A Parting Thought...

Well, it's the last week of classes before Spring Break. Some lucky students are off to tropical destinations, some are going to work, some are just going home to hang out with family and friends.

Other students, namely my Life Skills students, had these types of plans for Spring Break (these are all approximations of actual responses to the question, "What are your plans for Spring Break?"):

1. "Nailing sluts." (That one got so much laughter from the class that a few had tears in their eyes. I wasn't very amused, and at first ignored the comment but shot that individual a disapproving look, as if to say-- shut up, jerk-- until it came up again, and I had to say, "Gentlemen, that's enough. I don't want to hear it again.")
2. "Drinking." (My response: "I hope you have a DD.")
3. "Hopefully not getting arrested." (My response: "You better not call me to bail you out. I won't help you.")

I sometimes feel like smacking all of them. But, they also really make me laugh. I think I'd be sending a mixed message if I whacked each of them but laughed maniacally while doing so.

Mmmmm.... math

I have been and always will be horrible at math. When I explore the reasons why, though, it really doesn't seem to add up... I can (and am generally willing) to work hard at things; I am a practical person who likes definitive answers-- though I like to ask "how" and "why" on the road leading up to said answer; I am willing to try something a few times to get it right...

Does all mathematical intelligence stem from natural ability? I think there's a difference between math knowledge and math talent (which must stem from some special chromosome I lack)-- I really only need the former to succeed in life and in my career, so I cultivated none of the latter. It's possible that the development of math talent is connected to environment, as well.

In elementary and middle school, I had some really crap math teachers. One was given to wearing pastel colored polo shirts and torturing us with stories about tennis (oh yeah, and he was a total prick); another was a red-haired, glasses-wearing, smoke-breathing dragon who used to show us episodes of some mathematics-based PBS show (also a total prick, BTW). My learning experiences in their classes was not first-rate, as the only reason people like those described become teachers is to get summers off.

High school was the opposite-- I had some great math teachers who were dedicated, patient, and truly gifted-- shouldn't my math talent have been nurtured and spilled forth with teachers like that? No, I still got C's and D's.

It's possible I wasn't always bad at math. It's possible that I became that way, through caring only just enough about it to get by. I had one math class in all of college, and that's all I needed to get where I am now, in my cushy (haha) job as temporary faculty here at CMU. I worked my ass off to get a "C" in College Algebra.

Math seems like it should be pretty easy, at least on that somewhat-remedial level. Why would I only earn a "C", even after going to tutoring almost every day? I mean, I did my homework religiously; I attended every class, on time; I attempted all extra credit problems, etc. I think one reason I only got a "C" was because I didn't care about Math in the right way-- that is, even though I did all the work, I was fine with just passing and that's it. I created an average environment in which to achieve, so average is exactly what I achieved.
It probably would've been unrealistic for me to earn an "A" in Math, but I probably could've gotten at least a "B-" with a better attitude toward the subject.

Why all this writing about Math? I don't really think about my math history much, and nor have I ever written about it. Exploring the idea came from what I observed as I walked down the hallway to my office the other day-- classrooms full of bored-to-drooling freshmen, doodling anything but equations in their notebooks. How I feel for their poor instructors, who earnestly attempt to help these kids make sense of positives and negatives, and x = whatever... without much response or interest on the part of the students. I teach the same kids, but in subjects without definitive answers, so while the product of my job is a little different-- the teaching issues I face are the same.

Many students care only about "just getting by." They want to put in "C" effort, but expect (and believe they deserve) "A" grades. I guess that's one difference between myself as an undergrad and those I teach at present: I realized that I earned my "C" and didn't expect any more than that just because I'm a nice person. I felt entitled to that which I set my sight upon, nothing more and nothing less. (I imagine now I could've graduated with a far higher GPA if I'd set my sights just a little higher-- Algebra included.)

Evan Wants to Rock

Imagine my surprise, when I got out of the shower today, to see my little boy busting a move to the first few bars of Poison's "Don't Need Nothin' But A Good Time."

Apparently, while I was soaping it up, he helped himself to a stack of CD's and turned on the stereo. I'm not surprised that he knows how to work it, because he's seen me do it several times, and I've even helped him do it.

