Category Archives: Education

Sometimes There’s A Breakthrough

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The final paper. A self-assessment of one’s writing progress. Which admittedly, is a bit presumptuous.

A fave excerpt from one student’s paper.

“But this prewriting is different than what I thought it would be; my prewriting involves putting my professor into a (metaphorical) box, and I put that box into another box. Then, I put that box in the garage and forget about it. Only at this point do I return to my brainstorming and drafts. I have learned that if I do not do this I expend too much energy trying to inject the professor into my creation. Once I realized that my writing is for myself, not the professor, I found that writing is an engaging process of self discovery and growth. This is most evident in my penultimate paper on the concept of soulmates.”

Typically, academic writing is an impersonal jumping through hoops, with students preoccupied by grades. Students inevitably develop a teacher-centric orientation when writing in school, asking themselves, “To get the best grade possible, what and how am I expected to think and write?”

If I could only get all of my students to put me in a box, inside a box, in a garage. Yes, I would prob suffocate to death, but I would die happy.

You Will Never Guess The Biggest Threat To Our Future

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Me.

According to emeritus professor John Ellis in the Wall Street Journal, who contends, “The biggest threat to our future isn’t climate change, China or the national debt. It is the tyrannical grip that a hopelessly corrupt higher education now has on our national life. If we don’t stop it now, it will eventually destroy the most successful society in world history.”

He wrote this before yesterday’s Congressional testimony about hate speech that no doubt thrilled him.

All is not lost though. Ellis has a solution:

“. . . the only real solution is for more Americans to grasp the depth of the problem and change their behavior accordingly. Most parents and students seem to be on autopilot: Young Jack is 18, so it’s time for college. His family still assumes that students will be taught by professors who are smart, well-informed and with broad sympathies. No longer. Professors are now predominantly closed-minded, ignorant and stupid enough to believe that Marxism works despite overwhelming historical evidence that it doesn’t. If enough parents and students gave serious thought to the question whether this ridiculous version of a college education is still worth four years of a young person’s life and tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars, corrupt institutions of higher education would collapse, creating the space for better ones to arise.”

Never mind his assumption that parents of graduating high schoolers are thoughtless, did Ellis just call me closed-minded, ignorant and stupid? That is one hurtful trifecta.

I should probably come clean, but I’m not the one who used “Jack” as his stand in high school graduate, as white and middle-class a pseudonym as there is. I would’ve used Karl as a nod to Marxism, or maybe Friedrich, or better yet, a more inclusive gender-neutral name.

Ellis is old even relative to me, and retired from the classroom, so every day I skillfully weave references to class relations, social conflict, the means of production, and the need for a proletarian revolution into my writing and multicultural education courses, I extend my victory over him. Scoreboard Ellis.

And thereby, become an even greater threat to our future.

2023 Word Of The Year

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Rizz.

From the New York Times.

“It’s official. Oxford University Press, the world’s second-oldest academic press and the publisher of the Oxford English Dictionary, has rizz.

Or at least, like the rest of us over a certain age, it’s trying to get some. ‘Rizz’ — Gen Z (or is it Gen Alpha?) slang for ‘style, charm or attractiveness,’ or ‘the ability to attract a romantic or sexual partner’ — has been named as Oxford’s 2023 Word of the Year, beating out contenders like situationship, prompt, de-influencing and (yes) Swiftie.

‘Rizz,’ a shortened form of ‘charisma,’ emerged out of internet and gaming culture, according to Oxford, and was popularized in 2022 by the YouTube and Twitch streamer Kai Cenat, who posted ‘rizz tips’ videos online. It went viral in June, after the actor Tom Holland, in an interview with Buzzfeed, said: ‘I have no rizz whatsoever. I have limited rizz.'”

The GalPal says I have “rizz to spare”. Maybe I should share some with THolland.

St. Olaf College For The Win

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Must have been a kick-ass search committee because the new President is a red-headed cyclist. Rundell-Singer taught biology on the other side of the Cannon River for three decades. This hire is a major win for Jeanette Byrnes and a devastating blow to Alison Byrnes. Deep down, Rundell-Singer knew, the best uni in Northfield was up the hill.

Big Fish, Kinda Small Pond

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Kolter Stevenson for the win. And the University of Montana. Go Grizz.

Big sis received an email message today from the family U:

Just wanted to touch base with you and share some very exciting news! Kolter has been the recipient of the Donald J. Byrnes Scholarship for the last three years. Last week it was announced that he was awarded the very prestigious Rhodes Scholarship. As a College of Business student, we could not be prouder of him and his accomplishments during his college career. We expect to see this young man’s name for years to come as he changes the world!

A Pastor, Comedian, and Educator Walk Into a Bar

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And compare notes.

The pastor says, “I can tell when my congregation is with me. When they’re watching and listening intently, we’re connected.”

The comedian says, “I can tell when my audience is with me. When they’re watching and listening intently, we’re connected.”

The educator says, “I can tell when my students are with me. When they’re watching and listening intently, we’re connected.”

One never arrives as a teacher. On the best days, a distinct majority watches and listens intently. And the connection is strong. More often, some watch and listen intently, while others are elsewhere. The eternal challenge is tilting that balance.