More college ideas: taking online classes

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

Taking an online course can be daunting. Perhaps you are not great with computers. Maybe you have the great vanishing professor (who rarely shows up for class and takes forever to answer your frantic emails).

One thing is for sure: online classes take a great deal of personal discipline. Here are some tips for getting through them successfully.

First, set aside every day to check on your class. Yes, every day. This is because your instructor may publish an announcement that directly impacts the assignment you are doing. Perhaps the instructor has gotten a boatload of questions about something related to the assignment. Maybe the class has just been re-done and the Powers That Be are still working out the bugs. You need to be completely up-to-date with this.

Check the announcement page of your class page. Then check under “Ask the Professor” to see if someone else in the course has a question for which you might appreciate knowing the answer.

Next, look over the syllabus carefully and highlight on your calendar when all the Discussion Board postings are due (both the initial thread and the replies). How many classmates are you supposed to reply to? How long does your reply have to be? (Note: I have a student right now who has completely ignored the length requirements for discussion board postings and replies. As a result, she is failing that aspect of the course when she could be acing it.)

Special note: do not feel the need to reply to every classmate’s posting. That can drive your professor to distraction, since we get notified if there is a single posting…..now multiply that  by the number of students in the class. If there are 25 students (this is pretty normal) and they are each required to post an original thread and two replies per topic, that is 75 postings for the instructor to respond to. If each student replies to 5 other students, the number goes up very quickly. Please, be kind!

Make sure that you look through the Content section of your class page, the assignments section, the discussion board, and any other section that your school has. Note all assignments and look over the instructions carefully. With my online writing classes, one assignment builds on the one before it. If you skip even one assignment, your whole grade is in jeopardy.

Be kind to your classmates as you reply to their postings. Do not say “great post” to someone who has done less than the bare minimum but do not be rude either. Telling him or her “wow, you really messed up, dude” will not help. Make suggestions if you wish to guide the other student, but make sure that you are not trying to take the class away from the professor.

Finally, set aside time to do the assignments. I once had an entire class of folks who waited until the night before an assignment was due to begin it. They would send frantic emails and messages for clarification in the middle of the night as they scurried to get things done. Guess what? I was asleep.  By the time I saw their emails, the assignment was already late. I have been there, checking in every day, for the entire week, but not on Saturday night at 11 pm, Sunday at 1 am, or…..well, you get the idea.

Best,

Dr. Sheri

 

The care and treatment of college professors

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

While I am on a roll here (having spent the last two weeks talking about college), let’s talk about how to approach your professor to ask a question about your grades.

Let’s say that you got a grade that you didn’t like- it happens pretty often, though maybe not with you. The first thing you should not do is YELL at your professor. No, we are not here to flunk as many students as possible, we are here to help you learn the subject we are teaching.

intimidation is a bad thing and will not endear you to your instructor. Do not send a nasty email to your professor and do not find out his or her boss’ phone number and demand he or she be fired. If you request that the instructor call you, do not save the number to use in the future to call the instructor in the middle of the night to say that your WiFi is not working. We are not coming over to fix it.

How should you talk to the instructor? Respect is vital to a successful outcome. Ask your professor if you can schedule some time to discuss why you got the grade you did. Perhaps your teacher can talk to you right then, though you have to understand that teachers frequently instruct back-to-back classes and may not be available until later that day or week.  Unless this is the end of the term, you may have to wait a couple of days.

When you do get the opportunity to talk with the professor, ask for clarification on what the assignment’s shortcomings were that resulted in the grade. BE POLITE, though do not be Eddie Haskell polite (this is a cultural reference to Leave It To Beaver, a 1960s television show).

Explain your side of the story as calmly as possible, keeping in mind that your professor may have explained the assignment in full on the day that you skipped class or were tardy. If that is the case, it is not the teacher’s fault that you messed up.

I have been known to re-visit a grade or two in my time, but I never ever adjust a grade if someone is mean or nasty.  And, yes, I do keep a record in my files on how a student behaves in class. You do not want me to write “witch on a broom” next to your name or “liar, liar, pants on fire,” either. If I write either of those comments or anything else similar on my personal file on your class, you will not ever be able to get a letter of recommendation from me for that scholarship or job you want. Food for thought.

