year, several people in my program made rather disparaging comments. Not about me, specifically - but about “bloggers“.

It is not something that is regarded highly - and really, considering that we are in a Public Texts program, the whole Internet thing doesn’t seem to be given much attention/respect overall - the focus is still very much paper & books for the most part. Which seems rather short-sighted to me, but anyway…. perhaps we’ll get more into it this term - some of the possible essay topics for one course do include Internet related topics.

ANYway - that’s not what I was going to write about - what I meant to write about are the benefits of blogging.

Being paid for it is nice, for starters. I make a lot more here than I ever am likely to on my only non-today blog, which has so far earned a whopping .01c

But aside from that - and from having met and made connections with some really cool fellow bloggers, and learned bunches about a wide variety of topics through Entrecard-dropping…

It is through blogging that I have been able to make contacts with a number of people that I otherwise would likely never interact with.

A while ago, for example, I got an email from someone at Inspiration.com asking if they could use some of what I’d written about their software on their site.

And today, I received an email from someone at Microsoft, who asked if we could set up a phone call to talk about teaching relational database to aviation management students.

Blogging also gives me a forum to express my frustration with certain companies that irk me, also … no idea if they actually ever find out about it  - but the fact that Microsoft and Inspiration both pay attention to blogs gives me hope that perhaps companies like Aviva and NorDon (or NCS) might someday pay attention also. Won’t hold my breath on that, but hey …. hope is good :)  

Now I shall have to make sure that I write really good blog posts detailing my experiences with both Aviva and NorDon, eh? Will do that later today, I think…. although probably post those over at flitting.org rather than here.

What has blogging done for you?

It is supposed to be hard.

That is what one of my profs says in response to anyone’s complaints about …well… pretty much anything.

If it weren’t hard, then what would be the point? If grad school were easy, everyone would do it, and there would be no value to having that piece of paper that says you pulled it off.

For us older students - mature, returning, non-traditional, adult - whatever term turns your crank will do …. going back to school tends to be even harder than for the younger folk. We have to juggle a whole lot more - kids, husbands, finances, jobs, etc. etc….  and when we are all done, we will have less time in which to work and make our edumacation pay for itself.

If I keep going and get my PhD, I will be at least 50 if not older by the time I finish… so I won’t have nearly as many years left to work …but what the heck - either way, I’ll have the same number of years left to work, right? Might as well set myself up to spend those years doing something that I love - and that pays pretty darn well, too, really. At least that is the plan.

Sure hope I get into a PhD program!  That is the next step - have to get through my MA first though, I s’pose

And my chances would be quite a bit better if I actually got the apps in the mail… still waiting on my reference letters though …

They’re done - one set should be in the mail, and the other, I need to pick up at the college.

We went there today, but no one with a key was there to give them to me. Sucked - especially because as we were leaving, having given up for today, a car pulled out of a parking lot without looking and if Ross hadn’t pulled hard to the right to get out of his way, he would have totally destroyed the front passenger side of our less-than-a-month-old van! Fortunately, he did manage to avoid getting hit - but in the process we sort of ended up going up onto the top of a snowbank, where we sat, within inches of the sign he somehow managed to miss, for more than an hour.

I am SO not impressed with our insurance company. When I called to switch the insurance from the Cavelier to the new van, the guy I talked to was really intent on talking me into extras - one of which I actually took - emergency roadside assistance.

So - we pay for it, we need a tow truck to pull us off of a snowbank - simple, right?

Not!

The guy was impossible. Took more than 40 minutes of crap - policy number isn’t working, etc, etc, etc…. and eventually, after all that time, he put me back on hold and then came back and said “well, we have your policy up but it doesn’t show your vehicle so I can’t help you”

This is the ONLY vehicle that we’ve had the roadside plan FOR…. what the HECK!?

I was livid!

What the heck are we paying for?

Me, I want to call them tomorrow and demand they remove the roadside assistance plan and give us our money back; I will go back to CAA - Ross doesn’t want me to cancel it though …wants to wait until we receive the cheque for the car, which should have been here by now.  We’ll see… but either way they WILL be hearing from me.

Got there too early, so sat around for an hour reading cuz I hadn’t taken my laptop - bad plan, that!

Went to class - and during class, came up with a potential idea for my major essay in that course (Public Texts) … will have to run it by the prof sometime in the near future.

Done class - had another hour and a half to kill, which we did by stopping on a short stretch of downtown Peterborough where there just happens to be 3 used book shops within steps of each other, which I wrote about already, here.

Then we had a very nice dinner at a very nice restaurant that costs considerably more than I would typically consider reasonable - with people from school, and paid for by the MA program. It was very nice - except for the fact that about an hour afterwards I was SOOOOOOOOOOOO sick.

