Gen X---The Thirty-Something Thread

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BlueStarlight
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Re: Gen X---The Thirty-Something Thread

Post by BlueStarlight »

Welcome ForksBound!! I live in Texas, too. My hubby and I go to Galveston for our "beach fix" every summer, and Crystal Beach is it! Two years ago we dug crabs out of the sand for hours; that was so exhausting! It was overcast and windy; the waves were too awful to swim in the water, so we stayed in the shallows. I hope you enjoy it around here. We have an awesome group of gals!!

GNE~ Honey, don't EVER think that it doesn't matter. Teachers are the backbone of the education system. You can have a crappy curriculum, but if you've got a teacher with the know-how who can turn it around, then it's worth it. It does matter; what you do matters. Students may not tell you this up front, but years down the road, they'll remember something you said in class or some small way you helped them when they were having a rough time. They will remember how you did something extra in class to make it interesting instead of just sticking to the book. You are smart, witty, a wonderful friend, and an awesome human being! Pull yourself up and hold your head high, because YOU MATTER!!! :D :D
oleander wrote:So, if i may ask this question in honour of our GenX teachers, has there been a teacher in your life who has stood out/gone above and beyond the call of duty/impacted your life? How?
Wow, I have so many names running through my head right now. I don't know if I can pick one. None of mine were from college- during that time I was so sleep-deprived!! My favorite one I guess would be Mrs. W, my Jr. High History teacher. She was single when she moved here to go to college at my church, and got married one summer back home up North. My mom "adopted" her as her daughter (as alot of the church ladies did with the dorm girls who would be here all year-round); she went to the Mother-Daughter Banquet with us for the 3 years she was here. Mrs. W had a brilliant mind; she was fun to be around; she had life experience that went beyond just being raised in a church; she had done a few years in the Navy before going to college to get her Education Degree and had great stories from that. She taught my 8th grade American History class- I have every assignment from that class; we kept a notebook during the year: chapter artwork, crossword puzzles as study guides, wrote stories as if we were living during an important period in history, and many others. Class wasn't just about taking notes- heck, any teacher can read facts to a class. She made all these little assignments and learning fun for us. During the Spring Semester, she took the last 10 minutes of each class and read a book to us. I can't remember it or the story, but it was fiction and had to do with early American History. I saw how much effort and preparation she put into her classes and thought I'd want to be just like her.
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cullengirl
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Re: Gen X---The Thirty-Something Thread

Post by cullengirl »

Goodnight Elizabeth wrote:Ok..so here we are in the computer lab. There are about 35 of us. I'm 38, and I'm the youngest. Sonya, our Blackboard person, is giving us a step by painful step of how to export a survey from one of our classes on to the desktop. Sounds simple enough, right. Not for these folks! She had to stop and sit with most people and show them how to log on, find their class, and then find the gradebook button. Argh!
I'm looking at this situation with a different lense. IMO, I don't see this as their incompetency, but rather a large learning curve. I've dealt with teaching people how to use basic technology. I think we need to keep in mind that there are people who learn technology at a slow pace. Heck, I'm still teaching my sister how to use her email more efficiently and she's much older than I am! At my current student teaching position, we just had a meeting about how to create a workshop that will make others who don't feel technology is there forte comfortable in using it, which will not only benefit them but their students too. I've dealt with teachers who are very old school. Their lack of technological skills maybe due to their fear of using it or just the simple fear of change. At my ex-job, my coworker is a perfect example. I handled the spreadsheets, databases and reports. When I left, she was in a panic because she will now use the technology. So instead of learning it herself, she unsuccessfully tried to make me do the work before I left. :roll:

BSL is right. Teachers are the backbone of our society. Education never ends. Yes, it's irritating when things don't go well, but I always see that it's worth it when you see students succeed and they tell you that you made a difference in their lives.

oleander- That's a could question. I'll have to give it more thought and post later.
“Darkness will never take me…because I have you. Light of my life, Marissa. That’s what you are.”-LR
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Goodnight Elizabeth
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Re: Gen X---The Thirty-Something Thread

Post by Goodnight Elizabeth »

You guys are awesome! *Group Hug*

A part of what bugged me is that all classes -- college wide -- had to be web-enhanced (meaning everyone had to use Blackboard) this previous semester. Even my husband who hates using Blackboard, used it. We also had to do the Student Opinion Surveys on Blackboard for the first time. Those are mandatory. Several reminders from the college VP were sent out about them. What bugs me is that they obviously didn't follow the rules (and our dean was there) and no one cares. It's like they feel they are above reproach. I try very hard to do everything I'm asked.

The underlying thing is there's another English teacher who doesn't follow the course outline. All of her essays are 2 pages. Ugh...I don't even want to get started on her. Anyway, we're in competition for classes. Hers are at night and mine during the day, but she's easier. It really bugs me. She's easier because she has no course load.

Ok...I'm gonna stop whining. It's late. I'm going to bed.
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una
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Re: Gen X---The Thirty-Something Thread

Post by una »

Hang in there SuperTwin! The thing I always remind myself is, it doesn't matter what anyone else does, I still have to be able to look myself in the eye every morning and every evening. I work hard and do what I believe is right, always trying to be an example if anything else. Even if I am never acknowledged, at least I know I followed the "straight and narrow."

