Since entering my doctoral, people have told me that grades don’t really matter for anything, as long as you are passing your classes/meeting university requirements. Yesterday, I received an invitation to a conference through my scholarship. The topic is on teaching in higher ed. I unfortunately will not be able to attend because of school; [...]

I had originally thought that I was finished with my finals yesterday, but the professor granted extensions to the class. Because writing can almost always be improved upon, I will edit the paper again tonight and tomorrow before submitting it Monday. Two of my grades are up already. As an addition to the whole “arguing [...]

Even if I were not in school/aware of the academic calendar, I would always know it’s college finals time as long as I have this blog. Why? My entries on arguing grades receive more hits at the end of the semester. I hope people find what they’re looking for, and they approach their instructors cool-headed [...]

I read recently the most precious resource we have that is quickly depleting is time. Going through with the radiation therapy for my cat (she is more or less back to normal ) has proven that to be true. Prior to her radiation therapy, I’d say I was decent with time management. Now I feel [...]

My fall semester schedule has its good points and its bad points. I’m taking a dissertation proposal writing class, particle physics, a class on Web 2.0′s uses in the classroom, and a class on higher education. +I can return to Najmat’s class! -I have an incredibly busy Wednesday, consisting of 8 hours of class. +I’m [...]

This past week in school we’ve been talking about how much one should share with his/her students. We were discussing this more in the context of political and moral beliefs. It was very interesting, because there is no definitive answer on whether it’s appropriate. I think the most we all concluded was sharing isn’t necessarily [...]

Awhile ago, I had addressed generally how to argue a grade. After last semester and looking at the search hits, I’ve decided to specifically address arguing the final grade. Again, I’ve been on both sides of the table. I did well last semester, 2 A’s, an A-, and a B+. Part of me thought about [...]

I’m about a week from being finished with classes and about 1.5 weeks from being finished, more or less. Although I’m not terribly worried finals for myself, I know some people are stressing a lot. I already wrote a list of advice for test-taking that should be applicable for many final exams. But what about [...]

I’ve completed 1 week of school. One week isn’t really that much, in terms of going to class. I go to class twice a week. Two 3-hour lectures one day, one 3-hour lecture another day. I was supposed to have a 4th class, but it was unfortunately canceled. The professor is very kind and said [...]

I’m proud of my students; most of them actually appear to have taken to heart my advice on studying. Most students passed their finals with Bs or As. Not bad at all, considering some of them were not A or B students in this class. It was a pleasant surprise to say the least and [...]