http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/opinion/06collegeadvice.html?scp=1&sq=college%20advice&st=cse
to young adults entering school this fall.
The Hunt for a Good Teacher
By STANLEY FISH
Find the best teachers and take a writing class.
An Argument Worth Having
By GERALD GRAFF
Cut through the jargon, analyze and debate.
Get Lost. In Books.
By HAROLD BLOOM
Read the authors that are difficult and demand rereading.
Don’t Alienate Your Professor
By CAROL BERKIN
Once in class, participate.
Play Politics
By GARRY WILLS
Have passion for learning and for your beliefs.
Go the Wrong Way
By MARTHA NUSSBAUM
Think about life, not just a job.
Off-Campus Life
By JAMES MacGREGOR BURNS
Read a good newspaper; it will be your path to the world at large.
My Crush on DNA
By NANCY HOPKINS
Fall in love with your vision of the future.
Change Course
By STEVEN WEINBERG
College is never what one expects.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Yale student death
My heart goes out to Annie Le, the Yale student who was murdered in her laboratory building on Yale's campus. Somehow it hits close to home.
most likely to succeed (graduate)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnews/20090910/ts_usnews/whichhighschoolstudentsaremostlikelytograduatefromcollege
interesting data
interesting data
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
resurrection
Now that I'm teaching my freshman seminar again, I thought I'd try resurrecting the blog. I just love freshmen! (Frosh? Fresh-persons? First-year students?). What is best?
Friday, February 20, 2009
spring break
It's spring break time here, and the students are off! Technically, spring break begins tomorrow, but it's a little disturbing how few students come to classes on Friday before spring break.
What are the options for spring break? Although it might seem like everyone is off to the beach, I'd say a good chunk of students drive home for the week. I should do a survey and find out. Spring break vacations to beach locales are sort of a luxury...
There's a notion called "alternative spring break", which involves doing some kind of public service for the week (helping in New Orleans has been a popular option for a few years). I'm wondering about that option, at least in its organized form, because it does seem sort of like it can be expensive too...
What are the options for spring break? Although it might seem like everyone is off to the beach, I'd say a good chunk of students drive home for the week. I should do a survey and find out. Spring break vacations to beach locales are sort of a luxury...
There's a notion called "alternative spring break", which involves doing some kind of public service for the week (helping in New Orleans has been a popular option for a few years). I'm wondering about that option, at least in its organized form, because it does seem sort of like it can be expensive too...
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Making the Most of College
a book by Richard Light, is one of the texts for my class. My students find it occasionally "obvious" but it does have some really interesting insights regarding making the most of one's college experiences based on interviews with Harvard Undergrads...I recommend it, especially for the graduating high school senior...
it is not filled with hopelessly pedantic advice like "manage your time wisely" and "study a little every day" and "don't binge drink." More subtle issues are considered, like the effect of diversity on learning and your experience, the role of extracurriculars, what people valued after they graduated most about the classes they took and so forth.
it is not filled with hopelessly pedantic advice like "manage your time wisely" and "study a little every day" and "don't binge drink." More subtle issues are considered, like the effect of diversity on learning and your experience, the role of extracurriculars, what people valued after they graduated most about the classes they took and so forth.
Online Learning, lifelong learning
Learn from the very best-- http://academicearth.org/; this site presents lectures from top-notch professors at places like Harvard and Yale from their classes...
