No matter what, I need to write
I have hundreds of blog posts swimming in my head right now. They are fighting for room with each other, work stuff, project stuff...the whole thing means there is too much damn noise in my head of...
View ArticleThe Relevance of References
It's that time of year. The requests for references for students hunting for jobs and courses are coming in thick and fast. I'm actually tired of writing reference letters, and even with a fair bit of...
View ArticleTop Left Writing Group
Jane B is hosting a writing group starting mid-May. If you're interested in joining, pop over to hers and drop a comment.The name is wonderful and refers to that technique that allows you to rank...
View ArticleApril Glowers
April is an odd month in our academic calendar. It's simultaneously hard and easy because much of it is vacation time (Easter, spring), but that's time to reflect and see what you're missing out on...
View ArticleDesperately Seeking Equilibrium
Whenever I start something new, I always think that what you do initially is a poor reflection of what it will be like for the bulk of the time. If it were a reaction, I'd say that the initiation...
View ArticleOh THAT again...
I'm lurking on twitter today and just caught a few tweets by an academic on how to be successful in academia. I'm not going to name the person because it's nothing I haven't heard/read before so what...
View ArticlePerfect Storm
I seem to be in the perfect storm of grading, admin and other expectations. This semester was long and hard with a lot of stuff going on, and it was quite easy just to work harder to get through it...
View ArticleSo called digital natives...
I think my students need a lesson in netiquette. For a bunch of social media savvy, smart phone baring, tablet wielding so-called 'digital natives', they are astonishingly clueless about stuff that...
View ArticleWhere did May go?
And June is headed the same way!One question that came up this week was why, when I am feeling generally overwhelmed with stuff, under appreciated and pretty tired, do I agree to do more stuff. It...
View ArticleJune!
June at last. The first of the months of summer freedom - a little marking left to do, some meetings and then the long drawn out days of timetable-less time. That will be July, June looks really busy...
View ArticleInterconnectedness
I'm not sure that's even a word but it's the best thing I've got to describe the concept of 'we are all in this together'. And you can apply it to anything - team taught courses, academic departments,...
View ArticleThe 80%-ers
I have recently uncovered a new species of academic that inhabits the departmental ecosystem: the 80 percenter. Initially difficult to spot because they are well camouflaged by a general aura of...
View ArticleThe Nature of the Beast
One thing I like about academic blogs, particularly those from North America is the very subtle differences that emerge in what it means to be an academic. With bloggers from Small Liberal Arts...
View ArticleEnvironmental Control Systems
There's something about the end of the academic year that brings out the cleaning-reorganising side of me. Probably something to do with regaining control over my environment - the timetable and...
View ArticleA Chemical Imbalance - Short Film
If you haven't already done so, you should go to this site: http://chemicalimbalance.co.uk/project/watch-the-film/ and watch the film. It is about 14 minutes long and offers a fascinating insight into...
View ArticleThe Rise of The Ad-Child
When dealing with academics on a regular basis, it is worth remembering that many haven't got the emotional maturity to deal with...well...pretty much anything that isn't their own way. My current...
View ArticleSaying Good Bye to Summer
I can't believe it's October. I nearly wrote August there, and that's probably an indication of the place my head is currently occupying. Mentally I'm in August, work wise I'm about a week behind where...
View ArticleAppropriate analogies for semester
I've been trying to figure out an appropriate analogy for semester time. One one hand, and within the constraints of the meeting and teaching timetable, it's a spin-the-plate circus act with carefully...
View ArticleForecast for the Week Ahead
It's going to be a light teaching week coming up and that usually means an opportunity to get a little bit ahead on stuff. I'm hoping to work on two projects this week: finish ethics for project D and...
View ArticlePush Me Pull You
I have a couple of colleagues who persistently demand too much of me. They are not in positions of authority over me or any area in which I work, they started out as collaborators. In the way of...
View Article