Best,

Dr. Sheri

How to be well organized in college

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

I speak to you today as someone who did two majors at the same time while also home schooling, being active in my church,  and running a small business. How did I keep things straight? By using a calendar the way in which I am about to share.

Purchase an academic calendar at an office supply company- get one that has an entire month at a glance. As soon as you get your syllabi from your various professors, enter all assignments (including reading and labs) in your calendar. Use a different color ink for each class. When you have a major assignment due, highlight it in yellow ink.

Next, enter all family and work obligations in the calendar in a different color ink. Your family needs to have some time set aside for them, so you do need to put them in your calendar, as well.

While some people insist that their cellphone will tell them when something is due, this method never crashes, is never out of cellphone range, and does not require electricity. Yes, it is old-fashioned, but, if you look at the calendar on a daily basis, you will never be caught off guard by an assignment. I would check each assignment off as I did it, being careful not to obscure the assignment itself, in case I needed to refer back to it.

This method got me through 5 years of undergraduate work, 1 1/2 years of master’s degree efforts, and five years for a Ph.D.  I only missed one assignment once- and that is because I left the assignment off of my calendar. I now teach for three colleges and guess how I keep track of which week each college is in and what is due from my students? Right, my friend, the calendar!

Best,

Dr. Sheri

More college tips

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

It is sometimes challenging to take off my college-instructor hat, so here is another tip for preparing for college assignments. First, the news: college still has homework.

One time I was teaching a Saturday course for a local community college. One of my students, an older woman, listened to my syllabus presentation and discussion of homework. After I finished, she said, “But I thought signing up for a Saturday course meant there wouldn’t be any homework.” I quickly got her straight on that matter!

Make sure that you understand the homework assignments. Talk to the instructor before or after class, email him or her, or call his or her office. Do not walk up to the instructor on the due date and say “I didn’t understand the assignment.” This makes you look rather dull of mind. If you don’t know something, ask. It is not the professor’s fault you are still getting up to speed on things.

Best,

Dr. Sheri

Preparing for a hurricane/evacuation

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

With Hurricane Matthew bearing down on the state of Florida even as I type this, it seems appropriate to talk about hurricanes and evacuations. Suddenly Single discusses the need to have nonperishable food and plenty of water on hand, but one thing it does not mention is the need to take food with you, should the need to evacuate arise.

You always plan to take your clothing and personal hygiene items with you to the hotel where you will stay, but do not assume that restaurants will be open. My family just evacuated to Kissimmee yesterday, only to find that the governor had ordered all the restaurants to close, leaving folks without a place to find sustenance. The one food mart in the resort where they stayed was jammed with hungry folks (1,000 people had checked in that afternoon; 150 of them were in front of them in the check-in line). They managed to get some peanut butter, Cheerios, and turkey and cheese before they gave up and went back to their room, but do not assume that food will be abundant. It might not be.

Also, since the gas stations and other bathroom break places might also be closed as you travel, (not wishing to be too indelicate here) you might want to take a jar with you and a towel to shield yourself from the other people in the car. If the roads are packed, you will not want to stop the car and get out to do your necessary work. Just sayin’.

Best,

Sheri

Preparing a college essay

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

This blog post comes after a busy day of grading papers at the three colleges where I teach. Here are some tips I wish my students knew about writing an essay for college:

Before you submit a paper, read it out loud. You will find mistakes you had no idea were there!

Do not write a run-on sentence. If, as you read the sentence out loud, you have to come up for air, divide the sentence into more than one sentence. A sentence that goes on and on and on and on will not endear you to your prof.

Make sure you have followed the directions!!!!!! One time, I was preparing to submit a paper online but decided to go back over the instructions one more time. I had written the wrong paper! Happily, I was able to go back over the paper and make some changes that turned it into the right paper but my grade would have been seriously impacted if I had not taken the time to make sure I got things right.

Make certain that you have followed the correct formatting, especially if the professor has posted an example of the essay you are to write. Does she ask for MLA or APA format? Don’t re-invent the wheel here- it really does matter. Follow whichever style guide he or she asks for.

Don’t argue with your professor. It is fine to ask questions about the grading but do not insist he or she accept your ideas for how the paper should be written. Ask with respect and sincere politeness. You would be amazed at how flexible we may become, if we are asked nicely.

Do not write a negative review of the instructor to “get back” at her for a bad grade. Take responsibility for your own education and admit that you maybe, just maybe, might have messed up. Some of us having been doing this line of work since you were in middle school….or longer.

