Nothing left to hide

Have you ever considered a teachers ability to actually teach? After one or two classes in college with a professor who has tenure, who doesn't seem to care about getting in touch with their younger students, the question has arisen for myself and today I came upon a revelation of sorts.

Part of their ability to teach effectively to students, must itself be taught. They must learn and practice, observe and change their techniques for dispensing with whatever ideas they have to their students in the most effective manner. However, the teacher is also the one put in the role of being able to evaluate that information which they have been trying to teach. Being able to evaluate something effectively however does not seem to rely upon the exact same skill tree as that of instructing, considering that effectiveness of one is directly related to the output of the other.

To evaluate a problem or a solution effectively one must first construct a definitive answer, and thus a way of measuring how close to this correct answer you have come. In terms of a teacher, they must create a grading criteria which will encompass all the ideas which they presume they have taught to their students and give values to that which is most important and should therefore be retained most solidly in a students mind. However, to create such a system in a fair way must also be as equally challenging as to dispense that knowledge, because to have your students fail on your grading scheme means that either your ability to teach or your ability to evaluate isn't what you expected it to be.

Does being able to teach and critique someone also give you the ability to evaluate them? What sorts of factors does one consider when constructing a system to evaluate their students? Standardized testing, grade percentages, and a myriad of methods are used in my schooling to try and determine what of the important things I was taught, did I actually pick up on and retain. However, the system they provide is easily manipulated and in itself broken. Teachers meet in department groups to decide how to scale and grade their tests, because of some overall sense of democracy? That all teachings of that subject were done in the same way and that all students learned it the same way so we all use the same system? Doesn't evaluation mean to understand what the many outlying factors are that contribute to what response was given to a given question? If I can get through an English class with a 2.8, does this mean that I have that much less understanding then a 4.0 student? How does this reflect upon the actually understanding of each student? To me, getting a good grade and understanding the important aspects of the material are two different games. I can play the grade game and answer what they want so they can take it back to their department heads and show that the same 100 students came out with at least this small semblance of understanding, but did I actually get anything out of it? When I'm in class did I really get what the original intention of the instructor had, is that what I was graded on or is that what was needed for things to just simply progress.

Is there a difference between your opinion and what the right answer is?  Can you find it and separate a supported opinion that is still wrong?  Or does it not just coincide with what you think the right answer is, which in itself is another opinion.

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I originally wrote this near the end of last quarter. 

It was starting off rather promising, but it was like a story that starts at the ending but then starts retelling how you got there, you know how it's gonna end but at one point you forget and start to enjoy the ride.  I got to read through the new Sci Fi book, was very good and I was enjoying that at work but then I got to class and yet again, let down.  It's uncomfortable, these discussions, they don't go anywhere and because we haven't finished the book it's all speculation that will end up being wrong.  There isn't much point to it other than tainting how we will perceive the book.  Plus, this guy in class who most think talks to much, is too smart, and get's into the discussion with a tad too much zeal, makes another remark to the teacher about why he doesn't quite enjoy the text.  He qualifies it, he makes irrefutable points and even points out why he feels this way with evidence that makes perfect sense, and the teacher just makes a quip about 8th week fatigue as why he doesn't like it, and then he get's pissed that she said that.  And really, he should have, he made a perfectly logical explanation that makes more sense and even brought in another question we had about the text, and she just insults him to try and put herself above him and point out what the class is and what he isn't.  She of course apologizes when he says, you know what I'm kinda mad and I'm not going to talk anymore, that's really insulting.  And the class kinda misinterprets what just happened of course, and then they kinda gang up against his idea by of course tearing it down.  But they tear it down by attacking point he actually didn't make, just things they assumed.  Anyway, I felt for the guy and it just pushed me past the edge in that class and the others.  I thought skipping was bad… honestly it lets you keep this shit interesting throughout the quarter, otherwise you'd be sick of the same 10 people opinions and would be at where I am right now, drinking a beer and hoping I don't have much work on this project to do tonight. (more…)

I am frustrated. After two hours of class I have no closer idea of what this book is about. Not only that, I feel like it was just one big waste of time, to stress out over getting this book read and the corresponding articles to just have everyone in the class just as clueless as I am. There was no discussion, a few people tried to interject an opinion on what they thought the questions posed to them were, but it was a failure. The further this course goes along the sadder it becomes. It started off so well, it didn't seem like your typical English Lit course. You would need to pay attention, you would need to do the reading, you couldn't just figure out the system. The system being a formula for what grade you wanted. (more…)

To quickly wrap up a few loose ends…

Last quarter went surprisingly well.  I did the best I've done in my classes yet, which I attribute to both attending class more frequently and understanding the "game" which is liberal arts grading.  This will be my last quarter at the UW *fingers crossed*.  Originally I thought I'd need to take one more credit worth of English in the summer but I lucked out and was able to waive 5 credits and after completing my Senior Seminar this Spring and my Sci-fi Fantasy Lit class I'll be done.  

This quarter itself has been going quite well, unfortunately most of the work has been saved up for the end of the quarter since the Senior Seminar grade is essentially one huge paper at the end.  I've been reading some really interesting texts in my Sci-fi lit class, actually reading ahead and getting the homework done before hand out of pure interest in the subjects at hand, a first for me. 

The future is at hand, Jen was hired on at Nordstrom to a "real" job.  By real job I mean getting paid real money, having a 9 to 5, dressing up in nice attire, having some sort of building ID badge and an office and a title.  I'm not exactly sure what the job is, from what I understand she will be training the people who did her old job across the West Coast and then doing some analyzing of the numbers coming out of all the Women's Alterations Departments on the West Coast as well.  From what we both understand their will be some minimal travel, a lot more job training, and hopefully something she can take away from it that might land her something better in the future.  So… it's a real job, a foot in the door to a bigger world.

This also means we will be in Seattle longer then we had originally planned.  We were going to head out to Vancouver after graduation and go from their but we always left room in our plan for one of us to get some sort of career going here in Seattle.  Once my schedule clears up, I too will begin looking into the job market, hoping to emerge with a "foot in the door" career as well.  As much as we both would love to be back home with our families, even for just a year, it looks like we are Seattlebound for a bit longer.

And in the odds and ends department, my first WoW Main got to 60 last week, so now I have two 60's and at least one character in every bracket of leveling.  I've been raiding less since AQ is still the worst instance for rogues and for loot in general.  I'll probably try and gear up my hunter a bit through MC with someone since at least he has some appeal in both PvP and end game raiding.  Naxxramas is next patch, and will probably suck for Rogues even more but I don't mind, I have other options now.  And lastly, my Cat has fallen in the toilet again, a few weeks back.  Ahh… my little puddle diver.

This week… Fantasy themed essay to write, Economic Artifact Project Wednesday, final paper decision week, 2 books to read, and… something else I've forgotten.   My weeks tend to start Thursday and end Wednesday, just how the work cycle goes now.