higher education
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Essay Writing: The Cake Analogy
This week, I am working on essay structure with my post-intro students. After 22 years of teaching essay structure in various forms, I am, as you can imagine, sick of it. But then I came across this little analogy: how to bake your essay like a cake! It’s cute. It’s tasty. There are things here… Continue reading
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Plagiarism: What Do Students Think?
It is only a week and a half into the semester, and already my office mate and I are talking about plagiarism. There are hangovers from last semester – cases that never quite got resolved – and our college has a new plagiarism policy that requires, among other things, that we submit any plagiarism accusations to… Continue reading
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I Like Teaching You
Today is the first day of the new semester. I’m not exactly pumped. I’ve been working all weekend to find a motivator, or an inspiration, or a visualization to turn to when I feel it’s all too much. What’s my objective for the next fifteen weeks? What mantra will I repeat to myself on the… Continue reading
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Top 10 Posts of 2011
It’s that time of year again. (Actually, it’s a little past that time of year – it was that time of year, oh, two weeks ago, when it was still last year.) Nevertheless: a roundup! Here are the posts from Classroom as Microcosm that received the most hits this year. The reasons for their popularity… Continue reading
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Formatting Blues
The following conversation took place earlier this week on my personal Facebook page. Siobhan: Open memo to a student who shall remain nameless: Going into your final paper, you had an overall average of 59.7%. Did you not feel the stakes were high enough to invest half an hour in formatting your paper properly? Because… Continue reading
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More Ways To Cheat (Because Where’s the Fun in Doing the Work?)
This week, The Tenured Radical has an imaginary conversation with her imaginary college-age progeny in which she explains why he/she should not cheat in order to get through the hellish last weeks of the semester. In the process, she directs us to some more online cheating resources (see one of my earlier posts for an… Continue reading
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How To Use Quotations
I gave a lesson on integrating and formatting quotations on Tuesday, and – serendipity! – Carol Saller at the Chronicle of Higher Ed published about correct use of quotations the next day, right AFTER it would have been of some use to me. It doesn’t really matter; I’m unlikely to pass on any advice containing… Continue reading
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When In Doubt, Make a Plan
On Monday, I posted a letter I received from a reader, asking advice about whether he should stay in college. I promised you I would post my reply today, and here it is. I sent this response before posting his letter here, and before reading your thoughts on his situation, but some commenters will notice… Continue reading
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Three Things That Are Driving Me Crazy This Week
1. Plagiarism In my remedial class, we have been talking for two weeks about paraphrasing, integrating quotations, citing sources and so forth. Nevertheless, three students have received zeroes on the first version of their final paper because of incorrect use of source material. There are a few mitigating factors here. First, I don’t believe that… Continue reading
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What Will Happen If I Leave College?
Last week, I received this query from N, a college sophomore. I will publish my reply on Thursday, but for now, I’d like to know what you think. What should he do? Dear Auntie Siobhan: My senior year of high school I found myself going from a good student in AP classes to having no… Continue reading
About Me
My job is to teach people to read and write; aside from that, I like to learn things.
Classroom as Microcosm 