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[polly_mer]

2. For all that I am an adjunct, I have been supervisor for students on honor's theses, and helped to cultivate them all the way to grad school. And my student evaluations are stellar. But I suppose none of this matters, as I am a whiner who doesn't "fit" in her department. Instead of receiving a bit of sympathy from strangers who might be in a similar position, I get flamed.

Um, yeah.  When you throw a punch, that's what happens.

Many of us do end up in places that are not like where we attended schools.  Yes, good students are found everywhere who can do honors theses and go to graduate school.  I doubt that anyone would quibble about that.  However, those students do not appear to be in the majority at your school or you wouldn't be faced with this situation. 

Either you as an instructor must figure out how to get the vast majority of your students to earn Cs that are acceptable to your conscience and professional integrity or you must apply for different jobs.  Since your chair has mentioned that your DWF rate is unacceptably high, the problem does lie with you.  What are you going to do about it?

Have you asked around to see what other instructors teaching this course do to get acceptable pass rates?
Have you investigated the best pedagogical research-based practices for your topics and your student population?  Changing methods of teaching and evaluation will leave you with high professional integrity because it changes student learning levels instead of lowering standards.

Although, yes, you may have to examine your expectations for A, B, and C work.  Usually people don't worry too much about not giving enough A's and an A has to mean excellent.  But you do need to look carefully at the C/D line.  Have you really drawn that line in an appropriate place for the next course in the sequence or for what the general population needs to know about your topic?  It's amazing how much easier life can be when you realize that a semester-long project to engage with the material is more appropriate to the outcomes than another closed-book, closed-note test in a non-majors, general ed class. 

Have you narrowed your message appropriately so students who can demonstrate knowledge of the five take-home messages for every topic earn C's or are you still insisting that everyone should know 75% of everything?  Studies on educational techniques for science classes (my expertise) have shown that, several months after class, students who have been exposed to less material with a firm emphasis on the handful of key points do better on tests, even for material to which they have had little exposure, than students who had exposure to more material without such emphasis.  Consequently, students who were working from a firm foundation of the basics could expand out and reason their way through new material while students who had merely crammed their way through the course did not retain much of anything.  Students still have to do the work so that slackers will get D's and F's, but diligent students can earn their C's in ways that leave your professional integrity intact while leaving plenty of room for A and B students to strut their stuff in preparation for later courses and graduate school.

All I initially wanted to do was share my experiences with a pushy chair who threatened my livelihood over this. Instead, I get people jumping down my throat.

If that's what you thought happened, your reality filter is due for a tune-up.

However, what really bothers me, from what I have seen on these fora, is that there are several self-appointed guardians-of-the-realm who regard it their duty to keep newbies in line, or something.

That's not what happened here and the fact that you think it did does not bode well for your return.

I have used these fora in the past with a different name, and left over two years ago. The regulars are still here, with thousands more posts to their credit, still being the regular nasty and petty people that they are, holding court over their pathetic little kingdoms that are these fora. I really wonder how many of these people have any identity that goes beyond the CHE fora, how many of them actually do any research, and what percentage are simply sitting on their laurels, collecting six-figure salaries, and holding to a delusional sense of their greatness. Surely, judging  by the superior, snarky, arrogant, and imperious tone of certain of these posts, one feels dropped in the middle of a temperance society meeting, or something.

So I have to ask: if we are such terrible people who can't be trusted to give useful answers, why did you come back?  Why did you expect sympathy if we're all such ogres?

But at any rate, I am sure that several of you will reply with what you regard as sharp witticisms, but know that if you do so, you simply show yourselves to be the sad and pathetic lot you really are.

If there's one thing sadder than a DSM who has wasted countless hours here dispensing ignored advice, then it's someone who shows up to ask for advice and sympathy knowing full well that the regulars will respond in given, predictable manners and then crying foul when the regulars respond in given, predictable manners.

[anthroid]

One last thing:  remember, OP, that some of us here--for instance, me--are in a position to hire you.  You have been specific enough just in this thread to give us a few hints about who you might be in RL.  Do you really want to endanger your career by telling people who are senior to you that they must be suffering from PMS since they are being--to your way of thinking--mean to you?  You owe me, and all women really, an apology.  I have been an anthropologist longer, probably, than you have been alive.  Believe me when I say that I would never tell someone who doesn't agree with my position that she must be suffering from PMS.  What an incredibly dismissive thing to say.

