Suggestions

DWFDW Poll and DeBrief/Suggestion List

Sorry about the delay, everyone. This was supposed to be a Think, Know, Prove post for Saturday, but I went straight to the woods on Friday afternoon, and never had a chance to get it up. Plus, I think I needed the weekend to get some perspective on the week’s events. There were a number of observations made this week in the comments and the posts, but not too much in the way of suggestions. Now, if I start talking about those evaluation forms we were given, I think it might go a little like this:

So, instead, I thought maybe we (HWFC) could just run a little informal poll here and ask for a list of suggestions that we can pass along. The poll and suggestion list will be up all week, but will close on Friday at 5pm.

Suggestion #1: More coffee; less fried chicken in boxes.

“make lemons out of [DWFDW] lemonade”

Yes, to borrow the innocent, yet powerful, quote from PhiloDave’s daughter, I’d like to create this open post and keep it running all week in some way or another to focus on POSITIVE outcomes from Faculty Development Week. (OK, you can list concerns too.)

With Day 1 Day 2 underway, what will you or what have you done with your lemons?

Thanks for the input everyone! Here we go with Day 3 4 the last day of events! It will be short. Possibly sweet?
Last chance to leave a comment before the post leaves the main page. (Thanks for keeping it at the top Dave!)

Small hint to the timid and shy: You don’t need to leave an email in order to comment. Just a name. Silly, outrageous, and creative appears to be the fad.

Just sharing – in case you’re not checking your emails…

This is from Sarah. I thought I’d help her spread the word.

Hi Everyone –   The link below is to a very short (approx. 5-10 minutes), anonymous survey regarding Writing Across the Curriculum. I’m hoping to gather information and faculty input regarding student writing, Writing Across the Curriculum programs in general, and specifically, the potentials and concerns of starting a program here at HWC. I appreciate your responses and thank you for your honesty and time in completing it.  If possible, please complete the survey by June 25th.    SURVEY LINK:  https://www.tfaforms.com/139289 (if it does not link automatically here, please copy and past it)   Also, in the near future, I will be contacting some faculty from across disciplines to see if they would be willing to give a brief (very brief since I know summer sessions are busy and there is much information to cover in class time)  survey to their students regarding writing they do across disciplines and their attitudes toward it.

Again, thank you so much for your time and if you have any questions regarding the survey or Writing Across the Curriculum, please let me know.

Sarah Liston

Sarah Liston Assistant Professor – Dept. of English Harold Washington College 312-553-5894 Office #634

What Up?

Headed into the last weekend of the semester, and I know a bunch of you “organized” people are out there (freaks is what I call you), out there sitting pretty–grading done, forms filled out, already on vacation, as it were.

So, I have to live vicariously though you while I sit inside in a dark basement reading papers until my eyeballs are about to fall out of my…wait a minute. That’s not what I’m doing. I’ll be chasing the mighty (and dangerous) spring gobbler around the ravines and woodsides of New Diggins, Wisconsin this weekend. Holy cow! I have to pack…

And what are you doing this fine weekend in May?

What Up?

And so, once more, the weekend is nearly upon us. The papers and exams are stacked and awaiting your hand, and the May sunshine is calling.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there–and call your mother if you can.

What (else) are you doing this weekend?

CCC Alert System

The CCC alert system will be put to the test today. I prefer to think of it as a beta roll out since we will all be testers. The information has been provided in writing and it appears that all precautions have been taken.

At our last department meeting, several members raised possible and plausible concerns. I thought it may be a good idea to share our faculty concerns and assist in the enhancement of this program. Detractors are also welcome. Speak your mind, I mean, write it down.

Provide your comments and concerns now or AFTER you’ve gone through the drill(s).

What Up?

The weekend has arrived, and tomorrow is Record Store Day.

Other than that (because I’m assuming if you’re here, you’re cool, and if you’re cool, you’ll be in a record store tomorrow; Q.E.D.), what are you doing this weekend? Going to a Chicago Latino Film Festival screening? Or a Chicago Palestine Film Festival event? (Holy cow! Does Chicago have enough Film Festivals in April? Sheesh!)

Or maybe watching Barcelona play Barcelona play on Saturday with Marta?

Or something else altogether?

UPDATED: With the right link for Barcelona!

BlogRoll Additions?

Perhaps you’ve noticed the BlogRoll to the right. Maybe you’ve even clicked on a couple to see what’s there.

What’s there, right now, are some of the blogs and Web sites that I look at semi-regularly and have found helpful to my teaching (or thinking about my teaching). There are some general ones, there, but some philosophy-specific sites, too.

What other sites should we have there?

I ask because I think it would be cool (and helpful) to have a site to go to if I want to find out what Historians or Mathematicians or Child Psychologists or Biologists are talking about amongst themselves.

And it’s a big ol’ Web. Post a comment with your favorite discipline specific or teaching general sites, and I’ll put a link up in the Blog roll so everyone can go there, too, now and then…

UPDATE (3/24): If you want to post sites in the comments (please do, please do), limit yourself to two per comment, even if that means posting multiple comments. Otherwise the filter will mark them as Spam. If that happens, no worries, I can save them and approve them, but it may take a day or so for me find them. Feel free to put up multiple comments, though!

Chicago Studies related

For those of you interested in learning more about the history of Chicago architecture, I am posting this link for continuing education seminars provided to me by the Chicago Architectural Foundation. If you’ve got Thursday evenings free during the month of April, consider registering. Who knows, it may encourage you to adopt Chicago Studies emphasis in the near future.

By the way, one faculty member recommended we compile a list Chicago authors as a resource. Who do you believe should be on this list?

We would also like to compile a list of books related to Chicago, like this one:

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America, by Erik Larson

Bring on the recommendation from your list of favorites.

What Up?

What are you doing this weekend? Add your suggestion here for all the people who want to do something, in addition to their mid-term grading, but just don’t know what to do in this big, glorious city of ours…

Will you be going over to the Plumbers Union Hall (1340 West Washington) for a Corned Beef sammich before they drop the dye in the river then on Saturday morning, will ya?

Or perhaps you’ll be hard at work grading all weekend so you can watch the Champions league quarterfinals on Tuesday and Wednesday? Or maybe just staying in and doing watching the culmination of Championship week for College hoops so you can make informed picks in your brackets next week (more on that next week)?

Cooking? Spring cleaning? Live music? Museums?

What up?