College

Do not be weary in doing school

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

This is the time of the semester when some students are pretty worn out, if they are taking an 8-week course.

You’ve made it through the first four weeks, but the end really does not seem in sight yet. There is probably a boatload of assignments yet to be done, and they are probably the most heavily-weighted of the term.

How will you make it? Well, here are some tips. First, plan backwards. When is something due? Once you figure out that a huge research paper is due in four weeks, you need to back things up so that you are not writing the paper at midnight the night before it is due, having just started the research at 6 pm. Here’s how that will work:

Let’s pretend that today is the 1st.

The paper is due on the 30th, so you want to have your final draft completely done and waiting to be turned in two days before that. That is the 28th. (This allows you to read over it once more and print it out well ahead of the deadline. One more tip: re-read the instructions, so that you are absolutely certain that you have done everything called for. Do not leave anything out!)

You need to have your rough draft of the paper due the week before, so that you can polish and proofread. That will be the 21st.

It will probably take you two weeks to get your research done and the writing finished, so that means that you would need to start the research on the 7th.

In order to start the research on the 7th, you need to know what you will write about. Take one day to decide. That makes it the 6th.

You may need to get your instructor’s approval so allow at least two days for that. That translates to the 4th.

You need to make sure that you understand the instructions completely, so read them over twice and then sleep on it. That makes it the 3rd.

Read the instructions again and ask the professor to clarify anything you didn’t understand. It may take two days to get an answer, so that makes it the 1st.

Today is the 1st. Get to work!

Best,

Dr. Sheri

Why are you in college?

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

Sometimes I wonder why students go to college. They tell me that it’s to stay on their parents’ insurance or to avoid having to find a job or to keep their folks off of their back…..or something else.

While I appreciate the honesty of these students, it would be fun to hear that someone absolutely loves learning. One student that I asked about his reason for going to college told me “Well, the judge said I had a choice between prison or college, so I chose college.” I thought, “Oh, goodie, goodie gumdrops and you chose my class.”

I still don’t know what crime he was convicted of but every time there was too much noise outside our classroom, I sent him to quiet things down…..and he did, very successfully. He also got a very good grade in my course….he earned it; he didn’t intimidate me into it.

My question for you is: why are you here? What are your goals, dreams, ambitions? What can your professors do to help you achieve? Most of us are here because we love teaching students. Some of us feel actually “called” to do this work. How can I, as a professor, help you make it?

Best,

Dr. Sheri

Why do college book publishers release new editions?

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

Why do you think college book publishers release new editions? Can there really be that much new stuff since their last edition? Well, guess what? College professors usually don’t like the new editions any better than you do.

Why, you might ask? Because, while you cannot sell your textbook to your friends coming up through college after you, we have to re-do all of our Power Points and texts.

College book publishers release new editions so that they can take an already-successful book and give you the most up-to-date information, but they also like to have a cash cow keep producing. If they don’t update the book, then folks will keep buying and re-buying the same book on the secondary book market. There’s no money for them in that!

My current communication textbook is an outstanding book by a well-respected author. It is now on the 14th edition. Most new editions come out every two years or thereabouts. I have been teaching college for 12 years. You do the math on how often I have updated my lectures and examinations.

It’s taking me the better part of three afternoons to do my own update and I still have more than half the book to go and all of the tests and assignments to fix. Add to that the fact that my former students now own a book that is worthless (since all of my lectures and exams will come from the new book), and you see the dilemma here.

I have complete sympathy for your situation as a seller of the old textbook; maybe you can see now that we are in similar, though not the same, boat. How do you feel about the whole thing?

Best,

Dr. Sheri

My college’s website is down. What do I do now??????

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

Yep, it happens. College websites crash, leaving online students in the lurch. You have deadlines and limited time available to do your work, so what do you do now?

Well, do not panic, for one thing. Do all the work you can without the website. Write essays and discussion boards that are due (hopefully, you did not wait until the last minute to look at the instructions) and prepare to copy and paste them into the class page, once the website comes back up.

Unless it is the middle of the night, your instructor probably knows that the website is down because he or she can’t get online either. Because we understand your situation, we are probably going to adjust the due date of an assignment accordingly (this is not a guarantee, so don’t procrastinate on doing the assignment, feeling that you have a few days leeway- your instructor might only give you the number of hours that the website was down and where would that leave you???).

Once the service is restored, write a very nice (and calm) note to your instructor, stating the issues that you faced and asking for an adjusted due date. Students who fly off at the handle are less likely to get the desired extension. Do not pull an Eddie Haskell on the instructor (this is a cultural reference to the television show Leave It To Beaver); we can see right through false sincerity, even on a computer screen.

How have you handled a crashed website in the past? Was the result you attained the one you desired?

