Michael Livingston

May

13

The The Impotence of Proofreading

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My brother, Lance, sent me a link to a video of a fine gentleman, Taylor Mali, ranting about “What Teachers Make.” A few clicks brought me to this, a disturbingly true look at the state of students’ proofing skillz:

Apr

29

Grading and Sidearms

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I’ve previously posted on why my uniform does not include a sidearm, but it’s good to have reminders now and then of why this is so.
It’s final grading time hereabouts right now, and I’m getting close to the end. All that remains is for me to grade the essay component of an in-class final […]

Apr

26

Grading Graduates

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I’m grading graduate student research papers this weekend, from my course “Medieval War and Peace.” It’s a nice change from marking up freshman composition papers. There are fewer egregious grammar issues and more attempts to say something of solid merit.
Sadly, though, not everything is different.
For example, these graduate papers were supposed […]

Apr

24

Finals Week

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After a brief chance to catch my breath earlier this week — a couple days to bang out two more chapters of Four Shards — I’ve now entered the homestretch of the semester. Finals.
For students, finals week means studying. For teachers, it means grading. For all of us, it means late nights […]

Dec

10

Grading Done

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Yes.
Done.
And just in time, too. I seem to have contracted a wee cold.

Oct

16

Did You Know?

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My parents put me on to this little movie, originally put together by Karl Fisch, the director of technology for a Colorado high school. It’s a simple presentation, providing a few basic facts about what our world is and what it will soon be. It isn’t political. It’s practical.
Watch it. Encourage others to do so.

Some […]

Sep

15

A Weekend of Grading

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Ah … an afternoon grading 101 papers. What could be finer?
Well, a lot of things.
Most things, actually.
On the plus side, the papers are looking decent so far — not great, mostly Cs, but it’s early in the term. There’s time for things to get where they need to be ‘ere the end comes. […]

Sep

12

Why My Uniform Doesn’t Include Weapons

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3.2%
That’s the percentage of my 101 students (mostly “knobs” — i.e., freshmen) who followed the explicit written and oral instructions on how to turn in their papers to me today.
Three. Point. Two.
The other 96.8% just lost a full letter grade.
Plus, in my second 101 section this morning, a full 40% had lost or forgotten the […]

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