Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Tropical non-teaching day

Yeay, I survived my first graduate seminar (in which only 1/2 the students admitted to doing the reading, and only 2 students actually spoke). Other than a slight syllabus snafu (oops), everything seems to be under control.

After a restless night sleep (I was dreaming about this, which happened just blocks from my apartment and woke us up with smoke and fire engines. Poor Bed-Stuy), I am up early to try to beat the heat. Today is the third in a series of tropical hot days. I am going to school for a meeting (casual) and to do some work, so I won't be meeting students. But they may see me (although I usually try to seem aloof on non-teaching days), so I need to be vaguely paparazzi ready.

This outfit is a quasi-attempt to convince A-Dubs to rock her shorts in mixed company.

Hope you have a lovely Tuesday.

Top: JCrew, thrifted
Short: Copper Key, shortened by me
Belt: Not Just Vintage (Brooklyn)
Shoes: BC Footwear, Nordstrom Rack

21 comments:

  1. I particularly like the pop of color from the belt. It is a nice touch.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is a good non-teaching outfit. The belt dresses it up a bit.

    Yesterday, in one of the three grad classes I'm taking, there were nine students. Of them, seven spoke, but three of those seven only made one comment. The other four of us, all of whom are 3rd or 4th year grad students, talked the entire two hours. I felt bad, but it sucks when you do the reading and there's alot that interests you, and no one else is talking. At least there was equal gender representation.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the pop of yellow in the shoes!

    ReplyDelete
  4. @away and Melissa: Thanks! I hoped the belt would make a boring neutral outfit a bit more interesting.
    @Emily: The gender thing bothers me the most. Of course the two speakers were dudes (they were white too), and our class is diverse with a capital. I know the American-born males may be more comfortable speaking then foreign born women, but these are women are smart! I am gonna chaulk it up to the reading. They have 2 weeks to get in gear.
    Good to hear you were driving discussion. I talked more I wanted, too.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great outfit! - I have some serious love for those shoes : )

    And, I'm glad your day went well.

    Hehe. While I haven't taken any grad classes- the college I went to taught classes in a seminar style only about 8 students per class and it is an all girls school. Even though I always did all the reading (um, you kind of have too when you're studying lit. and classes are so tiny) I rarely spoke in class. I rarely speak in group settings until I feel more comfortable with the group.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great outfit, Rad.
    It's hard to contribute if you haven't done the reading, but henceforth I would not be shy about calling on people. Eventually those who have to be called on will become more comfortable about speaking in class and begin to contribute on their own.

    ReplyDelete
  7. oh man, non-speaking students! i did a tiny bit of teaching first year undergrads while doing my masters and it was like pulling teeth. You would think the post-grads would be better though! loving the shoes by the way!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Congrats on surviving the first grad seminar! I got through mine yesterday -- my students were similarly quiet, though I hadn't assigned any reading for the first class, so that's to be expected. I'm sure things will get chattier once they get into the reading more thoroughly!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I like those yellow shoes. Your outfit looks perfect for a super hot day.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Yay Rad, glad you made it through unharmed :)
    The belt really adds to this outfit, it moved from casual mode to work mode. The shoes also give it an unexpected shot of color which makes the whole thing very chic.
    Way to rock the paparazzi ready outfit. As for A-Dubs, your attempt is well done.

    ReplyDelete
  11. @LaFille: thanks for your perspective. I'll have more patience with the shy ones for a few more weeks.
    @Charlotte: my partner, Blokey, is quite shy so I feel bad calling on the non-talkers, but I may have to do so soon (in all my classes).
    @Franca: I hear you on pulling teeth. Usually, I get exuberant male students who are just showing off and say whatever they want. I think I'll work harder to keep it more focused this semester...
    @E-Jo: we can be eachother's "teaching grad seminar newbie" partners. We don't have class until next next week (Labor Day) so hopefully I'll have a better report.
    @Rebecca: Thanks, I can't believe how much I like yellow shoes (and how versatile they are.)
    @SU: The question is, will A-Dubs get the unsubtle hint?

    ReplyDelete
  12. I had a (female) g-school classmate who never spoke voluntarily. When called upon, though, her comments were uniformly insightful. I wish our profs had called on her more often.

    Those yellow shoes! I think I need yellow shoes.

    ReplyDelete
  13. This outfit looks cool and comfy, and also reminds me that I need to wear my yellow shoes more.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I love the shorts with the yellow shoes! In fact, you have convinced me that I need yellow shoes.

    Nothing used to irritate me more when I was a grad student doing coursework than peers who didn't pull their weight in seminar discussions. I really don't see the point in being in grad school if you aren't going to read and engage in dialogue. Hopefully, they'll get their butts' in gear!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I like to assign people to talk about particular papers or topics in advance, at least when it's early in their grad school career. That gives them some time to be ready. Once they've done it for a while they learn to speak up more.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Love, love those yellow shoes! Glad to hear you survived the first day, hope you have a great year!

    Chic on the Cheap

    ReplyDelete
  17. @Cynthia: I've done this (well in the syllabus, not yet to the students), so hopefully this will help!
    @Lyddie Gal: Thanks for the kind words. I've worn those yellow sandals way down, but I want to keep wearing them!
    @LaHdM: Yes, it is annoying, isn't it? But sometimes, I didn't talk either, when a discussion just went somewhere that I had nothing to contribute to (in certain classes when I was in over my head), especially in my first year. Plus, some of the more advanced graduate students were so intimidating!
    @KB: That's good to know. I may have to call on some of the non-talkers in the grad seminar.

    ReplyDelete
  18. @Cynthia: I've done this (well in the syllabus, not yet to the students), so hopefully this will help!
    @Lyddie Gal: Thanks for the kind words. I've worn those yellow sandals way down, but I want to keep wearing them!
    @LaHdM: Yes, it is annoying, isn't it? But sometimes, I didn't talk either, when a discussion just went somewhere that I had nothing to contribute to (in certain classes when I was in over my head), especially in my first year. Plus, some of the more advanced graduate students were so intimidating!
    @KB: That's good to know. I may have to call on some of the non-talkers in the grad seminar.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I had a (female) g-school classmate who never spoke voluntarily. When called upon, though, her comments were uniformly insightful. I wish our profs had called on her more often.

    Those yellow shoes! I think I need yellow shoes.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I like those yellow shoes. Your outfit looks perfect for a super hot day.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Congrats on surviving the first grad seminar! I got through mine yesterday -- my students were similarly quiet, though I hadn't assigned any reading for the first class, so that's to be expected. I'm sure things will get chattier once they get into the reading more thoroughly!

    ReplyDelete