The Happiness Thread [R]

[Teso Dos Bichos]

Work? :(

[Sapphire]

Work? :(You better WORK [/RuPaul]

Y'all are probably too young to remember. *sigh*

[SirManchester]

fair enough, and in this case, I'd love to sit in one one of your classes. :p

[Howard Zinn]

Anyway, I feel that a student that reads 12 novels, writes 10 short papers and one research paper, and comes to class every period (mandatory attendence :D )


Alright, I don't like you anymore. ;) :D

[prymetyme]

geeez sapph i wish i had a teacher like you

[Sapphire]

Alright, I don't like you anymore. ;) :DHeheh, I know. Even "easy" profs are rarely easy.

I don't give reading quizzes and we usually watch a film or two during class meetings, does that help?? :)

[StrikerCW]

I would drop your class like a sack of flaming shite. I don't mind work but that is alot. Especially in something I am completely not interested in and got burnt out on in high school. I can do cal problems everyday or something like that but not writing essays. :mad:

[Howard Zinn]

Heheh, I know. Even "easy" profs are rarely easy.

I don't give reading quizzes and we usually watch a film or two during class meetings, does that help?? :)


MOVIES!!! Woooooooo!!!! You should have mentioned that to begin with. :D

And quizzes suck. Good call there.

[StrikerCW]

MOVIES!!! Woooooooo!!!! You should have mentioned that to begin with. :D

And quizzes suck. Good call there.
I'd rather have the quizes on the reading material (which I would read most of the time) than useless essays! I know I am never going to have to write a 5 paragraph arguementative essay again for the rest of my life.

[Sapphire]

I'd rather have the quizes on the reading material (which I would read most of the time) than useless essays! I know I am never going to have to write a 5 paragraph arguementative essay again for the rest of my life.The way I think about it, is most of my students aren't english majors; they're taking the class cause they have a writing distribution requirement or something. So I feel like my main objective (even before teaching them something about the literature, which is important) is to teach people to write and speak more analytically. So, no quizzes, but you have to talk about the stuff you read. Lots and lots of writing; a short paper every week.

That may sound really horrible, but what happens is you get used to writing. It starts to kind of flow for you (this happens even with students that hate writing) -- and because the grading is a little easier, there's not alot of pressure to write something brilliant. It's more like journalling; 1-2 pages, making a single argument about anything related to what you read. You can write about how the novel reminded you of a Simpsons episode if you want, or whatever. You also learn to abandon the 5-paragraph model, which is only a learning tool and should be abandoned quickly in college, and express yourself in other ways. I think it actually helps people learn how to write better and to think better, really, whatever their field is (well, thats why I do it, after all :D ) I'm sure it sucks, but not as bad as you might think. And especially if you're not interested in literature, taking a quiz on what the protagonist's sister's name is or whatever isn't gonna help you (doesn't help you much if you're an english major either). It not really important what you read, but what you can do with what you read, imo.

Can you tell I like to talk about teaching?? I really do love doing it, tbh. :o

[StrikerCW]

Well, I guess your right. Maybe there is a reason I AP out of Comp I. I am thourghouly enough writing ability (except spelling obviously) for engineering. :) I will have to take one more class anyway to learn how to write technical reports and such.. more relevant stuff. :rolleyes:

I guess teaching is only for some. What got you wanting to be le prof?

[Sapphire]

Well, I wanted to major in English, and I loved it so much I went for a graduate degree, just out of love for it. I thought about law school, but someone close to me died around the time I was making the decision, so I decided to go with my heart rather than what was practical, and enrolled in a Masters program for literature. Nearly every english grad student teaches -- largely because most universities require student to take comp classes, and we teach them. (It's alot cheaper to pay us below rates below the poverty line than to hire people as "instructors" and pay them real money.)

Anyway, I started teaching college writing cause I had to, and I loved it. So, I decided to go all the way and get my PhD and be a full-fledged professor. Although, tbh, I'm not really into all the researching and ass-kissing I do these days; I'd rather just teach. I'll either be a prof or a high school teacher when I finish with this degree, depending on how things go.

By the way, the person teaching your technical writing course will be a literature or creative writing major, who likely has no experience with technical writing at all (although they may have taught it several times). I've taught it before, and I had no idea. Try to take honors, if you can; you might get a professor who actually knows the subject. Or just study the textbook for the information and hope your TA is cool. It's something for students to make a stink out of actually; it's bullshit. Just try not to blame your TAs too much; we teach what we're assigned.

[StrikerCW]

Well, surely they can't assign MLA BS and other stuff like that when I should be learning how to right a report on concrete elastisity.

[Sapphire]

Well, surely they can't assign MLA BS and other stuff like that when I should be learning how to right a report on concrete elastisity.Yep, that's true. It's just that you probably won't learn much you couldn't get from just reading through the textbook on your own time. But it's not so bad.

[FIFARay007]

I'm happy the Anger Thread is longer than the Happy thread. It's younger and better looking too! :p

[Achtung]

My Comp II class in college was a bitch, but I enjoyed it in the end and most importantly learned a lot. I didn't take it as a technical writing class though, instead I took the Comp II section of Western History from antiquity to 1660, which worked out well since the prof was quite good (plus I got credit for a humanities course). It's annoying, but ability to communicate through writing is especially important in this age of e-mail correspondence in the workplace. As an engineer, often the issues don't come down to the technical details. In fact, pretty much anyone can do the entry-level technical work, whether they went to a top ten engineering school or a community college. Beyond that, getting into the design levels for us requires not just good technical knowledge but good communication both orally and in writing. Those are the guys who, where I work at least, get the better system architect jobs, or at the very least become middle managers (not the most exciting thing, but hey the pay is good).

Now do you want me to rant on TAs who teach freshman classes despite barely being able to speak English? :p

[Motterman]

You better WORK [/RuPaul]

Y'all are probably too young to remember. *sigh*

I think many of us can only dream of a day when we can't recall ever seeing a 6 ft 4 drag queen.

[jayro75]

I think many of us can only dream of a day when we can't recall ever seeing a 6 ft 4 drag queen.


With all the Brokeback references that have been flying around the forum for the last month or so I think you may be wrong about that....;) :D

[Vermont Red]

I'm happy that it looks like Jayro is back from his illness.

[jayro75]

I'm happy this thread exists..
http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=293526

Because it shows how ********ed up we all are...:D :D