Last Day of Classes!

Draft:

Earlier Drafts: 
I debuted these boots on Tuesday, and I've worn this dress differently here and here.

Composition: 
faux turquoise beaded necklace (Kohl's)
brown and white print dress (Target)
long oatmeal cardigan (Target)
cognac faux-leather wide stretch belt (Charlotte Russe)
brown tights layered over gray tights (NY&Co)
cognac leather riding boots (Steve Madden, gifted)

Usage:
Today's the last day of classes for me this semester!  This means I'm collecting final research papers from my students, attending my final grad class of the term, and heading to our end-of-semester graduate student potluck.

I wore this outfit on Tuesday, though, for the second to last day with my students.  I know it's not too innovative to wear my new cognac boots with a brown ensemble, but a long cardigan is a step into new territory for me.  I was a big fan of this look from S. at Narrowly Tailored, so when I saw these long cardigans on sale at Target for $15, I finally picked one up and promptly ripped off her styling techniques to put together my own outfit.  I liked how the long cardi gave the outfit a bit of a "wrapped in a blanket" type feeling, and though it's a lot of brown, I liked how the cognac belt and boots complemented the chocolate brown of the dress and the tights.  I put the turquoise necklace on to serve as a pop of color, but I'm not that thrilled with what it adds to the outfit.  I kind of think I should have just embraced the brown and worn some brown beads instead.

My students are expected to evaluate their participation at several points throughout the semester, so they submitted their last self-evaluations on Tuesday.  There is a space to add "comments," and normally, if they write anything at all, they use this space to explain why they don't talk much in class, to ask if coming to office hours counts as participation, etc.  Most of them leave it blank.  Yesterday, one of my quieter male students wrote "This class taught me a lot about writing," and one of my quieter female students wrote 2 or 3 sentences telling me she really appreciated my teaching style.  Neither of them has ever complained about a grade, or asked for extra credit, or done anything to suggest they might be fishing for favoritism, so their unexpected notes were nice to read.  During my office hours, the three students who'd scheduled appointments to talk about last minute questions for the final papers stopped in, and I was so pleased with how much work they're putting in.  I am genuinely looking forward to reading their papers after chatting with them briefly yesterday.

These interactions reminded me that while it's so easy to get frustrated by the handful of students who demand a lot of attention by sending unnecessary emails, complaining about grades, etc., it's important to keep in mind that those students don't speak for everyone.  Teaching this semester has been a constant struggle to try to re-learn some of the things I first learned as a high school teacher.  I remember now that oftentimes student silence is a sign that everything is going fine.  I generally aim for my courses to be ones in which students get out of them what they put in, so it is rewarding to hear that those students who are making the effort are learning.  I tend to begin to feel like my work is futile when one or two students want to pass the blame off on me for their underperformance.  Yesterday served as an important reminder:  If the students who wanted to learn from my class feel like they did, the class has been a success.

Since many of you teach in different capacities, I wanted to share this reminder with you as you gear up to grade final assignments or final exams.  Your students probably learned a lot more than you realize.  I think we can all remember a class we took in which our instructor would have had no idea how much we loved it or how much we learned from it.  I'm hoping I can keep that in mind as I grade their final papers and as I reflect back on my first semester with undergrads.

Prompts:

• How do you wear long cardigans?  Please share links!
• If you teach, what are some ways that you work toward keeping a healthy perspective on your success as an instructor?  Any other tips for keeping those critical students from getting to you?

Student Conference Attire, Take Two

Draft:

Earlier Draft:
I wore this dress for a conference presentation in the spring.

Composition:
faux turquoise beaded necklace (Kohl's)
pale turquoise cardigan (Target)
brown printed jersey dress (Target)
brown stretch belt (Kohl's)
teal mary janes (Seychelles)
nail color (OPI You Don't Know Jacques!)

Usage:
After reading your comments on my suggestion that I was going to dress casually for my student conferences, and after reading A-Dubs's explanation of why she "feel[s] the need to bring it, sartorially" at this point in the semester, I had a change of heart.  I decided that those of you who suggested that meeting the students in the library created a neutral enough environment were right, so I decided to dress as I normally do when I teach.  It also occurred to me that I'd also be more comfortable in my regular "teaching" clothes than in a more casual outfit.  I'm still getting used to the different register of authority I'm experiencing as a graduate student instructor of undergraduates.  I'm more comfortable with the clear, distinct line drawn between "adult/authority" and "child/student" that I operated under in my high school classroom.  I realized that if I felt too casual, I might not be able to do my best work as a teacher during the conferences.