Really, good luck in your job search.  You're going to need it.

[polenta]

How does the grade distribution in you sections compare with distribution in sections taught by others?  

It's somewhat middle-of-the-pack. Some (tenured) faculty grade easier, some harder, but by and large adjuncts are reputed to be 'easy professors.'

[polenta]

One last thing:  remember, OP, that some of us here--for instance, me--are in a position to hire you.  You have been specific enough just in this thread to give us a few hints about who you might be in RL.  Do you really want to endanger your career by telling people who are senior to you that they must be suffering from PMS since they are being--to your way of thinking--mean to you?  You owe me, and all women really, an apology.  I have been an anthropologist longer, probably, than you have been alive.  Believe me when I say that I would never tell someone who doesn't agree with my position that she must be suffering from PMS.  What an incredibly dismissive thing to say.

Really, good luck in your job search.  You're going to need it.

All women get PMS, and that includes me. Some more strongly manifest it in their dispositions than do others. Hence my swipe at you. Perhaps it is anti-feminist for a woman to use such an insult, but throughout my young career, most obstacles and unpleasantries were presented by other women. So there is no such thing as a sisterhood of women. Oh, I'm rambling...

[polenta]

2. For all that I am an adjunct, I have been supervisor for students on honor's theses, and helped to cultivate them all the way to grad school. And my student evaluations are stellar. But I suppose none of this matters, as I am a whiner who doesn't "fit" in her department. Instead of receiving a bit of sympathy from strangers who might be in a similar position, I get flamed.

Um, yeah.  When you throw a punch, that's what happens.

Many of us do end up in places that are not like where we attended schools.  Yes, good students are found everywhere who can do honors theses and go to graduate school.  I doubt that anyone would quibble about that.  However, those students do not appear to be in the majority at your school or you wouldn't be faced with this situation. 

Either you as an instructor must figure out how to get the vast majority of your students to earn Cs that are acceptable to your conscience and professional integrity or you must apply for different jobs.  Since your chair has mentioned that your DWF rate is unacceptably high, the problem does lie with you.  What are you going to do about it?

Have you asked around to see what other instructors teaching this course do to get acceptable pass rates?
Have you investigated the best pedagogical research-based practices for your topics and your student population?  Changing methods of teaching and evaluation will leave you with high professional integrity because it changes student learning levels instead of lowering standards.

Although, yes, you may have to examine your expectations for A, B, and C work.  Usually people don't worry too much about not giving enough A's and an A has to mean excellent.  But you do need to look carefully at the C/D line.  Have you really drawn that line in an appropriate place for the next course in the sequence or for what the general population needs to know about your topic?  It's amazing how much easier life can be when you realize that a semester-long project to engage with the material is more appropriate to the outcomes than another closed-book, closed-note test in a non-majors, general ed class. 

Have you narrowed your message appropriately so students who can demonstrate knowledge of the five take-home messages for every topic earn C's or are you still insisting that everyone should know 75% of everything?  Studies on educational techniques for science classes (my expertise) have shown that, several months after class, students who have been exposed to less material with a firm emphasis on the handful of key points do better on tests, even for material to which they have had little exposure, than students who had exposure to more material without such emphasis.  Consequently, students who were working from a firm foundation of the basics could expand out and reason their way through new material while students who had merely crammed their way through the course did not retain much of anything.  Students still have to do the work so that slackers will get D's and F's, but diligent students can earn their C's in ways that leave your professional integrity intact while leaving plenty of room for A and B students to strut their stuff in preparation for later courses and graduate school.

All I initially wanted to do was share my experiences with a pushy chair who threatened my livelihood over this. Instead, I get people jumping down my throat.

If that's what you thought happened, your reality filter is due for a tune-up.

However, what really bothers me, from what I have seen on these fora, is that there are several self-appointed guardians-of-the-realm who regard it their duty to keep newbies in line, or something.

That's not what happened here and the fact that you think it did does not bode well for your return.

