Scared

I have a student who is very nervous about basically everything. I know that he wants to succeed, and he wants the absolute best for himself, but sometimes it is a little crazy. He is definitely one of the brightest students in my class, but at the same time I can say for certainty that he is the least confident. But we'll put aside a discussion of his endless "is this right" questions on the homeworks, and go to a different issue with his nervousness. Summer research.

So a couple of months ago he talked about working on summer research, either with me or at another institution, at a "Research Experience for Undergraduates," or some similar program. I of course told him he could work with me but that it would be better for him to go elsewhere. Partially because he is interested in more "practical" applications of the field, and so while my research would teach him a lot, it would not give him experience in what he thinks he wants to do.

So he applied and found out that he was accepted to a program at Columbia, which is the program that he really wanted. Fantastic, I thought, especially since two other students had already signed up to work with me over the summer. But now this student is panicking about whether or not to go. Obviously his choices are limited (the other places haven't responded, and he has to tell Columbia by Friday), but he is terrified about going somewhere new.

What is surprising though is that he has worked at City College for the previous two summers, so he is not opposed to other schools. I honestly do not see the reason for his fear. I think he feels that he was lucky to work for people at City College that he liked, and he knows he likes our department, but Columbia seems like a scary place. He is scared that he won't like it, or that his advisor will be terrible, and on and on. I also think that he doesn't feel "good enough" for the place.

I've never met someone so terrified of his success. I mean, I know plenty of people who are unsure of themselves or their accomplishments, or of doing something new, but this poor student is practically paralyzed with fear. I'm not entirely sure what else I can do, except push him to do this, knowing that he will enjoy it. I told him that even if it's not the ideal situation, he will learn a lot, and he will get a lot out of it.

I have a feeling when the fall comes, I'll be spouting a lot of "I told you so"s.

Summer Research

I now have three undergraduates who wish to work with me over the summer. Two of them are from my university and are sophomores. I just met them recently (hadn't had them in a class yet), and wasn't sure what to expect. But then I got to sub for a class they both happen to be in, and now I'm feeling much better about having them work with me.

It is interesting how just a single interaction allows for me to get a decent idea of what to expect. Obviously, someone who is very talkative in class is not necessarily good at research, but at the same time it shows at least that they want to play an active role. So I think they'll be able to get a lot of good work done over the summer.

The third student is from this area, but going to school elsewhere, and he wants to do some sort of research in my field. This person does not want to get paid, which leads me to wonder. Did he not apply for summer REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates, funded by the National Science Foundation), or not get accepted to any? Did he just want to come home for the summer and we are the closest institution to his house? I'm a bit more reticent about this student, but at the same time I'm a little indifferent. Whatever he does will be just for him, and it isn't like he'll have to defend any funding he received.

I just have to figure out what to make him do.

And this is what I spend my day on...

Just like basically everyone else, I do not spend my time wisely. After this past week which was rather crazy I took Saturday off to have some fun with a friend in Manhattan. We had Korean food for lunch (yum!) and on a whim wound up heading to the top of the Empire State Building. I had been up there before but she, after living in the city for over 6 years before and now effectively living in the city, she has never gone to the top. So we played tourist.

Then, due to the fact that I have a 1st generation iPod touch that is slowly dying, I splurged and purchased a new one. I'm very happy I did, and by the time Saturday night was through, I had a newly synced iPod touch that had much more space for all of my music and then some.

But that was a well-spent day. It recharged me, to prepare me for yesterday, which was to get ready for today. This involved getting lecture notes ready for a class that I'm subbing for another professor, getting some of my plans for my class ready for tomorrw, as well as writing a quiz. Plus I had homework solutions to write up and had to read through the application of our candidate that is visiting today.

So what do I do? I knit this:

What is it, you ask? It is an iPod cozy. I didn't feel like spending $30 on a case that isn't that necessary, so I quickly put this together (thanks to a pattern on Ravelry). Who needs to do work when you can do things that are completely unnecessary?

But just for the record, I did also get most of my work done as well. So it wasn't a total loss.

No work day

Wednesdays this semester have been notoriously unproductive days for me. There are two parts to that, primarily the fact that I have a tutorial student (i.e., independent study) that comes in the morning, and then lab in the afternoon. This in and of itself isn't an issue, until you add in the fact that after we discuss the course, this student and I tend to start chatting about other, largely unrelated, things.

Then there's the fact that there are other students that just come by to chat every so often, and basically it becomes very tricky to get anything done. I'm not really complaining, because quite honestly I enjoy talking with the students. It becomes an issue on a day like today, where I have a talk to prepare for, and while it's "finished," there are a lot of unanswered questions with my results. Primarily, that I have none, because the data just make no sense anymore.

This luckily isn't the end of the world, but it's becoming more of a habit for me, it seems, to not be able to show results at a talk. Alas, it's all good, and I should get used to it. Next year will just get busier.

Make them think they're failing

The mentality of certain students is pretty amazing to me at times. Some are nervous and panicky over losing a point or two, because they just have to get perfect grades (and the person I am specifically thinking about is not a pre-med, just high strung). Some are laid back and clearly just enjoying the education (I have several of those in my class and they are a joy). Some seem exceedingly indifferent, they aren't doing spectacularly but seem to be trying, but at the same time it almost looks like they don't really care one way or the other. And then there are those who do poorly and get surprised when I tell them as much.

For example, I have three students that again I have had to submit a "danger of failing" notice. These are upperclassmen that are majors in my field, and as upperclassmen, we don't submit midterm grades (that is just for freshmen). Instead, we just notify the records office if the student is likely to fail the course.

