Archive for the ‘Observations on Life’ Category

Off to Yakima, WA

Sunday, October 24th, 2010

IMG_0422Two weekends ago, I was privileged to attend the 2010 EDUCAUSE conference in Anaheim, CA.  It was awesome.  I have a million more things to say about it, the lessons I learned, and the people I met, but in the meantime, here is proof that I was there –>

Asian to the core.  My mother would be proud.

Want another photo of me photobombing with my awesome Asian-ness?  Click here.

This week, I find myself in Yakima, WA for another conference.  In March, I was invited to speak at the California Affiliate of the AAFCS’ conference.  A member from the Washington Affiliate attended the session I presented on Blogs, Wikis, and Social Networking and invited me to speak on a similar topic at their conference.  Now, I’m here.  Tomorrow (or Tuesday) is the big day!

IMG_0468

I must say that Virgin America is one of the best airlines to fly from LAX to SEATAC, hands down.

I love flying.  But, more than flying, I enjoy people watching and the variety of people an airport brings.  It always amuses me how aggressive people can get during boarding.  It’s especially amusing that Virgin America uses a lettering system for boarding with “A” being at the back of the plane up to “F” towards the front door.  I must confess that it’s both sad and hilarious when I hear people say, “Look!  I’m in section A!  I get to board first – haha!” only to realize once they’re on the plane that they’re in the tail section. 

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In other news, the drive to Yakima was not as bad as I thought it might be, and I take amazing self-portraits in rear-view mirrors.  Other nonessential updates include:

And…that’s it for now.  The reason for this blog post?  Mainly to post my awesome, blurry picture from EDUCAUSE…and the one from the road.

If my students are reading this, don’t forget to read the lecture for Tuesday.  You have been warned!

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Why I <3 my iPhone 4

Wednesday, August 4th, 2010

Mike with iPhone A few months ago (or maybe a month ago), I received one of the best wedding anniversary gifts a female geek could receive – a new piece of technology.  My husband teases me about my fascination with “shiny things” (usually meaning jewelry), but this time, my shiny thing was a brand spankin’ new iPhone 4.  Even after 8+ hours of trying to get the thing activated (shout-out of gratitude to the peeps at the AT&T store on San Fernando who hung in there with us for what felt like an entire day – even 1 hour after closing!), we were very happy with our new phones.

I’m still happy with my phone;  I’m not sure if Mike is still happy with his phone.  I think he still likes it, but you’ll have to ask him.

I was planning on blogging about my love affair with my iPad, but most everyone’s already done that.  Plus, I’ll do that post after I’ve taught with it this coming semester (!).

Things I Love About My iPhone 4:

YOU CAN DEPOSIT CHECKS WITH IT!!! o_O

I will never have to go to a bank again.  Well, unless I need cash.  Chase, the day you can make an app that prints cash from my iPhone, I will bake you a cake of your choice (assuming I am still alive and capable of baking said cake).

Things I Like About My iPhone 4:

Things I Do Not Like About My iPhone 4:

Overall, I’d rate my experience with the iPhone 4 a 3.5 stars out of 5.  Would I recommend it to others?  Sure!  Why not. 

Other operating systems I need to try before I die:

Now back to trying to beat people at Words with Friends (I’m rockd0ve, by the way! And I will try to pwn you!)

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Tugging at my heart strings

Friday, July 16th, 2010

I saw this the other evening and “awww-ed” at it the way one does when something really cute needs a friend or a hug (ie baby seals, pigeons, grad students…)

In other news, grad school is over for the summer, work is hectic, and I’m writing this from my iPhone 4g. Signal is so far…good.

More posts hopefully to come.

