culture
The Bus
"The last student who went to graduate school after working with me was hit by a bus," my research advisor said to me as I began to figure out what I'd do after graduation with a Bachelor's degree and a desire to work in
Beth Haas
reflection
Professoring by the Golden Rule
My internal clock is perpetually off. I am very, very good at arriving 5 minutes late. Reminders and alarms help, but they aren't a cure. I am also an Olympic-level procrastinator. Something due at noon? I may finish at 11:57 that morning. (If it didn't
numeracy
What if we had a Math Center?
Writing centers are nearly ubiquitous on college and university campuses. Typically, students can bring in a piece of writing and have someone help them improve it: from catching typos or grammar errors to restructuring the text to strengthen the main argument. I wish for an equivalent Math Center. Math centers
profLife
Teaching on my feet
When I was an undergraduate, I was told not to expect snow days. The rumor was classes hadn't been canceled in 20 years or some such. They were canceled at least twice in four years. In graduate school, I was told the University never closed campus for bad
Increasing Accessibility with the Section 508 Refresh
My university’s annual Summer Institute on teaching and learning focused on accessibility this year. Specifically, we learned about the Section 508 refresh. If you don’t know what that phrase means, you’re in good company. I didn’t know either. Section 508 “Section 508” refers to part of
Level up!
The spring semester was rough. I was constantly going full-tilt and couldn’t find time to stop and breathe. This fall couldn’t be more different, though I’m busier than ever. I’m teaching an overload (15+ contact hours), wrangling four research students on three separate projects, picking up
profLife
Research Ideas and Foreboding Joy
The other day, I had an idea. I had a research idea, and I got very excited about it. I did a quick literature search and came up with almost nothing. That got me even more excited. And then it got me worried. “Nobody’s done this idea before! It’
conferences
Conferencing with an infant
I went to the ACS Mid-Atlantic Regional Meeting (MARM) at the beginning of June, and, since she’s still nursing and refuses to take a bottle, Sweet Pea came along. My husband did not. The conference was Sunday to Tuesday, and he wasn’t able to take Monday and Tuesday
reflection
All work and no play
March 2017 I spent the fall semester on maternity leave. My daughter arrived in August, a new and wondrous source of joy in my life. I needed weeks to recover physically from the stresses of childbirth, and months to figure out what my life looks like with another little person
tips+tricks
Academic Time-Savers: Text Entry on a Mac
Meghan Duffy tweeted a CHE article by Anne Curzan about using (or overusing) em dashes, which led a few folks on Twitter to point out ways to type a true em dash (— instead of --, for example). On an iOS device, you can simply press and hold the hyphen to
culture
Identity change
When I got married, I changed my last name. I was very attached to my maiden name, and couldn’t bear to let go of it completely, so I dropped what had been my middle name, took my maiden name for my new middle name, and finished off my new
reflection
Lessons from Year 2
We've reached the end of the semester and the end of my first year on the tenure-track. I've been thinking a lot lately about how different this school year feels than last, and where those differences come from. The obvious difference is that last year I