Two of these students I had last semester and I submitted the same thing back then. They then worked very hard to get their grades up and they succeeded in passing just barely to obtain credit for the class. (Both of my classes last semester and this semester are required for the degree, so a grade of C or better is required.) So of course I was surprised to see that they hadn't changed their ways, and realized that I give very difficult homeworks that they have to get through, and I had to submit the same notice again.

I received an email over spring break from one student who seemed surprised at his* grade, and began panicking because he is supposed to graduate this semester. He then started going into detail about how he gets stuck on the homeworks and doesn't know what to do, and doesn't know how the other students do it.

I have said in the past several things about my homeworks to the students. One, work together, as that will save you a lot of grief. Two, always look at it the day it is assigned. This is not to say that you have to complete it that day, just look at it. It will give you an idea about what is to be expected. Three, (and this one is the most important that he should have learned last semester and most of the other students already understand), come to me with any questions and I can help! This is not easy stuff, and if you understood it that well already, you should be teaching the class.

Oh, and just FYI, don't act surprised if you get a "danger of failing" notice when you have been getting 7 out of 60 points on your homeworks.

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*Instead of being gender-neutral, I'll use "he, his, and him" for all pronouns to save typing.

Spring Break

It is spring break this week. Without any teaching, of course I have a weird amount of free time to work on my research, and I'm getting it done. I did the unthinkable, with regards to spring break: I headed north, to a colder climate. Not ridiculously colder, but still colder, as was noticed when we left the city Sunday and arrived upstate, where the snow began to fall (luckily not really accumulating). C has to teach this week (his spring break was last week), and so while he's working, I'm making my rounds of the coffeeshops in the area. It's worked quite well thus far, as I made a tremendous amount of progress yesterday. Hopefully by the end of the week I will have a lot of exciting things to talk about when I visit Yale the following week.

I must say it is easier (for the short term) to get some things done here. Not because I get distracted in my office (which I do, but that wouldn't happen this week), nor because I don't have teaching responsibilities (I still have midterms to grade, but I'm putting that off since I know they will not exactly be the best). No, it's easier to get things done in a mildly unfamiliar environment. I have been to this city plenty, but since it isn't where I spend all my time, it's a lot easier to actually just get things done.

Of course, I'm sleeping a lot more now too, which doesn't hurt.

Strange dinner

I went out to dinner with our first search candidate and two other members of the department last night. I was toying with not going but I figured it would be a chance to (a) get to know the possibly newest addition to the department and (b) get to talk to members of the department that I never really talk to since overall it is a very antisocial department. I actually had a good time, but I feel as though the conversation sort of veered away from the candidate (who is very shy, and just as an aside, it is funny to see the difference in what I thought about this person based on the application materials, and to see how different the candidate was in real life), and me and this other professor basically had a long conversation.

In my defense, it had to do with something that I'd been meaning to ask him, so it isn't really like I planned it. But alas, maybe it took some pressure off of the candidate. I did enjoy the fact that I got to go out to a search dinner where I wasn't the candidate, it definitely was a lot better. It's also really good, to me, to realize that while I will vote on who we hire, I'm not as invested in this search, since it for a part of our program that I am not actively involved in. In that vein, I will meet with the candidate today for my "interview" but really it'll be much more relaxed.

At least on my end.

How to do everything

I'm a fan of NPR's "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" radio quiz show. I've never listened to it on the radio, but in podcast form. I am excited because I will either listen to it throughout the day on Mondays, or if I head somewhere on Sunday I will pop it in, as it takes one full episode (~45 minutes) to get most of the way to anywhere in Manhattan. Either way, I look forward to it every week.

But the producers of that show have come out with a new podcast, equally as cheesy and except for being a lot shorter, equally as fun, called "How to do everything," which is basically a "guide" for just that. For example, part of the first episode included "how to make $65,000 by purchasing a house in Idaho that is filled with snakes and flipping it" (in this case, the infestation of snakes clearly brought the value of the house down, hence the possibility of making a lot of money if you could flip it).

This is one of my new faves, and I realized this since this morning I just thought about how I get to listen to it on my way into the office, and I got a little giddy. That's right. Giddy. Deal with it.

White Board Issues

I am an ardent fan of the old-school chalkboard. Not these new-fangled (that have been around for decades) white-boards. I am not a fan of using markers that are half the time dried out, or too weak to adequately teach a class. However, that is the type of board in my classroom, and as such, I must use it. [Sidenote: I find it is pretty much divided in my very unscientific study of this, and it seems by and large that more scientists prefer chalk while more humanities-types prefer the marker.] But this isn't about my dislike of the boards, even though it generally causes me to swear at least once or twice during class, amusing my students.

No, instead it is about the professor who teaches before me. First of all, this is not about whether or not he erases the board, as there are plenty of people who get all up in arms if the previous lecturer does not erase their work. I actually like erasing the board at the beginning of class, as it gives me a chance to casually chat with the students about random things.

The issue is that at times the professor clearly touchs the board with his fingers, which is something I do as well, so that right there isn't even the problem. Clearly though, this man has extremely oily fingers, because when I erase the board, as I move over a seemingly blank area, three or four fingerprints appear on the board, having been outlined by the marker residue on the eraser. I feel like I'm on NCIS or something, finding a way to determine the suspect of some terrible crime.

And just to be fair, I tried my own fingers and as hard as I pressed my thumb or forefinger to the board, I could not get the same effect. It is something that has caused quite some amusement at the beginning of class lately, primarily because I'm trying to erase the board, and then I have to scrub to erase the fingerprints!

Oh, and if you were thinking it, this would not be an issue with a chalkboard. The chalk on his hands would dry them enough so this just wouldn't happen. Just sayin'.