Posted in Fun Stuff, Observations on Life, Photography | No Comments »

Update on Life – Hello Summer

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

We’re reading about blogs and wikis and blogging in general for one of my grad classes this summer, so I figured I’d mosey on over to my own blog to see what’s happening.  Oh, yeah – that’s right;  I’m the one who needs to keep this thing updated.  That’s how blogging works! *shamed grin*

Since May 11th, I turned in my last grades for the Spring 2010 semester (you’re welcome, students), kissed my husband goodbye as he started a new job (we don’t work for the same institution anymore, but we’re definitely still together!), registered for 3 summer classes for grad school (I had the sudden urge to be done), found a new place for us to live (we’re moving back to Burbank), got increased hours at work, and did the dishes.

It’s going to be a busy summer.

But as I sit back in my awesome office chair (at home) and think about how life is going, I wouldn’t trade these experiences for anything.  One thing I have learned recently is to treasure the seasons of life as they come and learn from all experiences, both good and bad.  Sure, it sounds like I got bitten by the self-help bug recently (I blame my EDUC 268 class and all we have to read on leadership), but I’m really beginning to see how past experiences have shaped me as a person and are continuing to shape me.  I hope they shape me into a better person.

On another note, I am loving my iPad and wishing I had an Evo like my coworker (grrr, people who went to Google IO).  Honestly, though, a Nexus One would suffice.

iPad review to come soon. :-)

Cheers to all my classmates in all my different classes this summer.  We will survive!

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The Unlikely Disciple

Tuesday, May 11th, 2010

A Sinner’s Semester at America’s Holiest University

Months and months ago, an acquaintance of mine mentioned this book.  Then, another one did.  And another.  Then one more, and I finally reserved it at the library.  From what I was told, I had some idea of what to expect, but I wasn’t prepared to be utterly encouraged by this book.  Let me start out by saying that if you can’t handle honest discussions about Christian educational experiences, the book (and this blog post) are not for you.

The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University

I reserved the book about a month ago and did not pick it up until near its due date.  Once I started reading, I couldn’t put it down.  Kevin Roose is a talented writer, but it was what he had to write about that really drew me in.

In summary, during his sophomore-ish year, Kevin chose to leave “free-spirited, ultra-liberal” Brown University to check out what it’s like to study and live at a “conservative Baptist school” – Liberty University.  Before I read this book, I had heard of both Brown and Liberty, but I had never heard of Jerry Falwell or Liberty’s political and spiritual background. (I’ll blame this ignorance on not growing up 100% in the U.S.)  It was really interesting to read of Kevin’s experiences, but instead of thinking worse of him for “tricking” a Christian college into letting him “spy” on what it’s really like (some Christians feel that way), I applauded him.  He gives a pretty fair evaluation of what it’s like to eat, drink, sleep, study, and breathe in a Christian educational bubble.  Believe it or not, I was even encouraged.

(If you don’t know, I went to a Christian college for my undergraduate work and currently teach at the same college as well.)

Here are some things that stood out to me:

There is so much more I could write about, but why should I?  Kevin Roose has already crafted his fine book, and I would recommend that all believers involved in Christian higher education read through it at least once.

Posted in Books, Christianity, Observations on Life | 3 Comments »

Paying students for good grades

Sunday, April 25th, 2010

Capital gains, incentives, etc.

For the past few months, my “policy discussion group” in grad school has been eating, drinking, and sleeping on the issue of the “unsatisfactory reading levels of homeless children”.  Believe me when I say we have been fully immersed in this topic – our current reference list as of 7:55pm on 4/25/10 is four pages long.  We have been pouring over journals, magazines, websites, and government publications, trying to learn more about 1) this issue and 2) crafting informed policy proposals.  After starting with a rather broad focus, we decided to narrow our focus to homeless children in Washington State.