Have a great day!

Dr. Sheri

Homeschooling to public schooling

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

Today’s blog is on making the transition from home education to public school education. There can be a variety of reasons to make this move, but whatever your desire to make this change, here are some ideas for making the transition go more smoothly. [Please note that I was a homeschooling mom for many years and my son did not go back into the classroom setup during his high school days, but we did have a transition between home schooling and college.]

When making the decision to place your child in a traditional school, the first thing you need to do is to make sure that your student is up-to-date on all immunizations. You will probably need to show proof that the child has “been jabbed,” as they say in England. Get the records from your doctor’s office so that your lack of proof will not hold things up.

Next, make sure that your child’s education is up to par. Yes, many home schoolers are way ahead of their peers in the public school sector, but your student may have some weak areas in his or her education and you don’t want the child to be embarrassed by a glaring problem in one subject or another.

Try to go see the teacher or teachers your child will have ahead of time, so that your student will already know who will be instructing him or her during the school day. For younger children, try to arrange some play dates beforehand with the other kids in his or her future class.

Within the constraints of your personal wardrobe preferences, check out your child’s clothing and try to help the child blend in with what the other children will be wearing. Some mothers of daughters insist on a “praise and raise” test with their daughter’s clothing, making sure that the outfits are stylish yet modest at the same time. As a college professor, there is nothing more distracting than seeing a well-endowed young woman walk into my class with her breasts almost totally exposed. What message do you want your child to be sending?

Finally, if your child is transitioning into a high school setting, make sure he or she recognizes that there will be class changes and that there is a need to know the way around the school. If possible, make some practice runs ahead of time so that this is one less thing to worry about when the first day of school arrives. I actually made maps with directions for where to walk when I returned to college after many years’ break. It helped me tremendously to have a written guide of where to go, especially with limited amounts of time between classes.

Good luck with this new phase of life!

Sheri

Doing Laundry: Is it necessary to separate darks from lights?

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hi everyone:

Some folks wonder if it really is necessary to separate dark clothing from light when washing them. I would still answer “yes” to that question, unless you want to have grey underwear and socks.

There is a product available in the grocery store that will help if you accidentally put that fushia towel you picked up for $10 in Florida last year  in the washing machine with your brand new white shirt. The product is called “Color Catchers.” I have not used it but I have friends who swear by it.

Be sure to follow the label directions as you use it in the washer and do not dry your bleeding-red towel with your light clothes after you try the product. The idea here is that you have to re-wash the clothes but the dye that deluged your light clothes should come out.

Think of this as the “morning after pill” for washing machines.

Good luck!

Sheri

Cooking tips

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

Ovens and stoves are wonderful, but do not ever leave something cooking and walk away. You will forget it and it will burn. Our neighbors in Tennessee were frying onion rings and got distracted by something that took them out of the kitchen for a minute…..or two….or ten….Their whole kitchen burned down. While this may seem like a good way to clean out the kitchen and start over, it is not. It did not do wonders for their relationship with their landlord, either.

When using measuring spoons, there is a huge difference between a teaspoon and a tablespoon. The spoons are marked as to which one they are, so take a moment to get your reading glasses out and check out what the side of the spoon says it is.

There is also a huge difference between sugar and salt. One tastes good in pies and the other will gag you. (Don’t ask!) There is also a difference between ketchup and tomato sauce. One is great on hamburgers and the other….not so much. Do not refill your ketchup bottle with tomato sauce – or worse,  tomato paste! Your guests and family will notice. I promise.

Best,

Sheri

Clean as you cook

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hi everyone:

One way to keep your kitchen clean is to clean while you cook. Take everything that you will need for a recipe out of the cabinet before you begin to cook and then put things away as you use them. This way, you will not forget to put something in a recipe and you won’t accidentally put it in the food twice.

As you use an ingredient, don’t put it down, put it away! When the counter is empty of everything except the dish you are preparing, you will know that the food item is ready to be cooked. While it is in the oven. wash the preparation dishes and wipe down the counter. Your kitchen will be clean while you wait for the dish to cook.

BTW, if you notice that you are getting low on any ingredient, put it on your shopping list now. That way, you will remember to buy it at the store and you won’t run out of anything.

Best,

Sheri