In honor of instructional support systems that interfere with instruction. As with many memes in this series, this one has been percolating for some while. At the beginning of the Fall 2024 semester, however, it comes to a head as I hear the frustration of a growing number of colleagues. Those who teach are increasingly assessed and managed by those who do not -- and none of that assessment asks US what would allow us to be more effective. In short it would be this: leave our teaching tools alone. From email to blackboard to simply viewing a web site, everything we touch comes with more features and less reliability -- more safeguards and less access. I am no Luddite in this arena. I was the first person to offer a fully online course on my campus -- and the first to win an online teaching award, and the second. I taught workshops statewide, and I consulted for Blackboard. And yet ...
In honor of my wonderful and inquisitive students. Welcome to this collection of my "Aw, Professor" memes, which began in 2018 as a series of replies to (usually) imagined pleadings from students. Among my many blessings as a professor is the fact that I have never actually had a student start a question this way. But I often hear -- or make up -- questions that can be asked and answered in this tone. Since May 2018, I have created enough of these that I decided they should have their own home in the blogosphere. Click the title of each entry -- or "read more" under it -- to see each meme.
In honor of my good fortune. Maybe I grumble about my university sometimes -- okay, there is no "maybe" about that -- but only when it fails to live up to its potential for students and the broader community. But I know that I am exceedingly fortunate to teach only classes I have chosen to teach. I have listed most of them on my " portal " post, and every one of them is equally interesting and important to me. Corollary: please do not talk to me about "getting through" general-education courses. They are just important and can be just as rewarding for faculty and students as upper-level courses.
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