ode to tradition

When I started working here, my boss (mentor, friend, conversationalist extraordinaire) had a tradition of wearing a Christmas-themed neck tie every working day between Thanksgiving and Christmas. When he retired, he gave some (likely most) of the ties to me -- about fifty or so.

Today I started my fourth year of carrying on the tradition. It doesn't get old. It's a fun way of getting into the holiday spirit because the ties are so eclectic -- just like my old friend. My wife, however, is a different story. About the second week, she gets really tired of me asking every morning, "Does this tie go with this shirt?"

tank you veddy much

During my course work, I was taking a class with an associate faculty member who had a habit of having us consider every topic through a lens of Native American persecution. The uniqueness wore off quickly as his personal agenda began to trump individual exploration and discussion. Nice guy. Good writer. Crappy professor.

Just thought I'd share that, as every Thanksgiving since that class (which is going on four years now) gives me a moment of pause to consider what I really should be thankful for. For that moment of pause, I'm thankful to my crappy professor -- each and every year.

We all need to pause today. If for any reason, let's all be thankful we live in a country that gives us the opportunity to change the world. Tomorrow we can debate if that change is good or bad. There may even be time to entertain a diatribe or two about the inhumane means by which we've been given this opportunity. For now, just be thankful. Thankful that we are free to express, create, incite, inspire, and shape.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

touch too much

The next time a Luddite faculty member tells me there are some things you just can't teach on line:

be cool or be cast out

The academhack had the following comment in a post about the launching of a new major in emerging media:

"There is a new type of literacy developing, one between those who will understand the digital network media landscape, and who use it to produce, to organize, to take ownership over their lives, responsiblity for their community, to be critical of it, to engage with it . . . and with those who merely consume it. A divide between those who will be passive consumers at best, victims at worst, and those who will be active participants."

There are implications embedded here for higher education -- particularly in regard to online teaching and learning.

On which side of the divide will we find "older" faculty who are facing increasing presure to move lower-division / high-volume courses online to accomodate increasing student demand for flexibility and access?

On which side will we find adult learners returning to school with limited information and technology literacy skills?

And perhaps most importantly, how will those of us supporting these populations be asked to bridge the divide?

two old guys

Another funny conversation recently overheard at the YMCA. Context note: Jake is 83 years old and Will is 76.

Will: "Hey Jake, Dorothy had a great big smile on her face this morning."

Jake: "Was it because she saw you walking into the pool with no trunks on?"

Will: "No, the water was warm as a bathtub. But come to think of it, she did say she liked my new trunks."

Jake: "We'll there you go. Try the speedo tomorrow and let me know if you get a bigger smile."

google me this

Funny conversations overheard recently:

Nephew’s Girlfriend: “I really like your Grandmother. She’s nice. What’s her name?”

Nephew: “Grandma.”

Nephew’s Girlfriend: “You don’t know your Grandmother’s first name?”

Nephew: "Yeah, it's 'Grandma'."

Nephew's Girlfriend: "Her parents didn't name her 'Grandma'."

Nephew: “OK, so let's Google her.”

Nephew’s Girlfriend: “And what are you going to Google? Grandma?"

Nephew: “Of course, isn't that her name?”