Post 42: Whipping through marking... what a festival! And a week's mish-mash! And a StandStand Review!

So many assignments to get through, so many words to read, writing lots of comments/feedback, and trying to be fair while assessing student work.

Now don't get me wrong: I love my students to bits, and it's very very fun getting to meet them all (and trying to remember all their names!). They are a delight. And while it wipes out the majority of the energy that I start the day with, especially teaching 3 hours in a row, it has been great so far. I really do enjoy marking, but as this is my first time TAing an introductory-level course, and there are quite a few factors that are different in TAing one such course, as opposed to an upper level course.

For one, this is some of the first times that students are taking on the assignments that they're taking on. So for example, some of them don't yet know that hand-written work is not acceptable for university assignments (and some seem to have ignored that it was stated in the syllabus).

Ah yes, speaking of: a good many students don't read the syllabus. So you have to keep reminding them to go back to that thing, which is really the contract for the class.

My Dotmocracy in action: Students in my fourth tutorial voting for small scale food production
as their theme to research for the semester. 

On that note: repeat everything at least twice, especially important information, or you'll find out exactly who wasn't paying attention when you said it that one and only first time.

My students are learning how to engage with the research process right now, and we've gotten the first assignment out of the way: making a bibliography of 8 quality sources (on the topic we've specified), and explaining why each source is authoritative.

A lot of students don't yet know what makes a source authoritative (which makes sense; if they did, they wouldn't be here), and while some of them get half way there, it's clear they don't yet understand what peer-review is, and how to dig into how good journals really are, or what reputation a newspaper's specific journalists have... well, that is the fun sleuthing that they are starting to learn. From what I've noticed, many seem to have trouble differentiating assessing a source's credibility, and for now are simply writing a summary of the article. (Hence the reminder to go read the assignment outline). So I think we'll be revisiting some material next week.

For this second major assignment, we're asking our students to put together summaries of about 150 words on each of the 6 articles they've chosen from their original 8 (or swapped out with better sources from peers or researched new ones). For these, they will answer the question: "What is the author arguing/talking about?"

Awesome participation as my students wrote themes from their initial stab at researching their theme;
this one on the 100-Mile Diet. 

I'm really hopeful that they'll do well with this one, because quite a few of them have already been doing summaries for the first assignment, which means they won't do well there, but hopefully they will on this next one.

Through all of this, I've had the most excellent company for marking! I've teamed up with Edward White, the TAC from Sociology, (whose workshop on surviving marking I completely enjoyed last semester at the TA Conference, and blogged about here) whose delightful company has made getting an early start on my marking a real delight. This week on Wednesday he spoiled my colleague C— and I with the most delicious rice pudding: super rich, creamy, and with real vanilla... MMMMMMM! We snacked on this through the afternoon, and I wasn't hungry until 8PM! Plus, it's really great getting his seasoned reasoning and opinion on how to mark certain work. It's been great.

*****

Aside from the marking, I've really been enjoying the Christmas gift that I bought myself way back in the fall. It arrived just before Christmas when I was home in the Kootenays, so I got to open it when I got back: it's called a StandStand. And I love it!! (Or I really did, once I had added a bit more glue to one of the little knobs that holds the three pieces together when its dissembled; it kept falling out. BUT -- it was a very simple fix, and after a night's drying, was ready to go again.)

My work desk with my StandStand deployed! :) 

I simply don't have the money for a standing desk like the TableAir  ($2200) or NextDesk (which rings in at about $1500 for the base model). For those interested, on top of a great summary of the health problems that come from sitting too much (sedentary lifestyles), Mark Lukach at the Wirecutter has had a ball testing out standing desks alongside his coworkers, which you can read about here. I am aware that Colin Nederkoorn has come up with a 22$ IKEA DIY, but I am neither near an IKEA, nor have the time to wander out and get these materials, so in the fall last year, spending about $65 on this Kickstarter project seemed like a good idea.

The StandStand has been really really great! I love how portable it is, first and foremost, and because it's so lightweight, I can easily switch between standing and sitting, which research supports is a good thing to do (too much standing = bad; too much sitting = worse). It's suuuuuper easy to assemble and dissemble, which I also really love. My little StandStand has been really great, and definitely an investment suitable for my lifestyle and income right now. :) (Though I am glad to see the price of standing desks falling; one of the most affordable, the Stand Desk now comes in at about $500. )

And the best part of it is that I'm starting to get a lot more comfortable using it. I've started to pull it out when I'm with my colleagues at work, and I even used it this past Wednesday when I was marking with Edward. :)

The semester is already whizzing by; I can't believe it's already January, but I have 80 lovely students to keep me from dwelling on the time. Back to marking I go!

One more awesome photo: a mixture of lichen and stonecrop from a romp in
East Sooke Park this past weekend. I love the colours!

Post 12: Nostalgia Much? Facing the End of the Term.

As final projects for my class are coming in, I can't help but feel a very sharp sense of nostalgia - the semester seemed to finish up quickly, and it's a relief that perhaps I have been feeling more than my students, who still have a week of classes left, and other reports and final projects due, too.

