I have two more issues to discuss, before I take off for the University again:
1. My first seminar as a TA is tomorrow. Okay, so I've led other people's seminars, but I've never had to evaluate participation and preparedness before. I'm going in there with a lot of theories, and a bunch of other people's tricks, but it's still nerve-wracking. Chris is helping me formulate an attendance/evaluation sheet. I also plan to have the group (20 of them) split into smaller groups for a time, but they're going to have to appoint a secretary and a spokesperson of their findings (although they can all contribute to the large group discussion), and next time different people from their small groups will have to have the role. I've seen this practice done well. Any suggestions?
2. I continually struggle to figure out how to dress to suit the different climate and different culture. Being from Saskatchewan, where it is either very hot or very cold, I don't own much for in-between clothes. Here, it's all in-between. Everyone here recommends dressing in layers, but I only have a couple of long-sleeved sweaters to wear over top of things. Also, people dress differently than back home. There's far more consciousness of what's "cool" and I continually find myself feeling far too casual for school (I have dressyish type clothes, but I wear runners to school so that I can walk to and from school). I know, as a grad student, I'm not expected to dress like the undergrads, but I still feel like I stick out at the University. I want to find my own thing, but at the same time I've been feeling particularly self-conscious since I moved out here, because there's such a defined West Coast culture and it continually makes me feel like a frumpy prairie kid. Any suggestions?
Now I'd better go collect my funding. Funding! Funding! Wooo!
15 comments:
Stick it to the West Coast, Frumpy Prairie Girl. It's all about you.
OR take your funding and go shopping. New Clothes! New Clothes! Wooo!
Oh Maryanne, reading your blog is like going back to last year for me. As for the in betweeny weather I've found what works...vests..you know what I mean..not the lame early nineties flowery things..but a zip up down filled vest..in a neutral color so it can go with anything..and if it had a hood that's an added bonus because you're going to be entering the gray rainy winter. Good luck..and if you need any more prairie girl adjusting to BC tips..you know where I am!
I still haven't adjusted to the weather and clothes here. I moved from the chilly east coast to the hot south, and I have no shorts (won't wear them), few tank tops (and even less dressy ones that I can teach in), and never remember a sweater for the A/C here! I figure it's just transitional for me, so I don't have to fully integrate :) Do as you like, because you're going to leave there when you're done and go on to be yourself somewhere else.
Oh, but get a few more sweaters. You don't want to freeze!
My answer to this dilemna: bring back the grandpa pants. Who (other than Meg) cares if they were once worn by an octogenarian?
Then you'd be the coolest cat in the cave, man.
Wait a second. Did you just do my infamous "Mormons" cheer, but substitute "Mormons" for "Funding"? Brilliant.
Ky, I love your "Mormons" cheer - I ran into some Mormons here and was very tempted, but then they would have seen me, and that would be embarrassing.
Mary, you're lovely. I'm not sure about the fashion scene there, but sweaters (like cardigans, but not the geeky ones) seem to work well for me - just get some in different colours, and you can wear them with anything. Oh, and if you have a locker, you could try switching shoes when you get to the uni if it'll make you feel better. Personally, I think I'd just stick to bunnyhugs. :)
hehehe... i wonder how many non-sk people are gonna be asking themselves what a bunnyhug is. only the best article of clothing ever!
Okay, Meg to the rescue (haha). First of all, Trisha - they're called hoodies. Deal with it. And the only hoodie Maryanne wants to wear out there is the zip-up kind. Also known as a Zoodie. Only skateboarding punk-music loving folk wear hoodies with kangaroo pouches, and we all know our dear Maryanne couldn't pass for a skater even if she dyed her hair green and pierced her tongue.
Maryanne - the quilted vest I gave you - use it. And invest in some comfortable black dressy-ish but still able to be walked in shoes. You'll appreciate them. And khakis. Not the fake velvety-feel kind or the ones that are actually denim, but the real, meant for a hike in the woods kind of khaki. Go to Eddie Bauer if you need to (or Value Village). Wear your shiny black cardigan over any of your coloured blouses and pair them with grey or black pants. Invest in some non green-fuzzy Old Navy loungewear cardis. And for pity's sake, wear a skirt to school.