Had to leave the evening lecture not once but twice. Is expensive food poisoning any more fun than fast food food poisoning? Nope! Not in the least bit… and especially not when the lecture is followed by a 2.5 hour drive during which almost everything was/is closed!!! Fortunately I survived until the McDonalds that is a little more than halfway home.

Got home and starting to feel better…but not much… and the coffee I had at dinner (which was pretty darn vile iffen y’ask me - first time I have added sugar to coffee in about 7 years!) had kicked in and I could not sleep. Thought I’d write up the assignment I need to give to my students tomorrow (for their next essay) but got stymied by my stOOpid computer.

The one I use when I am at home is just a tad broken. Had it in the car with me when I had the accident - the monitor did not survive the collision. So I use it with my desktop monitor - except that tonight I knocked the plug out and when I plugged it back in I could NOT get it to switch back for well over an hour of fussing, swearing, and threatening it with the hammer.

Eventually did manage it, but now it is after 2:30 in the morning and I still haven’t touched the assignment thing and I am (obviously) still not in bed. My bad.

My Wednesday class was moved from 2 p.m. to 10 a.m. which means that I can’t possibly get there in time - I have an appointment at the fracture clinic at 9:30 a.m. We’ll head to Peterborough right after, anyway …go hang out at the motel until it’s time to go to my 6 p.m. lecture and then do my seminars at 7 & 8. We’re talking about racism in Huck Finn this week, mostly. Which reminds me, in addition to writing up the assignment sheet, I still need to go onto the class discussion boards and see who’s posted. *sigh*

Suppose I should get to that stuff so that I can get to bed at some point tonight.

Sure hope they take this icky cast off - but given the amount my wrist is still hurting, I’m not counting on it. If I DO still need a cast though, I’m hoping to talk them into giving me a new (glow in the dark) one. AND a few minutes to scrub off all the dead skin and apply copious amounts of lotion!

Only doing one night at the motel this week, so not too worried about needing to pack and all that fun stuff… but I DO want to get up early enough to have a bath or a shower here where I can do it without help instead of having to deal with it there later. Which must mean it’s time I got my actual work done and then went to bed!

So …. how neurotic are you?

About marks, I mean?

Me, I tend to place somewhere toward the high end of the scale…. maybe just a ~few~ degrees past it

I like feedback. I like to know what my mark is. On courses, on assignments… whatever! On all of it!

I thought our marks would be up last Monday - like the undergrads.  A couple of profs had mentioned that they had to get marks in at the same time those of us teaching/marking undergrads did.

Logged into see my marks last Monday afternoon and got a message saying that they were being processed and would be available this Monday.

Except that they were not.

Still not a single blessed mark showing - and nothing back from profs - and I am getting increasingly antsy.

I don’t know that I actually want my fiction/nonfiction paper back, actually - although a final mark for the course would be most welcome. But I am really, really impatient about the musical. I want to know what he thought of it - and what mark I got.

And I do not want to wait any more. 

Seriously - I cannot imagine making my students wait this long for  marks - ever. But then, I tend to ‘cheat’ … rather than spend half my life marking, I set things up to be easily marked in class as student’s finish up. I tell them their marks on the spot, and plug it into the already set up to calculate itself online gradebook.

Yeah, I’m just lazy like that

But my students do appreciate that they generally never wait long at all for their marks. At least in my computer courses - and when I can, I do it in my English seminar groups as well…. speaking of which, my last straggler’s essay # 2 came in (in readable form) late last night… suppose I should mark it and send it back to her.

… oh, and notes… where would YOU be?

I have my notes from Tuesday’s classes. And from Thursday’s. So how is it that everything that I got from my Wednesday class is all gone?

Went to class, then to the bookstore; bought the books for the class, even though I already HAD all but one of them - all wrong editions, and for this prof, it matters.

Then we went to the building that I teach in, where we ate and then went to the lecture and I did my two seminars…. hmmm…. seminars…. sign in sheets…. also missing. They must be here… somewhere…. most likely together and in a particular place that made perfect sense at the time!

School is truly a challenge for the chronically disorganized!!!

So - you haven’t told me where you would be yet! What are you waiting for?

So… a couple of days ago I posted about the high costs of textbooks for university and college … and several people responded with ideas about mitigating those costs; thank you - I love it when people participate, and especially try to help others who are going back to school.

Today in our paper, the Toronto Star , there was a big article about one strategy that some students have been using to try to keep their costs down. Not a particularly good one though, I think …but I can certainly understand the temptation.

They are increasingly finding ways to get textbooks photocopied - for a whole lot less than it would cost them to buy the book. In at least one case, a shop actually has the books and sells photocopied and bound versions for a fraction of the cost of the text.

Not cool.

Of course it is not cool. But!

The article includes a bit from a publisher’s point of view, going on about how the additional resources that are provided to professors teaching from the textbook are part of the high costs of the book - sorry, but that struck me as a huge pile of malarky. Yes, there are a bunch of additional resources that are provided to me as an instructor - but honestly, they are pretty near useless to me. I have yet to teach using a textbook where the resources provided suited me in any way, really.