Best,

Dr. Sheri

College Organization Part two

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

Here is part two of what I am writing about college organization. Okay, it is the first day of class and your professor just handed you the syllabus for the class. DO NOT LOSE THIS! I suggest that you slip it into a clear protective sleeve and carry it in your class notebook. [Some professors also post their syllabus on the class webpage, so you can find a replacement copy there, if you do the unthinkable and lose it.]

The professors at my colleges are required to go over the syllabus at the beginning of class. Though it may seem very boring (we are bored by this, as well), pay attention. Take notes on what is said about assignments. Do not automatically think we will follow up our instructions in writing. I stopped posting additional instructions on my class page years ago, to save time and to acknowledge that you are no longer in grade school. You are an adult and I expect you to write things down. It is not my responsibility to remind you!

When you get home, take the syllabi that you received today and immediately write the assignments onto your calendar, marking the assignments in different colors of ink for each different class. (I also note what class it is for, such as ENGL101, so that I won’t need to remember which color ink is for which class.) You need to do this every day when you get home from your first-time classes.

[Extra Note: do not show up late for class. Many professors make announcements at the beginning of class and if you are late you will miss them BUT you will still be responsible for what was said!]

After you have entered the due dates (including all reading assignments) for each class, go back and use the highlighter to mark big projects. As you complete each assignment throughout the semester, check it off on your calendar. Do not obliterate the information by marking through it; you may need to revisit the assignments and must be able to see them.

By having an entire month available at one time, you should be able to stay ahead of things and not miss assignments. My next blog will explain what you are to do with the oven timer. I see this blog is getting a bit long-winded, so I will put your next steps on the next blog, which I will go ahead and write today. If you have any questions or comments, please use my name in your reply, so that I will know that you are not a robot.

Best,

Dr. Sheri

College Organization 101: Getting ready to succeed

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

My face-to-face college students have asked me to blog about getting and being organized in college. They asked me about balancing work and college and getting assignments done. For the next few blogs, I will break things down, step-by-step and show you how to be more organized. I used these same principles while working on two undergraduate degrees at the same time, home schooling, running a decorating business, and caring for my family. These are tested and true ideas. Let’s get to work!

You will need to purchase the following items: an academic calendar that is a month-at-a-glance, pens that contain different colors for each of the classes you are taking in a given semester (five classes=five different colors of ink), a highlighter, and an oven timer. [With the calendar, you can use a business month-at-a-glance calendar if you want, as long as the squares are at least two inches square. You are going to be writing your assignments in the squares, so a traditional calendar won’t be big enough.]

As soon as you know what books will be used for a given class, buy or order them. You must have the books by the time the class starts because you are going to get ahead of the class (and, hopefully, stay ahead)!

As soon as you have a copy of the syllabus, do the first week’s reading for each class. Do not try to get way ahead or your understanding of the material might fade (or it might simply be wrong). The idea here is that you are going to do the reading for the lecture before you come to class. That way, you will not be overwhelmed by not knowing anything that the professor is talking about. By reading ahead just a little, you will be vaguely familiar with the information before it is presented.

If you do not have access to the syllabus before the class begins,  read the Table of Contents, to see what the book covers and then read the introduction to the text. As you read, highlight information that seems important but do not highlight everything. If you are someone who is distracted by highlighting (I am one of those people), you might find it more helpful to underline in the book. Margins are usually pretty large, so you can actually make notes there, if you would also be distracted by underlining.

I see this blog is getting a bit long-winded, so I will put your next steps on the next blog, which I will go ahead and write today. If you have any questions or comments, please use my name in your reply, so that I will know that you are not a robot.

Best,

Dr. Sheri

Group work can be a pain in the …..well, you know

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

Have you ever been assigned group work in your academic life? Well, then you know it can be a great experience or …..not. Here are some tips to help you become the teammate from heaven versus the teammate from….well, you know where.

First, try to be evenly matched. That does not mean that you team up with your best friend in the class. I give my students a Work Ethics quiz that is not graded and they do not hand in. The quiz asks things such as, “What is your idea of turning something in ‘on time’?” If you get one person who says “If it’s due at 11:59, I turn it in at 11:58” and someone else who turns things in two days early, they will kill each other or, in the very least, drive each other mad!

The quiz also asks what grade they want to achieve on the assignment. Yes, some students are perfectly happy with a C, while others strive for nothing less than an A. It is a poor pairing to put an A with a C.

They are asked what their idea of “doing research” is. If they google everything and are happy with newspaper articles, they should not be on a team with someone who looks through scholarly journals.