Our final project is to craft a policy proposal that could reasonably be submitted for implementation.  We were to propose two different policy responses:  one from a “constrained” view and the other from an “unconstrained” view (see Thomas Sowell’s A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles for more on constrained/unconstrained visions of society”).  I ended up working on our “constrained” proposal – paying homeless students for positive behavior and academic achievements.

clip_image002Paying students for behaving or getting good grades is not a new phenomenon (albeit, it may be novel…and very appealing to students.  I would love to still be paid for good grades.  Oh, wait.  Is that what scholarships are all about?).  I remember my mother giving me $5 for every “A” I got on my report card in 4th grade.  When she realized I was most likely going to be a straight-A student for the rest of my academic career (this epiphany happened at the end of 5th grade), she stopped paying me.  It was a sad day, but I wasn’t the only one in my class who had parents who tried to motivate them through cash payments or plain old special activities and items.  I knew this kind of motivation was going on, on a small scale, but I had no idea until now it was being considered and implemented on a district-wide scale, and had, in fact, been implemented for some time.

TIME magazine recently published an article entitled Should Kids Be Bribed to Do Well in School?, examining the different programs and experiments being conducted in different cities.  One of the largest studies is being conducted in Washington DC – 14 schools in collaboration with Harvard economist and researcher Roland Fryer and Harvard’s Education Innovation Laboratory.  Students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade earn up to $100 every two weeks ($1500 per year) for various criteria: attendance, homework completion, and other achievements.  Similar programs exist in New York, Chicago, Dallas, and Atlanta (similar, but not the same).

It seems to be working so far.

image6121450[1] In January 2010, CBS News conducted a survey as part of the “Where America Stands” series that found that most Americans oppose paying students for good grades, behavior, etc.  The poll also found that older Americans (65+) strongly oppose the practice, but parents who had children in K-12 tended to support it more.  The article doesn’t really state why such opposition exists, but the biggest critique of incentive programs always seems to end up on one thing:  paying students will kill their intrinsic motivation to learn for the sake of learning.

I’m not sure I agree, and I think there is a bit of hypocrisy present in telling students they should learn for learning’s sake without the possibility of tangible rewards.

Should you be working for working’s sake, and your employer not give you a paycheck?

“Well, that’s different!”  I’m not so sure.  We are told to aim for “A’s” in school…why?  So we can get into a good college/university.  We want to graduate from those universities with degrees…why?  So we can get a job…a well-paying job (at least we hope.  I ended up a teacher.  I must have missed the memo about well-paying jobs).  Every little motivator counts, and when it comes to money, the motivation increases dramatically.

And what’s so wrong about money?  Why do we feel differently when the motivator isn’t money?  No one questions a teacher who promises the class a special field trip if they behave all semester.  Or if a professor says they will cancel a quiz if everyone performs well on a project.  Or if a parent says they will start saving up as a family for a special vacation if their kids do well during the school year.  But why the (almost) hostile reaction when money is involved?

Back on track…

Of course, when the money starts dwindling (you aren’t being paid enough or at least what you think you’re worth), you look for other options…or quit altogether.  Sure, some students may stop working hard if the monetary incentives decrease, but here’s something I’ve noticed about students in my years (albeit few) as a teacher:  students who want to learn and want to do well tend to do so regardless of the motivators placed before them. I don’t know why.  Maybe their parents instilled a great work-ethic in them, maybe they already have intrinsic motivators (self satisfaction) to keep them going, but overall, I think it’s a choice.  Students make a choice to do well, we make a choice to be good employees, and those choices can distinguish us from the rest regardless of the situation.

So, should students be paid for good grades?  I don’t know yet.  My current opinion is that it depends on the situation.  I see the pros and cons, and my opinion may change in the coming months and years.

What do you think?

Related Articles and Sites:

Posted in Education, In the News, Observations on Life | 1 Comment »

Is It Really Yours?

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

ny_times_picture_of_obama If you haven’t heard, the Health Care bill passed in the House yesterday.  The world didn’t end, but tempers definitely flared.  That’s to be expected with something so revolutionary occurring in a nation that hasn’t really had any big changes since segregation, 9/11, and…and…oh, wait.  A black president being elected.  Nevermind.  I guess change has been happening progressively for quite some time.