Even the solutions to the exercises in the textbooks I teach from are usually not helpful. The example syllabus they provide is invariably crap; the lecture notes are mere outlines that suit me not at all, and the online components that are offered to my students, while mildly useful and entertaining (we can do crossword puzzles, or play bastardized versions of popular tv game shows - hmmm… I wonder if they pay for that priviledge - or use flash cards to review concepts) - surely do not require - or justify - adding a huge mark up to the cost of each textbook.

They provide PowerPoints that are essentially crap - boring and, from one who also teaches PowerPoint, poorly done. And Blackboard cartridges that contain ~stuff~ like those PowerPoints that, if one makes the mistake of uploading them to  an active course, take HOURS to fix and adjust to hide those components that you don’t want, and move things to where you want them, etc.   I generally do upload them - to an inactive course shell - and then just move what I want from there to my active shells - but honestly, I rarely find anything much I want.

And the tests they provide! ACK! I teach computers - relational database, right now. The test banks they provide me with, at least right now, SUCK. I can not imagine a situation in which I would ever use them. You can not, in my opinion, test computer knowledge in any meaningful way, using multiple choice tests. And I refuse to waste my students’ time having to teach them 47 ways to do the same thing because in order to pass the multiple choice tests they need to know all 47 ways. As far as I’m concerned, hands  on testing is the only reasonable way to evaluate their abilities - and even though it takes a heck of a lot more time and energy to develop and mark good hands on tests that relate directly to their particular field,  it is worth it. My students either know their stuff when they do their tests - or they learn that they don’t know it and are motivated to fix that through those tests.

I could care less if they have memorized 47 ways to do a task. I want them to be able to sit down at a computer and solve their (or their employer’s) problem. With the help files, with their texts in front of them, and yes, even with Google.

Apparently, my particular publisher’s company is working on providing a way to do hands on testing in an online lab environment. I missed the preview session we were offered, as I was busy at Trent. But honestly, I very much doubt that it is going to work for my guys, as the likelihood that they are going to offer testing situations targeted to any particular field is slim to none. And if they do, they will use that to justify higher prices? I don’t think so. I consider test development and marking my job. Is that not why student’s pay tuition? So that they have teachers who can adjust the course to their field of study - and to each particular class if needed?

And sorry - but in addition to my role as a teacher and student, I have also done a whole lot of programming and web development - give me a BREAK!  None of that stuff needs to cost the kind of money the article suggests it does - and if they are paying that much, they are SO getting ripped. Seriously.

Anyway - for students to take matters into their own hands and go photocopy the book rather than buying it is wrong …but when they can do that for under $50 as opposed to paying $300 or more for a text, can you really blame them?

What do you think? 

Well - it’s nowhere near as entertaining as Wordless Wednesday , Thieving Thursday , or Stephanie’s Ask ___ series (this week its Ask the DRAGON ) …but I figure that for those of us who are students, TGIF seems like a reasonable regular feature to have.

And if it’s not for you, it SO is for me, and I expect it will remain so throughout this semester - since Friday is when I get to come HOME and stay home for 3/4 days!!!! With my high-speed Internet…and my dog …and my own bed and books and mess and TV and …and… and…

So - what are we THANKFUL for this Friday?

You may well have guessed that I am particularly thankful to be HOME …with my high-speed Internet and my … oh … yeah …I mentioned that already, huh? Sorry …but I am   And I forgot to mention my bathtub, too.

The motel’s bathtub is grotty. It is a little wee thing that doesn’t have any bubbles or any bars to help gimpy people with 2 buggered wrists get up and out of it.  I love my bathtub at home… and am very much looking forward to taking up residence in there shortly… after Judge Judy, of course. Priorities, y’know

I am also thankful that so far this semester’s courses look to be both very interesting and also managable … that will change I’m sure …. as the reading/marking/assignments pile up … but so far so good. One good thing about having hubby drive is that I can get a lot of reading done in transit.

And I am thankful that at least some of my books showed up in the mail today. Not all of them …but at least one of the three orders came in.

So …. now you ….  what are you thankful for on this fine Friday? 

So…. what do YOU do to try to mitigate the cost of textbooks?

With enough lead time, now, it is often possible to find the books you need online … although that works better if the  book has been around for awhile. For brand new publications, not so much.

I am fortunate - in English courses, the majority of the books we study have been around for eons… many of them can be found cheap in used book stores.  I did get caught this time ’round. One of my profs wants that we should all have particular editions - so that even though I have the titles we need, I still had to go out and buy the ‘right’ versions today.Wasn’t too painful though - but it would have been if  I hadn’t just picked up my scholarship cheque.

ANYWAY…  if you have come up with strategies to help save on buying textbooks, feel free to share…. you never know who you might help.