it's that time of the year again

[go_gentle]

1. spent much of the last 24 hours concerned for a lost textbook that i had from the library. after resigning myself to the fines, i discovered in in my backpack - which i cleaned out to take on the plane last week, and then searched today three times. any conclusions you draw that begin with "oh, honey" are entirely accurate.

2. have 2 papers for a total of 30 pages due this week. right now, have 5 written.

3. thought i was sick to my stomach in class today because of anxiety. apparently not, as it continued at fencing (and i am never anxious at fencing), where i turned a color that caused my teammates to ask if i felt faint or needed to go sit down. (to be fair, it's not a long way for me to go, to get to colors that people aren't really supposed to be.) just sick, then, i see. a mistake anyone could make.

4. end of term means class evaluations! i think some of you have some experience with this from the other side of things, so i ask: how mean is too mean? how personal is too personal? (Assume that my critiques will be directed at established professors, not the second-year grad students, and that i have the sense not to, idk, comment on the professor's shoes.) because some of my professors this year really could use some forceful critique, is all i'm saying.

5. what, you thought this was going to be a holiday post?

Comments

[phineasjones.livejournal.com]

on topic 4... i will be sad if i get mean critique from my students (though i am one of those grad student types, of course, not the established professory type) but i also really want them to be honest with me because i truly want to improve. so many professors are smart people who suck at teaching - they NEED to hear what they can do to be better, imo. i wouldn't hold back. but you also don't want to say things in a way that will let them dismiss you - if they feel like it's a personal attack (not that you would actually do that, but if they could perceive it that way) they might do that.

my $.02