Comments on Comments (Day 2)

A second day of comments on comments from the last week:

AC

"Have a good boys afternoon out.

Thank you! 

"It all comes down to doing your best for the the students. It’s simpler than trying to recall sixteen separate points. You may be able to tell that I have not been in many useful meetings.

Haha!  The way meetings end up frequently being about who can fill the time and "talk the talk" is frustrating and disconcerting, indeed.  I am a firm believer that MOST meetings on pedagogy amount to nearly ZERO value and just become word salads discussing and debating new pedagogy jargon.... and little-to-no real world improvement in education.  I am of the mindset that real world improvement in education occurs primarily at the INDIVIDUAL TEACHER level.... meaning he or she has to spend time contemplating their own difficulties and successes and individually making adjustments and improvements at the individual instructor level.  

Linda's Relaxing Lair

"Enjoy your time. I love ❤️ the frog 🐸 illustration. Warm greetings from Montreal.

Thank you!  It is a surprisingly meaningful time for me.

"I tried contact lenses at about the time when my eyes were changing to require bifocals, so the experiment didn't work well, and I quickly reverted to glasses.

My major challenge is that the idea of having to regularly TOUCH my eyes gives me the willies and imagining having to do that EVERY DAY or even a few times EVERY DAY just makes me feel a lot of stress just IMAGINING it.  :)

"I have confidence in you.

Thank you!  I wish I could figure out a way to have more confidence in myself..... it is hard for me to muster up most days.

"Apparently I have cataracts developing. They have been for some time and haven't seemingly affected me yet.

I was caught off guard when I was told I had them last year.  Even though I have not investigated as much as I should have yet, I keep wanting to learn about typical progression patterns for cataracts.  

Margaret

"I'm so glad that you have bonded with this group; I remember how nervous you were about going the first time.

Yes, I was quite nervous, indeed.  I sometimes still feel a little bit of nervousness before I get there..... will there be new folks I have not met..... will there be more folks than seats..... will I uphold my end of the conversation.... those sorts of things.

"Oh, boy, those buzz words and lofty sounding generalities are SO familiar. Every year or so our professional development revolved around NEW! EXCITING! SUCCESSFUL! theories--unfortunately, short on specific strategies. Retirement is great, PT!

Haha!  The improved pedagogy Ferris Wheel is never ending it seems.  I am of the opinion that most of these "NEW", "EXCITING", "SUCCESSFUL" theories stem from the need for education faculty at the various universities needing to have publications.... so they take the principles of basic logic in education which really has not changed to any appreciable extent and repackage it with new buzz words, lots of hyperbole, and some sort of nod to the political trends of the day...... to get a publication.  But, then.... the unfortunate result is that masses of educators then spend countless hours repackaging what they do in the classroom simply to align them with these new buzzwords...... and that can take most of an educators time..... time which COULD HAVE BEEN USED by the educator to actually think about what he/she could strive to do more successful in his/her classroom.   

"Sorry about the TMJ and the Zooming marathon.

TMJ is tiresome indeed.  When my TMJ acts up, it tends to drain my energy.  Zooming..... like any "yammer" type meeting... tends to be tiresome.... BUT... in some ways it is better than face-to-face meetings..... I can more easily try to do other work on the computer (keeping the Zoom Room smaller on my screen) and still appear that I am paying CLOSE attention.  :)  I can even (by carefully keeping the papers out of view) grade papers while appearing reasonably engaged in the Zoomy activity.  :)

"I've had both eyes done; fast developing cataracts were affecting my quality of life. I didn't care for the surgery but did appreciate the clear vision afterward. I have a wrinkle in my right eye's retina; I'm always nervous about that changing for the worse. It would be a very intense surgery to fix that if I ever have to. A four hour meeting! Even one hour meetings are painful--ugh.

Yes, I know that cataract surgery is wonderfully successful.  I remember (even though long ago now and with less developed technology) both my Mom and my Dad had successful cataract surgeries.  So, eventually it will likely be needed.  I still admit I get a little nervous about what if MY particular surgery someday is the one of a very small percentage that goes awry?  

"I think it will be interesting! I love the shirt by the way. When I'm uncomfortable, I often let others direct the talk by asking for questions or making a couple statements and asking for input. Most people LOVE to hear themselves talk and it takes the pressure off you!

I will be writing about the event in the next day or two, so you will hear more about it then.  Yes, asking for input is often a great way to get folks talking and to reduce my speaker discomfort.  Several of the speakers there did that sort of thing trying to rile up passions in the crowd.  As you may recall from yesterday's apology to Pam J.... my real worries were more about if I would measure up successfully.  I had to try to prove to myself that I could "do it" I guess.  