All the change isn’t what surprises me.  Life is never static.  What surprises me are some of the responses to the changes, specifically those related to the Health Care bill.

Especially the responses of those who call themselves Christians.*

*Disclaimer:  by saying “call themselves Christians, I am not questioning their salvation.  I literally mean – those who call themselves Christians.  Myself being one.

Most of the dissent from my Christian friends and contacts has centered around three major themes:

  1. Abortion in the bill
  2. No one is entitled to health care
  3. They can’t take my hard-earned money from me to support someone else

I’ll take #3 for a few minutes here, and please remember, I’m talking about Christians (not the general public).

Is your money really yours?

That’s the question I have for my fellow believers.  Before your blood boils at the thought of having to pay taxes to fund someone else’s medical condition, consider:

  1. Do you make more than $250,000 a year? (Is 3.8% on your investment income a nightmare?)
  2. The fine on not having insurance (starting 2014) is $95 or 1% of income the first year, up to $695 or 2% of income subsequently.
    • If you can’t find a policy for less than 8% of your income, you don’t pay the fine.  Did you see that?
    • Do you have a policy now?

Are you still in the category of those who will pay taxes?  Even if you are…

Is your money really yours?

As a believer, is your money really yours?

What bothers me is the dichotomy believers force on certain aspects of politics and their faith (I am guilty of this, too, at times).  We say that we don’t own anything in this world – anything we have is a undeserved gift from God:

…and then when we are called upon to give of those things (missions? charity?) or, in the case of government, required to give up some of those things, we panic. We rant.  We call down God’s wrath on those who would dare tred upon our rights as American citizens (government mainly – we wouldn’t dare call down God’s wrath on missionaries or charities asking us for our “hard-earned” money because that sounds bad, and besides – it’s not required.  Or is it?  Not by your government, but by God Himself…).

Why do we try to hold on so firmly to earthly possessions that we really have no right to as believers?  If you truly view everything as a gift from God, it will sadden you to part with said possessions, but it should not infuriate you and cause you to run around screaming about your freedom being taken away.

No one can ever take away your salvation and freedom in Christ.  Isn’t that what truly matters?

“He said to them, ‘Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s’.” – Luke 20:25

“Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist.  When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly, it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.” – Proverbs 23:4-5

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” – Matthew 6:19-21

Posted in Christianity, In the News, Observations on Life | 1 Comment »

Confessions of a Spoken Communication Professor

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

time1It is currently 6:38 pm on Wednesday night.

That means I have 2 days and 21 hours (or 4186-ish minutes) before my presentation at the State Conference on Saturday.

 

Never mind.  The minutes went down.

I have always told my students never to wait until the night before to prepare their speeches.  Most people can work well under pressure, but when it comes to public speaking, most who prepare their presentations under time pressure generally do not do well.  Why?

Because they rushed their gathering of information.

Because they did not practice.

Because they are generally thinking of their deadline instead of their topic.

Because they won’t get much sleep (less than normal, probably).

Because they won’t meet my outline submission deadline. *wink, wink*

…but mainly because they won’t be as familiar with their content as they could have been if they had started sooner. (There are some exceptions)

 

According to my timer, I’m down to 4183 minutes.

 

I’ve got two days before my presentation, and I’ve been working on my PowerPoint and content intermittently over the past few days now.  But I’m not done yet.

And I’m feeling the pressure.

Even if I have a couple days left.

Because those days will be full of other responsibilities.

And then I’ll present.

I’ll get up before my audience (thanks in advance for coming!).

And I’ll present my content.

I’ll present my thoughts.

I’ll present what I’ve been eating, drinking, sleeping (metaphorically, of course) for the past few days (but truly, for several years of my life).

 

4178 minutes.

 

Confession #1 – I should have started preparing sooner.

Confession #2 – I feel pressure, too!

Confession #3 – I will be in professional dress when I present.

Confession #4 – I feel nervous, too, before presenting. (It’s a good thing!)

