Yeah, yeah, yeah...
I know, I haven't been terribly good about posting. But between the Xbox (I'm putting together a blog entry about the Top Ten things that you shouldn't be ashamed of indulging in--guess what's going to be Number One?) and the start of the new quarter, I'm busier than--oh, which do we prefer, a one-armed paper-hanger, or a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest? (What it is with amputees as the epitomes of harried activity? Hmm--there's a seminar paper in this, said the appalling academic.) Anyway, point is--
I apologize for the scarcity and the brevity of my posts, but the course that I'm teaching is one of those where it counts (credit-wise) as TWO full courses--that's how much it demands of both students and teachers. So I'm essentially teaching a four-class load all of a sudden, and I'm also teaching the rhetoric of Paul's epistles to a group of students who include devout Christians (for whom I'm dissecting--i.e. challenging--the word of God), angry militant atheists (for whom I'm treating respectfully--i.e. validating--the words responsible for the subjugation of women, gays, etc.), and everything in-between. Complex waters to navigate...but I seem to be doing OK. Since I'm pretty much a liberal humanist, I don't sound like a proselytizer, but since I've received years of Biblical study, I definitely 'talk the talk,' so the devout don't question my bona fides...Still, yikes.
Good news is, I got my student evaluations from last quarter in--apparently, I rock. My overall average (isn't that rendundant?) was a 6.5+ out of a possible 7 (7 being Godlike), which, when you consider that the average of all instructors hovers somewhere just over 5, pretty much makes me King of the Mountain around here. Plus I got comments like "The best teacher I have ever had in my life" and "I learned more in one week with him than I did in all of last quarter"--so, you know, hard not to feel good about that. Well, it would be if such reviews translated into being offered a job. One would think that, since I have years of demonstrating the fact that I'm actually quite brilliant at the very activity that they're hiring me to perform, that universities might, I don't know, want to hire me. Apparently, though, not. Baffling. Maybe there's some secret handshake I haven't learned. OK...off to class. Must continue to spread the light of my wisdom unto the masses...
I apologize for the scarcity and the brevity of my posts, but the course that I'm teaching is one of those where it counts (credit-wise) as TWO full courses--that's how much it demands of both students and teachers. So I'm essentially teaching a four-class load all of a sudden, and I'm also teaching the rhetoric of Paul's epistles to a group of students who include devout Christians (for whom I'm dissecting--i.e. challenging--the word of God), angry militant atheists (for whom I'm treating respectfully--i.e. validating--the words responsible for the subjugation of women, gays, etc.), and everything in-between. Complex waters to navigate...but I seem to be doing OK. Since I'm pretty much a liberal humanist, I don't sound like a proselytizer, but since I've received years of Biblical study, I definitely 'talk the talk,' so the devout don't question my bona fides...Still, yikes.
Good news is, I got my student evaluations from last quarter in--apparently, I rock. My overall average (isn't that rendundant?) was a 6.5+ out of a possible 7 (7 being Godlike), which, when you consider that the average of all instructors hovers somewhere just over 5, pretty much makes me King of the Mountain around here. Plus I got comments like "The best teacher I have ever had in my life" and "I learned more in one week with him than I did in all of last quarter"--so, you know, hard not to feel good about that. Well, it would be if such reviews translated into being offered a job. One would think that, since I have years of demonstrating the fact that I'm actually quite brilliant at the very activity that they're hiring me to perform, that universities might, I don't know, want to hire me. Apparently, though, not. Baffling. Maybe there's some secret handshake I haven't learned. OK...off to class. Must continue to spread the light of my wisdom unto the masses...
posted by Yr. Hmbl. & Obdt. | 10:33 AM
4 Comments:
All hail the (almost)-Godlike Dryden! Congratulations on the excellent evals. They certainly can't hurt your job prospects.
It sounds like you're busy enough to be distracted from the job search a bit, so that's good.
By the way, my grandfather was a paperhanger, really. But ... he had two arms. In fact, legend tells that he was completely ambidextrous (a fine quality in a paperhanger, it would seem).
yikes is right on the biblical studies. oy.
yes, congrats on evals...
Now that the official evals are in can I please have my free pizza??? All that browbeatting made me quite hungry! :-)
Well, of course you rock. I didn't buy all those kids beer for nothing.
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