Pam J

“These practices are designed to be especially beneficial for students from historically underserved backgrounds, playing a role in reducing equity gaps.”

Interesting that your university cares about helping “underserved” students and/or reducing “EQUITY” gaps. You’re in danger of tRump cutting off any federal funding for daring to care about (evil) DEI.

(Rueful laugh).... I agree with your statement.  I would not be surprised if the U did get some sort of funding punishment in the near future.  It is so disheartening that science, education, and hell.... so many other things have been so decimated.... and in such a short period of time.  I was wondering to myself the other day if perhaps this significant mailse felt by reasonable, caring folks today about the current situation.... does it mimic in any of the feelings and emotions of reasonable, caring German citizens in 1928 or 1929 before and as their society began to be upended by the the incredible horrors of the Nazis in the 1930s and 1940s?  I certainly hope we are not on that sort of precipice.... but things now are getting rather more disturbing than I even imagined.  

"I'm not surprised that you have early signs of cataracts but I am surprised that you seem a little fearful of the surgery. I've had cataracts removed from both eyes, several years apart. It's the best. Easy, painless, and what a difference it makes! Because cataracts develop slowly, you don't realize how much they compromise your vision until they're gone. I had my eyes adjusted to make reading glasses unnecessary, a wonderful side effect of the surgery. My sister, with nearly identical vision problems, had her surgeon adjust her eyes so she never needs distance glasses but does need reading glasses.

I know you're an anxious person but I encourage you to embrace any cataract surgery in your future.

I agree with you.... the cataract surgery is incredibly successful and as far as surgery goes..... very, very safe.  Broadly I am not "afraid" per say about having the surgery when it becomes necessary.  But, I do admit that even though extremely UNLIKELY, I do sometimes get a twinge of fear about WHAT IFs.... like, what if I am the 1 out of 10,000 surgeries where something goes awry and I am forever blinded?  Stupid, and unlikely, I do know... but if I am not careful, I can drift into that sort of fear.  

"“I do not think a "dry" academic type speech (which I am comfortable with of course) would meet the needs of these folks.”

Respectfully disagree. You were probably invited precisely because they want an academic type (dry or not). Just because they seem like crunchy-granola folks to you doesn’t mean they’re not serious about their cause. There are entirely too many stereotypes in our current society. In my opinion.

I did specifically reply to the above comment in my post on Monday for folks who may want to read that.  But, for the record, I want to again to apologize to Pam J for the words I used.  I can readily see how they could be read as negative.  And, I want to again state that was NOT my intent.  I was primairly trying to grouse a bit about my own fears about my inability to give the group a successful talk that they wanted.  

Pat M.

"So nice to read that you are re-connecting with old friends, those stored-away pipes. Your talk of "memories" leads me to wonder about your selection criteria for the memorial display. Are you looking for a pipe that is most aesthetically pleasing? Or are you looking for a pipe that is most deeply associated with pleasant memories of one or more of the three "fathers" you'll be honoring? Or a little bit of both? Whatever you decide, I'm glad that the display preparation is giving you an opportunity to re-connect with treasured memories, and I hope and trust that the display, when completed, will help to keep those treasured memories all the more alive for you.

Those are good questions, Pat.  Initially, I was primarily wanting to select one of my older pipes from the era when those three folks were still alive, so with my Dad passing first, it would have to be a pipe that is 30+ years old.   I also want the pipe to be one of the very traditional shapes and finishes (not a freehand style, nor a rusticated pipe for example), and I want it to have "gravitas" as well.  But, at the same time, I DO NOT want it to be a pipe that was owned by my Dad or either of my two academic fathers.... and I do not want it to be a pipe that I would possibly carry around with me in my shirt or coat pocket someday.  I want it to be one I can leave "permanently" on the plaque on the wall.   In some ways it is is a tall order (hard order).  I actually went to my pipes stored in the boxes after examining my pipe racks, because I did not want to "give up" the potential "portability" of any of my pipes that are in my home and U offices' pipe racks.  But, after opening the long closed boxes.....so many memories began to flood my mind for those pipes in the boxes too.  Many memories I had not thought of in quite a long time.  As it stands at the moment, I am still trying to create a small pile of pipes that display enough "gravitas" but are not too sentimental for it to be "permanently" affixed to the display.  And, as you can see, even in my thoughts, the "permanence" is not absolute either, for I do not want to damage the pipe by literally affixing it to the plaque but instead by using some sort of stable (non-damaging) clamp to hold it in place.  

PipeTobacco