Serendib Teaching

I gathered my courage in both hands and opened my course evaluation files to find that my students… …were just fine with my teaching last semester. Whew. Some of them even took the time to write nice things about me, which is really going above and beyond, considering that last semester was probably my worst-ever […]

Trying something new with teaching this semester. Last semester was asynchronous; assignments were due weekly, by Sunday midnight, which ran into difficulty, because by halfway through the semester, almost all the students were posting their assignments between 10 p.m. & midnight on Sunday. Not ideal, esp. for commenting on each others’ posts, which they were

Here we go again, ready or not. I decided that the asynchronous we did last fall mostly worked, but that the students would benefit from a little more synchronous time. It’s a trade-off; it means that those who have complex work, etc. schedules may not be able to take my course. Hopefully it’ll work for

Fall semester grades are in (except for two students who didn’t hand in final papers, whom I’m still hoping to get something from if they ever answer my e-mail…). Did I grade somewhat more generously that I would in a normal semester? YES. Am I going to regret that? NOT EVEN A TINY BIT. Is

I just sent my lit. students a last set of instructions for finals week, which starts tomorrow. Usually, I have their final papers due on Monday of finals week, but this semester, I’ve told them I just need them by midnight on Friday. That should give me enough time to grade before the deadline (even

I’m glad our university (University of Illinois at Chicago) is taking this step. We are still in the midst of a disaster. ***** Dear Students, Over the course of the past several weeks, we have received requests for a change to the Fall 2020 grading policy from the Undergraduate Student Government as well as from

Quick note that due to rising COVID rates, UIC just told faculty that they’re pivoting ALL fall semester classes to remote. Most have been remote (all of English, for example), but even the science lab classes are going remote now. We’re expecting this is going to cause some extra stress and challenges for students who’ll

For the record, today’s the day when I completely gave up on looking professional in my teaching videos. Hair hastily pulled back into messy ponytail? Check. Giant comforting ratty cardigan over sweats? Check. Bleary eyes with bags under them from staying up too late stressing over the election? Check. Oh well. The students will cope.

For the record, today’s the day when I completely gave up on looking professional in my teaching videos. Hair hastily pulled back into messy ponytail? Check. Giant comforting ratty cardigan over sweats? Check. Bleary eyes with bags under them from staying up too late stressing over the election? Check. Oh well. The students will cope.