The look on his face showed that he wasn't planning on getting caught. I think he expected to get yelled at, but I didn't do that. The whole scene was just too amusing.

After he listened to the Poison song a bit, he decided he wasn't satisfied. He took that CD out, and popped in the Clash's "London Calling." He danced to a few bars of that, and then turned Posion back on. It went on like this for several minutes, then he decided to play cars (or, "Hot Cars" as we call Hot Wheels at our house).

Evan has definitely inherited his mother's taste in music. Huzzah.

Hoy Es El Dia de San Valentin

Sorry for lack of updates. The past weeks seem to have been a whirlwind of activity, even though only two major events have occurred:

1. Evan suffered a bout of pneumonia, which kept him out of school for a week... which means all his caregivers, between here and Troy, nursed him through another course of antibiotics (no diaper rash this time), and 4-a-day breathing treatments (which he'll be on in decreasing amounts, until mid-March).

I am glad to report that he is feeling much better and returned to school on Monday.

2. Andrew successfully defended his doctoral dissertation on Monday, 2/12. His committee asked him to make some changes to the introduction, but despite those revisions-- which are due to the graduate school in March-- I guess the title "Dr." still applies.

We felt very thankful to have Dr. Gary Murphy, of Dublin City University, here as part of Andrew's committee. We were also glad to see our very dear friend Matt McCabe, who drove 7 hours from Milwaukee to witness the defense and to spend a few short days with us.

All Big Things considered, life goes on as usual. It is a great relief for both Andrew and I (maybe more myself, in some ways) to be rid of that bitch, the dissertation. Now begins a whole new period of uncertainty, as we play, in full force, the how-long-do-we-have-to-wait-for-a-tenure-track job game.

3. I had a wee epiphany today in my Life Skills class during a student presentation. And no, you have not mis-read what I just wrote. Typically, when teachers learn great things from their students, it isn't in a class where the average GPA is a 0.14.

Well, here's what happened: the students were presenting a chapter about finding dreams, setting goals, and maintaining motivation. I really sort of suck at all three of those things-- despite my great ability to project otherwise. I'm not always the best person for investigating what all my options are: I tend to let life wander up to me, and then just go along with choices that present themselves. Lucky for me a lot of these things have been potential CV-builders. But anyway, here's what I came up with: 1) I like to cook-- I've often thought someone should pay me for it; 2) I like to write-- I've often thought someone should pay me to do it; 3) I like to teach-- I get paid for it, but I grow weary of politics, egos, and other not-so-student-centered things that go along with teaching in higher ed.

Couldn't I combine these interests into a literary-themed party-planning catering business? In other words, aren't there rich people who really like to read (and fancy themselves true intellectuals) who want to have book clubs but really don't have the time to organize meetings and such? I could do everything from sending out invitations and copies of a certain book (along with discussion questions), to cooking a thematically-appropriate menu (Irish food for Joyce-- or Patrick Kavanagh); roadside diner-type food for Kerouac's On The Road; to leading a discussion about the work. I think Oprah-watching types would really go for this.

Why I never thought of this potentially-lucrative career before I do not know.

4. Let's love one another, after all, it is Valentine's Day.

Hi, I'm Andrea Devenney and my hobbies include....

1. Taking care of my pneumonia-laden 3-year-old.
2. Reading and grading sometimes-good-but-mostly-mediocre essays.
3. Hating snow.
4. Cursing winter.
5. Developing cabin fever.

I've pretty much spent Thursday-today doing 1-4 above. Evan's sinus infection worsened and he developed pneumonia. Now he is on breathing treatments 4x per day, plus an antibiotic 1x per day, plus Motrin at least 1x (sometimes more) per day to keep his fever in check. He loves going to school, but he's been sick constantly since he started, despite best handwashing and multi-vitamin-taking efforts.

I hate winter. I've decided I'm too old for it. Winter isn't conducive to my vanity. I like dressing like a lady, and you really can't do that in sub-zero temperatures, trudging through ankle-deep (or deeper) snow.

I hate the fact that I had to cancel all my weekend plans down in Troy. I missed my friend's baby shower this weekend, and celebrating my sister's birthday, and getting my haircut. I look like a retarded sheep dog.