Graduation...beginnings, not just endings, and hugs

After the ceremony at UCO...time for family, friends, loved ones, lots of smiles and hugs

Graduations are beginnings, not just endings. This one at UCO was my last, but also a beginning for my students and for myself, avoiding the dreaded "R" word. 
So here are some photos of the people who matter, plus a few from my last class and Vista two weeks ago. And yes, the hugs matter.

Jade Braun, quirky, creative

My students come from many different heritages, beliefs and personalities. Home-schooled, private and public schooled, Christians, Muslims, Caucasian, African-American, Indian, Asian, Malaysian, Canadian, not especially religious, atheists, liberal, conservative, type As, quirky creative rule breakers, young, more mature, veterans, Okies and many states. 
My joy has been in earning the respect of them all. Some I've had in several classes, some only one or two. On graduation day, I get to meet husbands, wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, parents, grandparents on graduation. They matter.

Misty Jordan, Christian and smiling

Jake Searock, U.S. Army Afghanistan vet

Megan Prather, who wants to work for AP

Pam Todd, a leader in every class

Mark Zimmerman, friend and colleague before ceremony

Moose Tyler, creative dynamo and colleague

Last class, International Media

Jennifer Byrd, a professional

"Sam"atha Marcus, spunky and serious

Evonne Wong,  Malaysian coffee drinker

The Vista at Hideaway, my treat, and honor

Graduation from @okieprof's seat, with Jennifer Byrd getting diploma

Booth is a Verb, Chapter 8, Farsooth! redux

From August, 2009

A gospel of friends and special students
(Note, Farzie is still in New York, and regales us of her adventures there).

Chapter 8

The Clark presenting an award to The Farsooth years ago.
(She is still trim, young and svelte. The Clark not so much so.)

"Much of the lore and legend of The Booth came not from the faculty, but from the 'chillen' as The Illidge would refer to them, his students. While he had little use for those who didn’t take their educations seriously—'I’ve got a tip for you, change majors!,' he became a favorite teacher and mentor to many. He is still credited, almost with awe, by students for leading them to success. Even last year, one returning student, a survivor of some rough times and tattoos, said The Illidge was why he was going into advertising.

"Indeed, The Illidge’s teaching was always passionate, and whether a freshman class or a senior class, presented with fervor and humor, as was his wont. For three straight years, his influence helped three minority advertising majors be ranked in the top 25 minority students in the nation, and he accompanied them to ceremonies in The Big Apple, where all got jobs. His colleagues held him in the highest esteem for his reputation for being a demanding, effective and well-liked professor, especially since his experiences with students led to many humorous stories when they 'Boothed.'

"the kindred spirits of inquiry, stories and good times"

"Few students visited The Booth, because of the backward Baptist belaborments of the buckle on the Bible Belt which blindly banished booze by the university, which frowned on students, even of legal age, being recognized as adults, and ignored the long established practices of students and professors learning best when they gather informally, watered by the kindred spirits of inquiry, stories and good times.

"Perhaps the first student to sample the spirit of Boothing was the Department Sweetheart, Farsooth the Malay. Her official name is Farzana Abdul Razak, known to us all as 'Farzie,' though always adddressed by The Clark as 'Farsooth,'A tiny woman with gigantic spirit, humor, talent and smile, and perfect English, better than Okies, The Farsooth distinguished herself in all things computer and writing, and served as editor for the student newspaper and yearbook, winning top faculty awards, including outstanding service to the department. Yea, she returned to complete her masters’ degree. She has since moved to the Big Apple, where she’s survived 9/11 and much more, but still doth correspond, by facebook, email and phone, with the department, especially the Queen Bee, and The Clark.

"Reading this account recently, she wrote that she 'teared up,' and The Clark asked her about The Illidge.

"Herewith her response is relayed, because her views are so typical of so many students:

"Forsooth, Farsooth, Farzana!"

“'I think I've been to the Booth once. All I remember is I got drunk from the margaritas. Mr. Illidge was very special to me. He was the reason Carmen and I moved to NY. I remember coming in to The Vista/Bronze Book office every morning and greeted by him with a Shakespearean quote and coffee. I got him a book of Shakespeare quotes one year, and we would pick out an appropriate quote that reflected our day. I often helped him format his emails...God forbid there were any misspellings or grammatical errors.'

