Bright-Eyed Adjunct

Working my way up in the Groves of Academe. Adjunct Instructor: 2010-2011 Fulltime, Tenure-Track: 2011-

[newadjunct]

new title, new office, new blog!

[newadjunct]

[newadjunct]

returning my students' test with a copy of the Learning Center's tutoring schedule attached... decidedly more politically correct than a taco bell job application.

[newadjunct]

One Year Ago, Today - An Exchange After Class

Sudent: So, what's your *real* job?

Me: Uhm... this is...

Student: You just, what, go around teaching classes all day??

Me: Yep, this [Statistics] and College Algebra....

Student: Oh, that's.... cool (said while backing slowly out the door) So you're like a mathematician?

Me: Well, I guess you could say that.

Student: (completely out the door) Oh. Well, I like you. Just not the class. (gone.)

[newadjunct]

Topic for a Journal Article: The Ebony Towers: A Discourse on Black Academia

[newadjunct]

Topic for a Journal Article: What is the role of Higher Ed in today's society?

[newadjunct]

Today before class I jokingly said that I need 72 hours at least to pack for a weekend away.  One girl in the front nodded and said, "Yeh, I can tell from the way that you dress that you take a long time to pack."

O.O

[newadjunct]

[newadjunct]

Bright-Eyed Adjunct is now a Bright-Eyed Prof!

So, I've made the (suicidal??) leap from adjunct instructor to fulltime, tenure track, instructor at my community college.  Here are my thoughts on the transition:

YAY BENEFITS!!

What happens to my whole adjunct advocacy plan?  Am I allowed to be/would I be accepted as a leader?

HOLY CRAP,  I'll be teaching 5-6 classes a SEMESTER?!

Oh, I can take classes for free at Big U?

I'll be teaching at one of the site campuses (not the main campus that I'm at now), so I'll definitely have to move.

If I'm at the brand new site campus, I'll be like, a charter/founding member!

According to BLS and other sources, the median income for a M.S. in mathematics is 50k+.  With my recent promotion, I'm a little over half that.  Boo.

And apparently, during the interview process, I greatly impressed the search committee with my "enthusiasm" and am now known around the department as "that girl"...

[newadjunct]

[newadjunct]

[newadjunct]

Teaching Axioms

School is not the "real world."  And to many extents, it is not sufficient preparation for the "real world."  As educators we need to accept that the process of education is not a means to an end, but an end in and of itself, worthy of attaining without external value.

[ifoundareason-deactivated201110]

[newadjunct]

ifoundareason:

Ken Robinson - Changing Education Paradigms

[newadjunct]

[newadjunct]

Conflicting Axioms

Bad students are not bad people.

BUT:

Everyone has a sob story.

[newadjunct]

Adjunct Application Essays

What I submitted in response to the following prompts in the application to teach as an adjunct:

I want to teach at Techno Community College because it will give me a well-respected background in the classroom that will be necessary to achieve my future goals.  One such career goal is to pursue a Ph.D. in Statistics and go into Higher Education Policy and Administration as a College Provost or Dean of Education.  Positions such as these require extensive experience as an educator in addition to academic degrees.

I want to be a part of the reformation and restoration of American Academe; encouraging all Americans to attend an institution of higher education, securing optimal funding for those institutions, and designing a general curriculum that encourages individual growth of the student educationally and as a citizen of their local and global communities.  My time at TCC will help me hone this vision and passion, and give me the tools to see it through.

My teaching philosophy is to take a student-centric approach to all classroom activities and to encourage students to become self-sufficient learners.  Each student learns differently and to that end I make lessons as multidimensional as possible.  Dimensions include traditional lecture, instructor-student dialogue, small group in-class activities, and out-of-class activities.

Further, my role as an instructor is not confined to 50-minute class meetings.  I make myself available as a resource to my students through regularly scheduled office hours and appointments.  I believe in an "open door" policy as an instructor, encouraging my students to talk to me whenever a problem arises.

[newadjunct]

Just Some Thoughts... An Extended Metaphor

Trying to change a time- and tradition-ingrained institution (like higher education, for example) is like trying to stop a runaway freight train.  First you try to throw things on the tracks, hoping to derail it and slow it's momentum.  Or maybe you find a way to jump on board, working your way up to the engine car.  If you're especially trained, you take out the conductor, grabbing the controls yourself in the name of your noble cause.  Then, assuming you're immune to the temptation of the absolute power, you slam on the breaks, ready to declare victory... only to find the breaks have gone out long ago, and the previous conductor was merely steering the train, with no actual input in it's course.