If all else fails, wear black.
I wish I could remember what you own. I hope this helps. Call me sometime (No, don't call me SOMETIME, just call me, sometime. And send tea.
Love you!
As a direct result of all my experiences as both student and teacher, I regard all group work as total bullshit. This is probably because I have little more than complete distain for people in general, especially new people, and especially new people who are dressed like they belong in places I don't like being in, which is almost everywhere. Group work makes me feel hostile and frantic, and I've noticed in almost every crowd where there's some sort of forced interaction, there are at least three or four other people who seem to feel the same way I do. My group, pretty exclusively because of my presence, couldn't come to any sort of coherent consensus of what 2 plus 2 equals. Let's face it, pissing people off is far more entertaining than just about any other activity I can think of. This probably isn't very helpful to you, but everyone else was commenting about clothes.
It just seems like when you go to a seminar and the speaker puts you into groups, it's just to burn time. Or even worse, sometimes it seems that the speakers have set up the questions that so the groups can't possibly help but to arrive at the same conclusions as they have. At one time the "group thing" was creative, new and liberal in direction, but now it's just cliche. I'd rather just have a speaker hold my interest by saying interesting things, and I'll sit there and either think about the things being said, or make sketches of said speaker being chased by an angry mob with pitchforks in tow. If I want to stay and talk to people about it after, then I'll do it, dammit. But hey, that's just me. From what I understand, most people are far less socially abrasive than I am.
I also have a clothes suggestion:
Neckerchief.
You know you want it.
You know, sometimes it is just way easier to be a guy.
Hey Chris what are you going to wear??
I don't know, pants and a shirt?
And the great thing is no one expects anything different.
Yesssssss!
Thank you for everyone's advice on how I should handle the different climate! I knew Meg was going to step in with specific prescriptions of what I should be wearing to school.
Now, Bernie, since I was specifically hired to conduct group discussions, and to evaluate participation in said group discussions, I really don't have an option of turning this into a time where I can talk and allow the students either to fight with me or draw me being chased by pitchforks. This is especially the case because this is a Canadian history class, and while I am trained in Canadian history to a great extent, I know very littel about today's topic, besides what I need to know to conduct the discussion, because I'm not lecturing. When you're part of someone else's classroom, you don't have as much say in how things are conducted. Personally, I prefer keeping the discussion to the larger group, where I can take part and stir up controversy (as I like to do), but the instructor wants part of the time to be smaller groups, to give the shyer students a chance to be a bit more comfortable. I'll figure out what I think about that after I see this in operation.
I was one of those shyer students, and I always felt that the small group discussions were even worse than the big ones. I prefered anonimity, and when there was only three other people in the group, they'd notice my presence. But I also understand that its just got to be done because that's what the proffy-poo wants. I've even had to use it myself. The best was when I accidentally put the four shyest people in one group and they didn't say a word the whole time. Ha!
p.s. wear the grandpa pants AND a neckercheif.
Ky, I'm with you. Small discussion groups are even worse because then there is an even greater chance that you have to say something and an even smaller chance that there is a fat person you can hide behind.
I hate group discussions in general unless its about movies. Best class of my life. Hey everyone, take History 360 AC. Best class ever.
And Maryanne, my clothing advice to you...a brown or green casual blazer. That can take you SO far.
In my social work courses, we use small groups ALL the time, and I really like it. First of all, it helps break up the monotone of just sitting there, and I find it turns into a more focused conversation. With a whole class, the conversation moves too fast to go in depth, whereas in small groups, there is a chance to get into the nitty gritties. Of course, the coversation stays rolling because we are all social workers, so we all love to talk. It may not work so well in less people-oriented professions.
P.S. I am from Alberta, and it is a bunny-hug.
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