Category Archives: students

Back to school and a new normal….

Posted on August 30, 2017 by rglw

School starts today. Maybe in your neck of the woods, you have a few precious days to squeeze out of summer vacation. Ours ends now. And it comes just in time because we’re all losing our minds. Camp is long … Continue reading →

Posted in everyday life, family, kids, lessons learned, parenthood, personal, schools, students, summer, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

What I want to tell my daughter on her first day of school

Posted on August 28, 2014 by rglw

Baby-girl, You have no idea what’s about to happen. Well, maybe you do. People have been grilling you about your level of enthusiasm over this transition for months, asking you at every opportunity, “Are you going to Kindergarten? Are you … Continue reading →

Posted in everyday life, family, kids, lessons learned, motherhood, parenthood, personal, schools, students | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

What teaching taught me: 2013-2014 edition

Posted on May 23, 2014 by rglw

I posted my final grades in haste over a week ago, and save a few student emails about those grades, I am finished with the 2013-2014 school year. The year was a blur. The work goes from a high-speed car … Continue reading →

Posted in academia, blogging, everyday life, family, higher education, lessons learned, personal, productivity, research, sociology, students, teaching, what professors do, work, writing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The social construction of grades

Posted on May 21, 2014 by rglw

At least once a semester I tell my students that grades do not matter. When I tell them that grades don’t matter, I am typically a little huffy about it. I recognize that it is a tough pill to swallow when we’re taught that … Continue reading →

Posted in academia, higher education, lessons learned, students, teaching, work | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Grading vortex

Posted on April 19, 2014 by rglw

No matter how well I plan and no matter how hard I work, there comes a point in every semester when I am overwhelmed with grading. All teachers experience that moment when they stare at The Pile of papers in front … Continue reading →

Posted in academia, higher education, procrastinating, productivity, students, teaching, Uncategorized, what professors do, work, writing | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Students are people, too: When you’re the professor and the therapist and the career counselor…

Posted on February 12, 2014 by rglw

Towards the end of last semester, a blog that I follow featured an essay entitled “I’m Your Professor Not Your Therapist.” In it, the author described feeling helpless and unprepared for dealing with students in crisis. The only advice offered … Continue reading →

Posted in academia, grad school, higher education, schools, students, teaching, work | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

In loco parentis: real life role conflict and role strain

Posted on October 25, 2013 by rglw

Thanks for not giving up on the blog and me.  September and October knocked me down, but I am slowly standing back up. Everywhere I look, all I see are Rogue Cheerios.  Residuals from my work and personal life are … Continue reading →

Posted in academia, family, higher education, kids, lessons learned, motherhood, parenthood, personal, sociology, students, teaching, work | Leave a comment

Persistence in the face of unrelenting mediocrity

Posted on September 12, 2013 by rglw

After many summers of failing miserably at tending to vegetable plants, I have resigned myself to the realization that I am not a great gardener. Do you hear me, husband?  I stink at gardening. I am not even a little … Continue reading →

Posted in academia, blogging, lessons learned, personal, research, students, teaching, work, writing | 4 Comments

The calm before the storm: on course prep and a reality check

Posted on August 21, 2013 by rglw

I need to get over myself. I am doing exactly what I have done for semesters now: I am over prepping my courses. I’m paralyzed thinking about updating the syllabus for a course I’ve already taught because I know it … Continue reading →

Posted in academia, higher education, lessons learned, reading, schools, students, teaching, work, writing | 1 Comment

Dispatch from the mat: lessons on teaching gleaned from yoga boot camp

Posted on July 12, 2013 by rglw

Yoga boot camp is a contradiction in terms.  Yoga, by nature, is meant to be peaceful and meditative.  The only “boot camp”-ish thing about this yoga boot camp was the 6:15 start time (and thus the 5:30 wake up call). … Continue reading →

Posted in academia, blogging, health, higher education, lessons learned, students, teaching, work, yoga | 7 Comments