“'He always asked about my family, knew each one by name and personality. And he often told me he wished I could see my family as often as he did. I miss him and think of him often when I get bummed out in this big city. Thanks for keeping his memories alive.'

"Forsooth, Farsooth! Merci mon ami."

To be continued…

Students learning--color in a gray world

Color in a gray world--5 /1/2 by 8 1/2 watercolor, 140 # d'Arches paper

"It's the first time the student has smiled this semester."
So said a colleague after I was a guest speaker in a class today.

• Other students asked several questions.
• Still another blurted out answers.
• I could see eyes light up.
• There were some laughs, some smiles.
• Genuine interest.
• Wanting to know more.
• Spontaneous conversation.
• Thinking.
• Excitement.
• Curiosity.

It's what teachers long for, trying to generate interest and participation from students who have been mind-numbed by mass factory rote learning and testing overloads that make learning boring and irrelevant. 
I know from conversations with friends and other colleagues, that these reactions, the students, are what keep us going, give us hope in the mind-numbing cookie-cutter administrative world of higher education.
I saw some of these reactions today, and some on good days when I do my job well in my classes. My colleague's comment told me what was inside today....Thus the watercolor.
Here is what I see when students are learning--color in a gray world.

"Mentor" moments

Two ads with my name in them came out this week in the Oklahoma City Gazette and Edmond Life & Leisure, and the honor for me was being considered a "mentor" by this former student and others. I knew they were scheduled, and we'd approved the ad content ahead of time, but the idea of being a mentor is still sinking in. I'm just a professor trying to do my job with passion, helping students to learn and to grab their versions of success.
The best students are not defined by grades.  They excel because they are serious about learning, because they have passion, because they come to class, because they have a sense of humor, because they take responsibility for their actions, because they're not afraid to make mistakes, because they have discipline to stick to  tasks, because they are not afraid of hard work, because they are curious, because they will take risks. 
Many of my best students are married, or are single parents, or are veterans, or hold more than one job. Most of them are paying their own way and most of them  commute in between all of the rest of life. They earn their educations.
To be considered a mentor to such people is an honor. Good students matter.

Passion and professing and blogging

 Jarred awake by a student comment on a course evaluation, Coffee with Clark has perked up this month, gaining some off the highest number of readers in its almost four-year history.

If you don't know, professors are evaluated every semester by students at UCO, with a lofty sounding survey pronounced "spee," from the acronym, SPIE ("Student Perception of Instructional Effectiveness").

Students rank us on 13 questions,  rating us on a scale of 1 up to 4. We have standards in our department and college that we should meet--called a "Dashboard, " and most of the ratings should be in the mid threes. Most of mine are, or a little higher. On the back of the surveys, they're allowed to make comments.
Here are the things we're evaluated on:
      1. Instructor available outside of class 
      2. Syllabus covered course essentials
      3. Critical thinking encouraged
      4. Variety of instructional formats used 
      5. Instructional methods facilitated understanding
      6. Asking questions was encouraged
      7. Constructive answers given to questions
      8. Working in groups encouraged

      9. Writing required in this course 

      10. Timely notice of grading criteria 

      11. Instructor feedback helpful 

      12. Class time used well 

      13. High academic standards set by instructor.
My lowest rankings, not quite at 3.5 are 2, (because I vary from the syllabus); 8, (because my classes don't lend themselves to that all the time, though I'm working on that); and 10,  (because I'm not very punctual and hate grading).

Good professors pay attention to these things, looking for trends, trying to improve. I think you can throw out the very bad ones and gushy ones, other than letting them stroke your ego if you wish. There is no relation between grades and hardness on these ratings, but there is if you treat students badly or are egotistical or unprepared. And of course those faculty never pay attention to the ratings. I look for trends and scan the remarks they can give on the back of the "instrument" as we inflatingly call it, like almost everything else in higher ed.