Second, exchange contact information right at the start, figure out your time table for getting things done, and coordinate when you will have team meetings outside of class. You need to know the other team members’ most-used email and cellphone information. Trading never-used email addresses is pretty worthless. You also need to work backwards from the due date, so that you know when various aspects of the project must be complete. Also, even if your instructor lets you meet during class time, you will still need to meet in order to work out final details and polish the assignment.

Keep in mind that, the smaller your group, the easier it will be to meet. While you will both be doing more work if you are on a two-person team, a three-person team frequently someone is a free loader. A three-person team I was on once had a fellow whose total contribution to a 42-page paper was “nice job, guys” and “my name is Stephen with a “ph,” not a “‘v’.”  Yes, he was really helpful…..

Next, communicate with the instructor to let him or her know if you are having challenges with a teammate. I permit my teams to “fire” an unproductive member, after they discuss it with me thoroughly beforehand. Do NOT complain and try to fire someone who has missed one minor deadline. I have had individuals whose teammates did not respond to an email within minutes turn around and complain to me about their partner. It takes me about 24 hours to get back to you, so give the person some leeway for responses. Talk to the individuals on your team and explain how important it is to you to keep on track. Life happens, but don’t accept repeated excuses for why the work wasn’t done this week, either.

Finally, do not wait until the last minute. The instructor gave you weeks to work on the project for a reason. If you wait until midnight the night before it is due, don’t expect a good grade. If you are in my class, I will let you have a “free feedback” opportunity, provided you bring the assignment to me one week before it is due. I will glance over all parts of the assignment and give you feedback that you can take home and use to correct the document. Ask your professor if he or she is willing to do the same for you. While we don’t catch everything with a quick glance, we can tell you if you are on the right track!

Best,

Dr. Sheri

Checking in at mid-term time

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

For some of you, midterm time has already arrived. For others, it may still be a couple of weeks away. Whenever it is for you, let’s take a moment or two and see where you stand.

How are your grades so far? One poorly-done exam will probably not destroy your grade for the class, but if you have not performed up to snuff, now is the time to step back and get a handle on things.

What upcoming projects do you have? Does your teacher offer free feedback at any point in time? (I offer free feedback to anyone who brings me a rough draft of a document one week before it is due. In my face-to-face classes, I will immediately look over the document and tell them what I think and how to improve the work. For online students, they can take advantage of Free Feedback Thursday, when a document is due the next Sunday.) Have you taken advantage of that opportunity? For my online students, I find only 3 students out of 25 will organize their time effectively enough to get the feedback. When they do use the free feedback, they usually get an A on the assignment, compared to a C when they “do their own thing.”  For face-to-face classes, one or two students out of 25 will use the free feedback offer.

Do you have any extra credit offers? If so, use them. You never know when you will have a bad day and will need the extra credit. Do not wait until the last week of class to ask for extra credit opportunities because I am busy grading all the final projects and you will not get it!

Hope this helps!

Dr. Sheri

Note taking in college

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

Have you seen them? They are the clear-eyed students sitting about halfway back in the room who never seem to need to take notes. They tell themselves that they will remember everything the instructor says, so note taking is for wimps. I see them all the time, usually in a class that they are on track to fail.

In eleven years of teaching face-to-face classes, I have only run into ONE student who literally did not need to take notes. The fellow watched my every move and seemed to memorize the Power Point slides. He made an A on every test. He came up to me at the beginning of the semester and told me ahead of time that this was his preferred way to take a class, so that I would not be insulted by his failure to write anything down.

Folks, I usually have between 50 and 75 face-to-face students per term. Multiple that times two terms per year (fall and spring) times eleven years and you have a boatload of students. In all those years, only ONE student succeeded with this method. What does that tell you? (Hint: That this method does not work for other folks.)

What ideas have you found helpful to taking notes in your classes? It would be great if we could share tips.

Best,

Dr. Sheri

Some kids and college

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

Today I would like to approach the thorny subject of kids and college. Some students I meet would be better off going to trade school than sitting in a college classroom where they don’t want to be.

I know this is shocking news, especially since I teach at three colleges, but the world needs trade school graduates- we need electricians, welders, plumbers, and the like. Case in point: We had a problem with our hot water heater recently. My hubby tried to fix it, but the heating element was fine. He called an electrician who showed up two days later (hey, it was Christmas, so we understood).

What happened? The breaker needed replacing. The electrician sized up the problem, fixed it, and was on his way in 15 minutes. The price tag? Two hundred dollars. That’s not bad, for a guy who never went to college. Instead, trade school taught him what he needed to learn.

Here’s the deal: He was the boss, so he got to keep the money (after expenses). The bottom line: Let your child follow his or her own pathway to success. It might not be what you had hoped and dreamed for, but our electrician loves his work. He shaves the boss every day (or maybe every other day, judging from his looks) and he is very, very good at his job. He also makes good money!

Best,

Dr. Sheri