I have used these fora in the past with a different name, and left over two years ago. The regulars are still here, with thousands more posts to their credit, still being the regular nasty and petty people that they are, holding court over their pathetic little kingdoms that are these fora. I really wonder how many of these people have any identity that goes beyond the CHE fora, how many of them actually do any research, and what percentage are simply sitting on their laurels, collecting six-figure salaries, and holding to a delusional sense of their greatness. Surely, judging  by the superior, snarky, arrogant, and imperious tone of certain of these posts, one feels dropped in the middle of a temperance society meeting, or something.

So I have to ask: if we are such terrible people who can't be trusted to give useful answers, why did you come back?  Why did you expect sympathy if we're all such ogres?

But at any rate, I am sure that several of you will reply with what you regard as sharp witticisms, but know that if you do so, you simply show yourselves to be the sad and pathetic lot you really are.

If there's one thing sadder than a DSM who has wasted countless hours here dispensing ignored advice, then it's someone who shows up to ask for advice and sympathy knowing full well that the regulars will respond in given, predictable manners and then crying foul when the regulars respond in given, predictable manners.

Now I feel like eating humble pie... Thanks for your considered response, I much appreciate it. Yes, I have done much to change my techniques in order to increase student engagement, and by and large it has worked. Other colleagues at work have been helpful, too.

The only place where I disagree with you is in your first sentence. I did not throw the first punch, but I suppose I did overreact...

[mountainguy]

OP, it sounds to me like you've been given some advice in this thread that you didn't want to hear. Whether or not you choose to follow it is your choice. I would only add that if you really believe you're being wronged, it's up to you to make contact with senior colleagues and your union to see how they recommend proceeding.

Oh, and the PMS line was really something you should have gotten over when you were 14. It is in no way excused by the fact that you are a woman.

[marigolds]

One last thing:  remember, OP, that some of us here--for instance, me--are in a position to hire you.  You have been specific enough just in this thread to give us a few hints about who you might be in RL.  Do you really want to endanger your career by telling people who are senior to you that they must be suffering from PMS since they are being--to your way of thinking--mean to you?  You owe me, and all women really, an apology.  I have been an anthropologist longer, probably, than you have been alive.  Believe me when I say that I would never tell someone who doesn't agree with my position that she must be suffering from PMS.  What an incredibly dismissive thing to say.

Really, good luck in your job search.  You're going to need it.

All women get PMS, and that includes me. Some more strongly manifest it in their dispositions than do others. Hence my swipe at you. Perhaps it is anti-feminist for a woman to use such an insult, but throughout my young career, most obstacles and unpleasantries were presented by other women. So there is no such thing as a sisterhood of women. Oh, I'm rambling...

Whether people get PMS or not, and whether there is a "sisterhood of women" or not, has nothing to do with the fact that you attempted to change the grounds of the argument by shifting to Anthroid's perceived b*tchiness rather than engaging with the content of what she said.  This is absolutely dismissive, and is one of the most fundamental fallacies in logical argumentation. 

(And no, I'm not at the point in my cycle where I would be classified as having PMS, so don't even try it.)

[larryc]

I thought you were leaving?

[kedves]

I'm just thrilled to be called sordid.  No one ever cared enough to notice that quality of my specialness before.

"The sordid details of his orgies stank under his very nostrils" (James Joyce).

[der_gadfly]

Wow.....

My grading curve is similar, a few A range grades, some Bs, a 'hump in the Cs and Ds, and a few Fs: not a perfect normal curve, but over 10 years, I have had to conclude that it is NOT me. I compared my grading to the department, the institution, and to the other course sections and found that I was pretty much right about average. I had a department head once who looked at my grading and criticized my grade distributions. The conversation ended when I presented my comparisons.

More to the point, grades are NOT necessarily reflective of teaching excellence: it is the quality of student work. I give a project, then all semester, work my way through the parts of it. The better students work on it incrementally and receive better grades. The ones that wait till the last minute tend to do a bit more poorly. I routinely save one excellent example and could produce them as evidence of excellent teaching. Even this though, does not prove that my teaching has added value.