Looking back on the conferences, I feel like this was a good decision.  Most of the students seemed more at ease meeting with me in the library than they had been in my office.  When a few of the students suggested that I was too demanding or being too hard on them, it actually made me feel more comfortable to be in an open, public area than sitting in the corner of my office, too.  Those conferences were definitely the exception, though.  Most of the students came well prepared with appropriate questions to ask.  The real test, I know, will be if their next papers demonstrate an improvement.  If the conferences don't end up benefiting the students, though, I definitely benefited from them.  Having a chance to talk to each of the students individually actually reminded me of a lot of the things I really enjoy about teaching.  I think that having on my "teacher clothes" also made it easier for me to start the conference by asking how they are managing the transition into college without it seeming like I was trying to befriend them. 

An experienced high school teacher once told me, "Some days you'll find teaching exhausting, but if you find it exhilerating on most days, you know you've found the right profession."  I was worried that sitting through two hours of conferences for three straight days would wear me down, and several other instructors told me that they hate conferences.  I found my experience of holding conferences quite refreshing, actually, and I feel ready to guide them through the last few assignments with the hopes that they do better on those papers than the one I graded this week.  Because those were not good.  It's true what they say about a teacher's work never being done.

Prompts:

• If you teach, what do you find most exciting about working with students? 
• Whether you teach or not, are there any features of your job that you enjoy even though your colleagues disdain them?  What are they?  Why do you think you enjoy them more than others?
• And this is a sidebar, but how often do you theme dress?  I put on this almost-never-worn cardigan last week because, in my graduate class, we were discussing a novel in which turquoise stones figure prominently.  I figured I had to wear my turquoise necklace for this discussion, so I dug this cardigan out to complement it... and all the sudden, I had a great new way to wear this dress!

Professional Conference Attire

Draft:

Earlier Drafts:
I wore this jacket/belt combination over a dress in the spring.

Composition:
faux turquoise beaded necklace (Kohl's)
teal button-down (NY&Co)
navy blazer (Gap Outlet)
brown belt (Kohl's)
"mocha" trousers (Express)
teal mary janes (Seychelles)

Usage:
First, I want to thank you guys again for your thoughts on my student conference attire.  I'm looking forward to telling you how they went and what I wore next week, after I've had a chance to meet with all my students and upload some pictures.

For today, though-- on to a very different type of conference!  I recently gave a paper at an interdisciplinary conference at my own university.  I was very intimidated to share a panel with a fellow grad student who is on his second yearlong dissertation fellowship award, a professor who is currently working on her second book on a National Endowment of the Humanities fellowship, and another professor who is a premier scholar in the field.  It was also kind of nerve-wracking to give the talk in front of so many of my own professors. I knew they'd be stopping me in the halls to talk to me about it afterward (and they have).  I was completely prepared, though, and that always helps to calm my nerves.  My co-panelists' papers were really interesting, and I got some very helpful questions and comments about my own paper, so it was a definite success.

I kind of surprised myself by putting together this pants outfit for the presentation, given my recent reservations about pants.  Last spring, when I presented at an international conference, I wore a dress and swing jacket combination.  I came across the photo linked above in the "earlier drafts" section, which reminded me that I actually wore a different version of today's outfit to the first day of that conference.  This time, I thought I'd stick with something that had worked before while making it a little more "me."  I added the teal button down underneath, the turquoise beaded necklace, and what are quickly becoming my signature teal mary janes.  The belt was perhaps unnecessary, but despite how frequently I deploy this waist-cinching maneuver, this was the first time my husband has ever said "I really can't believe your waist is that small!" so I guess it made an impact.

I'm curious what you think about this outfit, but I'm also interested in how frequently you aim to give papers at conferences.  I realize that an article publication carries a lot more weight on the C.V. than conference talks, but while I'm still in coursework, I have very little time to work on revising the papers that my professors indicate have publication potential.  Plus, I'm wary about publishing something this early in my career and regretting its point of view later on.  I have plenty of time to revise seminar papers into conference papers, though, so my general approach has been to accumulate conference presentation lines on my C.V. until I'm ready to move on to getting an article published.  I'm really curious about how frequently you all aim to present at conferences, what types of conferences you're most interested in attending, and whether that has changed as you progress into your career.  I've discussed these things with my own professors, obviously, but we have such a diverse and interesting group of readers that I'm curious to hear your thoughts on the issue, too!

Prompts:

• How often do you give conference presentations?  Every year?  Every semester?  Every time you come across a CFP that matches the work you've been doing?  Only when another University pays you an honorarium to come and talk about your current book project?
• So far I've presented at a graduate conference, a very large, prestigious international conference, and this interdisciplinary conference at my own university.  What types of conferences appeal the most to you?  As a graduate student, did you work on getting accepted by the "prestigious" conferences or were you focused on getting any exposure for your work that you could find?  Or maybe both?
• Have these things changed over the course of your career?  Does my model of focusing on conference presentations now and shifting the focus to article publications in a year or so make sense to you?
• Do you have a go-to outfit for conference presentations?  Do you find that you tend to prefer skirts or pants?