QOTD: I think it'd be my ninth grade English teacher, Mr. Handly. He was wonderful, very encouraging and supportive. I am not a great writer but liked dabbling in short stories and poems and he really encouraged me, knowing that I wasn't interested in being a writer. He said that if you enjoy something, do it. His class was great and he was the one that always said, if you believe you can do it, go for it. I think he is still teaching, at least I hope so!
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dimber
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Re: Gen X---The Thirty-Something Thread

Post by dimber »

First of all, welcome Forksbound!!!

QQTD My primary school teacher, definitely. She was an old-fashioned lady but absolutely amazing as a teacher. She made me love reading and taught me the value of work and sacrifice. What I admired of her was the ability to distinguish between school achievement and personal value: she was just and severe regarding homework and marks but absolutely lovely with everybody. I met my primary school mates some weeks ago and everyone absolutely agree on the positive impact she had on our lives. I still remember all the books she gave us, at her own expense. She had studied foreign language with a major in English and, now that I think of it, probably it was her imprinting to finally lead me towards English literature. Unfortunately, she died some years ago.
My philosophy and English teachers at high school were also good, though not the best ever. What I liked about them was the fact they taught us how to think on our own and express our ideas. Besides, they gave us so much on the personal level advicing on movies, books and cd's. It was my philosophy teacher to suggest Tolkien...I will thank her forever!
I'm leaving out my MA supervisor: she's the best but I don't think she had such an impact in my life, though I must thank her for my scholarly achievement.

Since it seems like everybody cares about the topic I'd like to reverse the question: is there any teacher you recall as having any bad impact on you? Not someone you simply dislike but someone you didn't regard as a good teacher. Why?

Just before going to work, good news: I will have another paper published next summer. It's a paper on C. S. Lewis's thought on fantasy literature and the tradition of fantasy in Western culture and literature.
...we are such stuff that dreams are made on...

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una
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Re: Gen X---The Thirty-Something Thread

Post by una »

I had one teacher that stands out as the worst! She spent most of her class (this was third grade or fourth) telling us all about her family. I am amazed that we learned anything in it. Most of her class, she'd give us the homework, book pages to read, start to lecture about the material and then get sidetracked by a story about her family. It was the biggest waste of time. My close second is a physics teacher in college that hated women. Oh, yes, he hated women and had the WORST attitude. I barely passed and was happy to never have to see him again. He made that class absolutely miserable for me and the few other females in it.

Happy Monday!
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oleander
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Re: Gen X---The Thirty-Something Thread

Post by oleander »

If we're going to go the other direction and talk about the worst ones, I have to say that my first year cultural anthropology professor takes the cake. We had to write an essay about something that affects our society or write about the ritualistic nature of holidays. I wrote an essay about the impact of eating disorders on society culturally. I was really proud of it, as it was my first university paper and I had gone out and interviewed people who had eating disorders to get a first-person perspective.

I got my paper back and got a 0. A bloody ZERO! The guy sitting beside me got one as well, but his paper was a comparison between the Nazi Regime and the Catholic Church. He didn't want to fight his zero, but I did. I marched right up to the professors office after class and demanded to know what his problem was. He said that it was too well-written and read too much like a magazine article to be a first-year paper and that he was positive I had plagarized it. I threw it in his face and started yelling at him. I told him that i wasn't your average run of the mill first year student, that i was 23 years old, had been to college and studied journalism for a while and had a diploma in Communications. I told him I could get him contact information for my interview sources and i urged him to do some research and find an article that read like mine.

He mumbled something about re-citing my sources, changing my opening paragraph and he'd reconsider it. I went to him first thing the next morning, threw it on his desk and practically spit on him. I had my paper back by next class with an A+. He and I had a serious love/hate relationship after that. He tried to fail me every chance he had, but i didn't let him. He hated women and he was a sexist pig in class. A lot of my classmates dropped the class, and one of the reasons I didn't pursue a major in Anth when i was there the first time was because he was the Faculty Advisor and I refused to deal with him.
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ForksBound
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Re: Gen X---The Thirty-Something Thread

Post by ForksBound »

Thanks everyone for all the welcoming!

I've had a lot of great teachers, and a lot of terrible ones. I've found that my life has ultimately been shaped as much by the bad ones as the good.

My middle school choir teacher was the. worst. teacher. EVER. He was awful. He slept during class, regaled us with stories about his ex-wife and messy divorce, told stories about the sexual antics of opera companies he claimed to have been involved with...just terrible.

I began my career as a music educator to be everything this man was not. But, I've had some really great educators, usually in English and history, that really inspired me, and I hope I am something like them to my students.
spookybell
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Re: Gen X---The Thirty-Something Thread

Post by spookybell »

My 30 something peeps! It's been so long sine I have posted here because my notification got turned off. I'm back now :) Chat when I get home... can't be chatting at work too much :)

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oleander
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Re: Gen X---The Thirty-Something Thread

Post by oleander »

Idol's been on for thirteen minutes now and i've yet to hear anyone sing!

I don't know if i can endure another season of it.
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