Confession #5 – I really want you guys to succeed when you present…but your preparation does matter.  Preparing two days in advance can actually help you more than a few hours the night before.

Confession #6 – I have a really cool, new clicker that I get to use when I present, and that makes me cooler than you.  Just kidding.  Y’all will get to use it for your informative speeches.

 

(Speaking of which, how are you guys doing?)

 

4175 minutes.

 

And I’m off to finish my PowerPoint.

Wish me luck!

Cheers,

Corinne a.k.a. “Prof. Thomas”

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365 Project = Fail

Monday, March 1st, 2010

At the beginning of the year, Mike and I decided to try out the 365 Project.  Let’s just say that Mike is doing much better than I am, considering he actually took pictures past day 18 of the project.  Lesson learned?  Taking one picture every single day is pretty tough.  Maybe I’ll try again later…in the year.

…or, I should take more pictures with my camera phone.

2. Phone on a table @ Wahoo's

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Untitled, an Update

Sunday, February 7th, 2010

IMG_4207

Sitting in this retro, little cafe has finally inspired me to drop my textbooks, notes, and grading and finally take some time to blog again.  Retro, little cafes can affect a person that way, and while I’m at it, I highly recommend the Bourgeois Pig.

No, I’m not watching the Super Bowl today.  I’m not a big football fan, but I am a fan of Super Bowl commercials.  Thank God for Hulu!

It’s already February, which means a lot has already happened and a lot is about to happen again.

In summary:

Teaching – Classes have started back up at TMC, and I’m in the early throes of tormenting my new students.  Just kidding.  I don’t actually torment them.  Being in a Public Speaking course is torment enough for some.  We just finished the testimonies, and I must say – I have been impressed so far.  I am very excited to watch them all improve and find themselves (as far as public speaking is concerned) as the semester progresses.

GWU – Grad school started a week before TMC started, and we’ve hit the ground running.  I thought my class on Policy would be the death of me, but so far, it’s my Quantitative Research class that has me confused.  The materials are familiar enough (thanks, Dr. Ennis!), but the structure of the class has me sighing at my screen.  Several of us in the class have moved over to Google Groups and Google Wave to supplement the class, and that has been an experience in and of itself.  Google Wave has been an amazing tool for us.  Here’s to hoping neither class will usher in sudden death.

Free Time – This is a foreign concept to me, but I have still managed to get addicted to Mass Effect 2 and ‘Splosion Man.  And I’m still trying to work my way through The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, a pretty good story that I’m mainly reading for the sparse pictures of the awesome birds.  I should just watch the movie.  That will give me more time to focus on saving the galaxy with my wicked biotic powers!

Conference – I’m speaking at a State Conference in March, and I am prepping for it slowly but surely.  I am not anticipating a large attendance for my breakout session since 1) I have no name recognition, and 2) the organization’s members as a whole just doesn’t seem to place much stock in technology and its impact on education, society, etc.  Actually, that’s a bit unfair, but I am still keeping my expectations low.  I am going to prepare as quality a presentation as I can, and if anyone shows up (even one person), I will be as excited to share my vision with them as I would to 100+ people.  Hey, no matter what people say, even one person can make a difference! (I am referring to that one, potential attendee, not myself.)

Work – We now have a plastic shotgun in our office.  I would like it to be noted that I have come the closest to hitting the bulls-eye on the hand-drawn target on our whiteboard.  Even the office gun expert hasn’t come close! (Yes, that was a challenge.)

…and, that’s it for an update as far as I am willing to share on the Interwebz.  Haha.  I have been hoping to post more substantial material, i.e. book reviews, movie reviews, thoughts on news articles, etc., but please see my comment about free time above.

Truth be told, we make time for what we think is important, right? ^_^

In parting, here’s a truncated movie review for you: Paranormal Activity was a disappointment.

Cheers,

Corinne

Posted in Observations on Life | 1 Comment »