In the last few weeks of the semester, my role has very much shifted from bringing prepared materials to class, organizing the nature walk for each tutorial, and in general, coming with announcements and other prepared materials (though the announcements, as they were relevant for the class, continued), I had to relax and let go of that sense of needing to run the tutorial. Reality was, I was shifting from leading the tutorials to offering the tutorials as a space for group work time; the restoration design projects the students were working on are not small projects, and the tutorial was a scheduled time during the week where the groups could meet, with all members in attendance (otherwise they couldn't have signed up for the tutorial). So, I wanted to respect that time, and moved between the groups, answering questions, offering advice, and providing suggestions as the conversations arose.

                             Pixie cups, found on a pleasant wander in the Sooke Hills...

Now that the assignments are coming in, it is very much a delight to see how polished the final documents are, and I'm excited to start reading them, but this also makes me realize that I won't see the students together again, and will not be meeting with them, checking in on them, and in general, getting ready for tutorial with them again. Sad Tuesday.

I suppose what I'm saying is that I didn't realize I was as attached to, and invested in their learning experience as I was, and now that it's done, I can look over the last few months, reflect, think about what worked well and what I would do differently for next time, and remember funny times or great moments in class. Two in particular come to mind: the name game that I played with each of the tutorials, and the laughter of having different students make extremely fun noises to go with their actions in the game ('merp' 'honk' 'boop' 'bing'); and another time, when I was trying to be accommodating with the different interests students had for their group projects: I was trying not to simply say, Student X, you need to change groups because Group P is short one person, but I was sort of told of by a quip that "That's what you're supposed to do," implying that I was trying to be too accommodating. Point taken, I suppose, although it worked out by opening the option to the tutorial as well. I suppose the solution would be to frame it differently in the future, by saying something along the lines of, "If no one wants to move voluntarily, then I will select one person myself."
We also had nature walks during all of the tutorials, and the spring time can be a tricky time of year as the trees don't have leaves on them (for some, the most helpful identifying feature) and the bushes, too, or in some cases flowers hadn't yet bloomed, so I realized in the weeks afterwards that I'd misnamed 2 plants! That was fun. But I felt a bit better about the big caveat I always give, which is to 'never trust a biologist' (advice I was given myself in a field school a few years ago).

Anyways. Students. So fun. Teaching is a really heartwarming, encouraging activity, and it was a pleasure to work with the students I had this year.

Post 11: Preparing for End of Term Marking

As a graduate student done class-work, the realization that my schedule does not align with the experience of undergraduate students comes quickly. While my timeline hasn't really stopped clicking along since last spring when I finished my courses, the pattern of assignment, assignment, deadlines, assignment, midterm, presentation, final exam that undergraduate students typically go through (or some variation thereof) has only been on my radar because of TAing and my proximity to those students.

And - it is that time of year where I'm starting to face a few days away from being landed with a giant pile of end-of-term final project marking.

Let me be clear - I am very much looking forward to seeing how my students' final projects came together. It's been a semester of reminding them and checking on on them, and encouraging them, and asking questions about different components, and offer feedback; it'll be really great to see how everything's taken shape. This year the professor I'm working with decided to make a final presentation mandatory for all the students in class, and I think it's a wonderful way of allowing them to share with each other the work they've been doing in tutorials.

So, where am I going with this? Well, it's mostly to say that if you know you have a giant pile of marking coming up, work hard up to it, and then be prepared to clear some space in your schedule so you can dedicate the time needed to give good feedback and consideration to all of the projects. There's nothing worse than being so stressed out of your mind with your own work, that students' feedback on their projects suffers (as may their marks, without the reviewer's patience to go through the projects).

                               Restoring desire-lines? One of the options for a restoration project.
                               Watch out for that mud! (On campus at UVic.)

The final projects I've got coming my way are going to be long reports drawn up by groups of about 4-6 students. In the past the projects have typically been between 40-70 pages. That is a lot of legwork for the eyes.

It will be several, several days of marking, which is also where it's good to know what's in the Collective Agreement for being a Teaching Assistant, so you know what a reasonable time frame for getting the marking done is, and so you don't unnecessarily slave away in the process. At UVic, TAs are part of CUPE 4163, Component 1. The Collective Agreement is the binding contract that governs how TAs and others in the union are to be treated as workers. It's great that we have this, as it grants us some protection from being completely taken advantage of. At the beginning of the semester the union holds orientation sessions with all of the new grad students to let them know about the union, and that it's there for them should something happen. There are still a number of issues that TAs face all the time. Unpaid extra work (especially attending regularly scheduled class) is one of them.

Anyhow. That's an aside that could use a whole blog post to itself. Fair working conditions as a TA mostly also means that you need to know what that entails. I've had the pleasure of working with a professor who is very open-minded and easy to communicate with. At the beginning of the semester we filled out the form sent to all TAs, discussing my work contract, how the hours would be used, and I've been keeping track of those hours as the semester progressed, too. I'm happy to say I'm right on budget for those hours.

So, pacing is a big part of knowing when and where your hours will be spent. I knew for months already, that I would have a big whack of marking due, and have been able to (try, at least!) prepare for what'll fall in my lap on Monday.

In a way, I am already a little sad about the semester having passed so quickly. I've heard from a few people that working at a university is like working at an Airport—so many people pass through so quickly, and indeed, my time here has been lengthened because of my choice to return for a master's degree, and that will be short enough as is. My students have been great. I will miss them. I look forward to Monday's in-class presentations.