Poet Ponders the Digital

I am currently dealing with three major projects: Completing my dissertation. Applying for 2010 positions Finishing home renovations. The middle task, quite literally sandwiched between the other two in my daily life, is one of the most difficult for any person. I tell my students that career changes -- including starting a career -- are always difficult. The likelihood of rejection, at least a few times, is quite high. It is emotionally draining to hunt for work. To be in the job market along with my students will be interesting. It should remind me of the challenges they face. Portfolios are common for my students. Many have studied fashion design, architecture, or landscape horticulture. They need to present evidence of their projects to prospective employers. I also have to present evidence of my work as a graduate student, teacher, and writer. The portfolio will be something of a shared experience, this year. I'm not yet sure if a digital portfolio will be ...

I am completing an online portfolio, which is always a good process for self-evaluation as an instructor. See: http://www.tameri.com/csw Because I ask my students to create online personas and to work on various digital projects, this is a good way to keep myself grounded. It reminds me that the process is never easy, no matter how experienced one might be with the genres involved. My teaching philosophy took me two weeks to edit, and I'm still not pleased with the results. The sidebar and overall site design isn't what I had hoped to create, either. Something about it doesn't seem to convey who I am. At least I can sympathize with my students. Some of the university job listings ask applicants to describe the classes they might want to teach. I could list two or three dozen, easily. I am a proud generalist, with too many interests and a complete inability to focus on a specialty. That's not a bad thing, since I can be a "utility player" withi...

I spent the day preparing the course I am teaching. It's a hybrid, with online content constituting half the course. That is a positive thing, considering last semester. It's already known that I need at least one more eye surgery, maybe more, and one internal surgery. Both of these can be done out-patient and are relatively minor. (Minor if you like having your eye scrapped with sandpaper.) With these things in mind, and the miscellaneous emergencies last semester, I have completed most of the handouts and homework assignment sheets for the upcoming course. If/when I am medically indisposed, a situation which I seem predisposed, the homework schedule can be maintained. That's the joy of an online course. I am going to supplement the course with podcasts and screencasts, giving demonstrations of basic tasks so students can review the lecture concepts. This is going to be quite the adventure. The recorded materials can also become part of my portfolio. Yes,...