But one of the comments on the back of my evaluations from last fall jarred me. The student used a word I couldn't ignore, or pass over: "Passionate."  You can see it on the item on this post. I try to instill passion in my students and teach with it, because I think it is the key to success in a increasingly mediocre world.
My blogging had withered like  our land in the drought in the fall, almost somnolent, hibernating with only a couple of posts a month.
So the fact that this blog is back from four months of meager postings, is due to a perceptive and honest student in my blogging class. I'm teaching Blogging for Journalists again, and, in my world, you have to be able to do what you teach to have any validity and impact on students. 
You can argue that these evaluations don't make much difference, and students often feel that way. And in some ways, for a tenured professor, they don't, if the professor doesn't care and just manages to get by. That's one of the faults of tenure, but that's another issue.
There's another evaluation that can really be brutal, and students wanting to know about a professor ahead of time, use this all over the country: Rate My Professors.com  ratemyprofessors.com
Plug in the state and school, and you can find how students view professors. Again, the bad professors ignore these comments, and the good ones probably look at them to boost egos. If you're really liked by students, they'll award you with a red chili pepper, as a "Hottie." They're not foolproof as I know of at least one poor professor who got students to rank them high to offset all the bad ones, or perhaps wrote the glowing ones him/herself. I don't have many ratings compared to those that teach large section classes, and I suspect poor professors get more ratings than most of us.
I think the best evaluations come when I ask students every semester how to improve the classes for future students. I get a lot of good ideas, and the students are direct. It seems to me that's what "passionate" is about.

Another semester ends--Introspection

They filed out my classroom door for the last time this spring. Next week is finals, and graduation, and since most of my students are juniors and seniors, many of them won't be back in the summer or fall.

Walking across campus today is sobering, thinking back on the changes I've seen since I first came, and the students who have come and gone. The campus looks like a campus, rather than the gravel parking lots that used to ring many of the buildings. Some of my students have been children of former students. Looking at the plaques on the wall listing the graduates, many names and faces fade, and yet others are alive and kicking in memories, and more are still in contact.

I suppose I've had more than 3,500 students in my career at OSU and UCO, and putting names and faces together gets more difficult as the numbers pile up and my mind gets fuller and older. Yet many of those who are memorable are cherished as friends. Facebook has helped reconnect with several.

The years have had another effect--I'm much more laid back in teaching now than when I started, wearing a sport coat and tie to every class, demanding strict standards from students. I'd come from the deadline-focused world of journalism into higher ed, and thought my students' success depended on my type-AAA personality.

Time has taught me that most of their education is up to them, with me encouraging, prompting, challenging, helping them think, challenge and focus. A tie is rare now--except on first-day-of-the-semester-intimidation-day. I'm looser in what I allow in the classroom. The standards are there, but I have learned much of what I thought was important is not so much that any more. That's why I don't like micro-managers--they're consumed by the need for control and a lack of trust in others. I'm free of that need, and treat students as adults. I'm rarely disappointed, and enjoy life more. I continue to hate grading, because those are artificial standards that don't evaluate personalities and individuals. The downside is that my grading is not as precise as it needs to be. Grading is a necessary evil, and I tolerate it because I have to, though it doesn't have much to do with education.

What hasn't changed--as my hair has grown thinner and my midsection thicker--is the continuing sense of loss, of passing time and people, as the classroom door closes for the last time every semester.

Circumnavigating the sun

A new semester brings fresh faces into the classroom, full of energy and questions.

The first day of class is the easiest of the term. The to-do list is detailed, the books and thoughts and words well-designed to provoke, challenge and intimidate.

Previous students know  what to expect and contribute to a unique community, because no class is ever alike. Each will develop its own personality--some vibrant, some subdued. The professor is primarily a guide, no longer a sole source of subject knowledge. Experiences  and wrinkles from living earn more respect.

A birthday slips by, a new circumnavigation starts
The days grow longer, the months and years shorter
Friends gather and memories multiply
Breathing deeply replaces short gasps.

Blogging boomers

What a great class--these "Blogging for Journalists" students  were full of ideas, and laughter, humor, and enthusiasm. Two class sessions already, and we've barely turned on the computers in the computer lab. They're having too much fun. Get ready for a wild ride and creativity and energy you can only envy. I will learn much. 

These "kids"--and they're not kids-they're adults who will make the world a better place, inspire me to blog. 

Next week--hi ho, hi ho, it's of to online we go, online we go. 

Also posted on The Write Stuff.-- Follow our journey on http://okieprof.blogspot.com

Great students and music

Wish you could meet allmy blogging students...who are teaching me. One of the Kelsie Morris, has helped in numerous ways, including adding this music to the blog.

Other than she has been to Denali and I haven't, she's special.

Check the music on my sidebar...

And there's music here for everyone, pick and choose

and for my other students' posts, check The Write Stuff  http://okieprof.blogspot.com