Speaking of video lectures that are incredible, check out the offerings at TED. Distinguished people from all kinds of fields are invited to give talks, and many are exceedingly entertaining. http://www.ted.com/
"We're thrilled to share TEDTalks from TED2009: Bill Gates on mosquitoes, malaria and education; Elizabeth Gilbert on genius; the jaw-dropping Siftables demo; Barry Schwartz on practical wisdom; Juan Enriquez on tech and crisis; José Antonio Abreu and an astonishing orchestra; and Sylvia Earle's TED Prize wish. And don't forget -- there are 375 more amazing talks from TED.com, "
Speaking of video lectures that are incredible, check out the offerings at TED. Distinguished people from all kinds of fields are invited to give talks, and many are exceedingly entertaining. http://www.ted.com/
"We're thrilled to share TEDTalks from TED2009: Bill Gates on mosquitoes, malaria and education; Elizabeth Gilbert on genius; the jaw-dropping Siftables demo; Barry Schwartz on practical wisdom; Juan Enriquez on tech and crisis; José Antonio Abreu and an astonishing orchestra; and Sylvia Earle's TED Prize wish. And don't forget -- there are 375 more amazing talks from TED.com, "
grade grubbing article in the NY Times
Interesting article about entitlements and grades... I can attest that it's a definite frustration to professors that students expect/deserve to get A's for effort...
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/18/education/18college.html?em
The article starts like this:
"Prof. Marshall Grossman has come to expect complaints whenever he returns graded papers in his English classes at the University of Maryland.
Skip to next paragraph
Enlarge This Image
Monica Almeida/The New York Times
Prof. Ellen Greenberger studied what she found to be an increased sense of entitlement among college students.
“Many students come in with the conviction that they’ve worked hard and deserve a higher mark,” Professor Grossman said. “Some assert that they have never gotten a grade as low as this before.”
He attributes those complaints to his students’ sense of entitlement.
“I tell my classes that if they just do what they are supposed to do and meet the standard requirements, that they will earn a C,” he said. “That is the default grade. They see the default grade as an A.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/18/education/18college.html?em
The article starts like this:
"Prof. Marshall Grossman has come to expect complaints whenever he returns graded papers in his English classes at the University of Maryland.
Skip to next paragraph
Enlarge This Image
Monica Almeida/The New York Times
Prof. Ellen Greenberger studied what she found to be an increased sense of entitlement among college students.
“Many students come in with the conviction that they’ve worked hard and deserve a higher mark,” Professor Grossman said. “Some assert that they have never gotten a grade as low as this before.”
He attributes those complaints to his students’ sense of entitlement.
“I tell my classes that if they just do what they are supposed to do and meet the standard requirements, that they will earn a C,” he said. “That is the default grade. They see the default grade as an A.”
Two pedantic life lessons
My dad drummed the following items into my head over the years, and I realized that not everyone has the pedantic dad or avuncular aunt :) to provide these bits of advice that have served me well.
1) Never, ever buy a timeshare. They are ripoffs. The bottom line is that if they are charging, say, a 10,000 for a guaranteed week for life (plus about a $1,000 a year to maintain the property), they are actually charging the 52 people who buy in a total of 520,000 PLUS $1,000 a year (equivalent to about a second 20k because if you put the 20k in a bank and earned 5% you'd get 1k a year).
2) Never, ever buy whole life insurance. Term life is the way to go. For more info, see:
http://www.fool.com/foolu/askfoolu/2002/askfoolu020725.htm
Seriously, it is also a ripoff, and don't let any insurance salesperson talk you into it.
If you follow these rules, you'll thank me later freshmen!
1) Never, ever buy a timeshare. They are ripoffs. The bottom line is that if they are charging, say, a 10,000 for a guaranteed week for life (plus about a $1,000 a year to maintain the property), they are actually charging the 52 people who buy in a total of 520,000 PLUS $1,000 a year (equivalent to about a second 20k because if you put the 20k in a bank and earned 5% you'd get 1k a year).
2) Never, ever buy whole life insurance. Term life is the way to go. For more info, see:
http://www.fool.com/foolu/askfoolu/2002/askfoolu020725.htm
Seriously, it is also a ripoff, and don't let any insurance salesperson talk you into it.
If you follow these rules, you'll thank me later freshmen!
Interesting fact: virginity
I learned 40% of undergraduates (at a large elite state university) report being virgins in an anonymous survey. That's definitely a higher rate than I thought it would be... and I learned that this fact is somewhat comforting to others in the 40% group-- they sometimes feel like they are outliers! I learned a lot more about sexual experiences and hookups and such about undergrads and I'll share more information about that when I have a chance.
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