A department head who bullies has other problems, and they may simply be taking it out on you. When I have a bad day, or get some crap from my boss, I usually make a comment on my way out  to the effect that "Thank you so much! I will definitely try harder. When I get home, I am going to go kick my cat!"

Polenta, as for being flamed here, well, it happens. It means little since we are all essentially anonymous. Some people, given the opportunity, if there were no witnesses, would gladly kick that homeless person lying in a doorway, just because they could get away with it. This does not make it 'ok', but it is somewhat of a reality. I have been 'taken to task' here for some of my opinions, and on those occasions, I simply let it go: not worth the internal aggravation. Just my 2 cents.

[larryc]

Some people, given the opportunity, if there were no witnesses, would gladly kick that homeless person lying in a doorway, just because they could get away with it.

I was just nudging him out of the way. And I certainly had no idea that you were right behind me, or that you had a camera. That picture completely misrepresents what went on.

[polenta]

Some people, given the opportunity, if there were no witnesses, would gladly kick that homeless person lying in a doorway, just because they could get away with it.

I was just nudging him out of the way. And I certainly had no idea that you were right behind me, or that you had a camera. That picture completely misrepresents what went on.

Dear Sir, I am not a "him." Just goes to show how much of the posts you actually bother to read before flaming people. 

[polly_mer]

Some people, given the opportunity, if there were no witnesses, would gladly kick that homeless person lying in a doorway, just because they could get away with it.

I was just nudging him out of the way. And I certainly had no idea that you were right behind me, or that you had a camera. That picture completely misrepresents what went on.

Dear Sir, I am not a "him." Just goes to show how much of the posts you actually bother to read before flaming people.  

<Polly walks up with another free clue and hands it to Polenta>

Dear Polenta,

LarryC was doing a meant-to-be-humorous riff on the previous post and kicking an imaginary homeless person.  His post did not in any way, shape, or form have anything to do with you, your situation, or this thread.  The fact that you could not make that determination yourself indicates a possible reason why you have concluded that the people here are mean bullies.

Many of the regulars take a cue and run with it for humor instead of limiting themselves to the topic at hand.  LarryC is one of the stars of that genre.

[polenta]

Some people, given the opportunity, if there were no witnesses, would gladly kick that homeless person lying in a doorway, just because they could get away with it.

I was just nudging him out of the way. And I certainly had no idea that you were right behind me, or that you had a camera. That picture completely misrepresents what went on.

Dear Sir, I am not a "him." Just goes to show how much of the posts you actually bother to read before flaming people.  

<Polly walks up with another free clue and hands it to Polenta>

Dear Polenta,

LarryC was doing a meant-to-be-humorous riff on the previous post and kicking an imaginary homeless person.  His post did not in any way, shape, or form have anything to do with you, your situation, or this thread.  The fact that you could not make that determination yourself indicates a possible reason why you have concluded that the people here are mean bullies.

Many of the regulars take a cue and run with it for humor instead of limiting themselves to the topic at hand.  LarryC is one of the stars of that genre.

<Polenta is handed the clue from poly_mer, and now is running, running, running... *pant pant pant*...what now?>

;)

[polly_mer]

Some people, given the opportunity, if there were no witnesses, would gladly kick that homeless person lying in a doorway, just because they could get away with it.

I was just nudging him out of the way. And I certainly had no idea that you were right behind me, or that you had a camera. That picture completely misrepresents what went on.

Dear Sir, I am not a "him." Just goes to show how much of the posts you actually bother to read before flaming people.  

<Polly walks up with another free clue and hands it to Polenta>

Dear Polenta,

LarryC was doing a meant-to-be-humorous riff on the previous post and kicking an imaginary homeless person.  His post did not in any way, shape, or form have anything to do with you, your situation, or this thread.  The fact that you could not make that determination yourself indicates a possible reason why you have concluded that the people here are mean bullies.

Many of the regulars take a cue and run with it for humor instead of limiting themselves to the topic at hand.  LarryC is one of the stars of that genre.

<Polenta is handed the clue from poly_mer, and now is running, running, running... *pant pant pant*...what now?>

;)

Now draw a funny face and make a bad pun...or get that camera from Der_gadfly and blackmail LarryC.