Fitting my physical/biological anthropology course into different time frames and formats throughout the school year brings up challenges. For example, putting the same number of assignments in the condensed summer schedule would mean that I would never stop grading. Many assignments were fixed in their placement in the schedule. That left… Read more“Summer Interacts Journal Debrief”
Tag: teaching
Spring 2018 Semester Wrap-Up
The recent semester was a quiet one as I stuck more to my established system. The Interacts continue to be a favorite part of the course, balanced by the more demanding article summaries. The Pre-Lecture slides got better with more content, including more embedded video clips and gifs. The coffee… Read more“Spring 2018 Semester Wrap-Up”
Tuning Up for Next Semester
My winter break project this year was replacing graphics in my lectures that I didn’t like. Each semester, I wince a little at certain points when an illustration from the Internet is the best available, but still flawed in some way. Some of these illustrations have typos in them. Others are low… Read more“Tuning Up for Next Semester”
The Pre-Show Lecture
Anyone who arrives at a movie theater early knows about the slide presentation that plays before the show starts. There is typically a mix of ads and movie trivia, given as still images or short clips. Waiting for Doctor Strange over the summer, I got the idea to do a… Read more“The Pre-Show Lecture”
‘Interacts’: An RPG Quest Board Assignment
I’ve been teaching physical anthropology for just over three years so I have still been making changes every semester. Changes include staying up to date with new discoveries and looking for useful websites or thinking of ways to engage with the topic in daily life. For example, reading a biography… Read more“‘Interacts’: An RPG Quest Board Assignment”
Group Notes: A Failed Experiment
The end-of-semester is a good time to reflect on what worked and what didn’t work in the most recent semester. One initiative that fell completely flat was an attempt to have students take notes as a group. A little before the start of the semester, I heard about a tweet series… Read more“Group Notes: A Failed Experiment”
Bean Pong, Spring 2017
A while ago I dreamed up playing a version of beer pong as a final review activity. With each semester that has passed, I have adapted the game to various class sizes. This semester was my second with a class of over 50 students and I have arrived at a set… Read more“Bean Pong, Spring 2017”
Spring Teaching Changes
The spring semester of 2017 brought a large sweeping change and many more minor changes than I had planned. To get the big change out of the way: I was hired to teach physical anthropology at another community college in San Diego County! MiraCosta College is a charming and innovative… Read more“Spring Teaching Changes”
Toast the New Year with Some Haterade
There is a feeling I have kept to myself for years, because I have never heard of a similar feeling in someone else. Also, the feeling is rooted in hate, which is generally regarded negatively. It is not pure hate, though, since the feeling has led to positive life changes… Read more“Toast the New Year with Some Haterade”
Fall Teaching Changes, part 2
James Lang’s Small Teaching (2016) approaches improving one’s classes not with sweeping changes, but by making tweaks to the existing program. The book is divided into three areas of improvement: knowledge, understanding, and inspiration. The section on understanding got my attention the most, and I made a few focused changes this… Read more“Fall Teaching Changes, part 2”