Writing and the moon

I have not posted in many moons and thought today would be the day to post. Since I last posted I completed book chapters and am waiting for the publishers to move us to the next steps.  Working on a book has been challenging, mind blowing, and absolutely amazing.

I am very thankful for my mentor, Sophia Dziegielewski, who included me in this process.  I learned so much and I learned that I am a pretty good writer—even when I am tired and when I don’t think I can do it.  I learned that I can push myself.  Push myself to completion—like I did with the chapters some nights.  I learned I can lose a little sleep and that I can get a lot done in a quiet hour or two.  The feeling of completion is so worth it. And, sleep and rest can be rewarding for a job completed.

I found that after writing these chapters I was faster with other work and professional activities-especially grading, class preparation, and letter and memo writing.  I’ve also felt more confident about my completed work-I am not saying my best work or my inspired work, but my completed work.

Getting started, getting past those hours, days, weeks, and months of feeling like it won’t be good enough, like it will be a waste of time- that is the hardest and the worst. Being in the zone is the best.  The zone of being in the present and just moving along and doing the thing you are doing and then the next thing, and then the next thing-until you get things done, and move on to the next thing after the thing you just did.

There is lots of advice out there about writing and practice and taking on new projects. And, many of us have waited for the muse to come, for the stars and moon to be aligned or to draw the right tarot or architype card. There is something to be said for befriending the muse and the sun and stars and fate. I hope everyone has a place and rituals for their crafts.  But, you really just need to get started.  Give yourself about 25 minutes to get in the zone (Pomodoro method—google it-it works for me) and then remember it is going to get hard again. Take a break and give yourself another 25 minutes, tell people no, when they want you to do things that are  stupid for you, and tell yourself no, when the stupid thoughts and feeling come.  And, remember that your best work is your completed work.

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The last week of class feels like . . . Well, it feels different in the Fall than in the Spring semester and Summer. At my university the last week of class comes after Thanksgiving.  And, then there is my birthday-December 2 which is the beginning of my year. This year my birthday is the first day of Advent. The beginning of a new liturgical year.  Is it enough just to be excited?

And, then there is Christmas which is weeks away.

But, classes, I did a lot of catch-up work over the Thanksgiving holidays so I am not severely behind with grading this year. That is a good thing. Students seem to be in good spirits. I brought cupcakes to celebrate the last class and truth be told-my birthday! I did not say the cupcakes were for my birthday.  Actually the students brought women’s items for a women’s shelter as gifts rather than gifts for each other. They didn’t have to bring the gifts for the shelter-it was not required.

We also have administrative meetings this week–meetings where we eat pizza and potluck and find out about new things at the university.

I am having an Advent for my Advent. I just pray I don’t gain 20 lbs.

Well, this is not my deepest post, but it may be my shortest. Something is in the air. Let it be excitement.

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October 29, 2018   It has been a week

It has been a week—the mail bombs sent to prominent Democrats and then the shooting in the Synagogue in Pittsburgh. The mail bombs were intercepted before anyone was hurt and the person who sent them has been identified and is in custody. Of course, you can google all of this. The shooting in the synagogue reminds of the Sandy Hooks Elementary school shooting (2012) and the Charleston church shooting (2015). I wonder how the survivors and organizations are doing. I am sure there are articles to google. It takes a long time to recover from tragedies like this and unfortunately those who are not involved forget too soon.

However, these events happen too often in my country.

This blog is about my experiences in my online and face to face classrooms, and even prior to these events tensions were high. “It is that time in the semester” as I say this time of year. Students have lots to do now-assignments, quizzes, deadlines, and I have lots of grading and making sure that my class activities align with the purpose of my courses. In my experience, I’ve seen that things get a little disruptive this time in the semester, and some of it is with me-losing control of my own schedule.

This semester I’ve also been encouraging (requiring) students to do community and university activities related to leadership and diversity. I’ve been doing many of these activities myself. And did I say that midterm elections were looming? Our university and community have had candidate visits and candidate forums. And, early voting has begun.

For me, many of these events have involved diversity issues, and I thought I was pretty aware. But, I keep learning more-more about others, more about structural discrimination and more about myself. I don’t like talking/writing about race. It is awkward and it is easy to “make mistakes.” To step in it, as my father would say.

I have never said I was color blind because I am not color blind. I do see race-like I see gender, body size, age, ability/disability, appearance, ethnicity, accent (I hear accent), social class and all sorts of demographics. But, one thing about what I see is-I’ve been wrong in my perceptions. Wrong about how a person identifies themselves, wrong about what I think they believe/want based on their appearance or other characteristics, wrong about how they express themselves, wrong about how they communicate, and wrong about what they are feeling.

There is a series of programs at my university called “Brave spaces” which has provided a forum to discuss these issues of diversity. I agree with the title “Brave spaces” because that is what it takes-the bravery of a Griffindor.  Not the bravery of stupid physical actions, but communication, dialogue and relationship building. It takes time, energy, patience, willingness assertiveness and love to get your feelings and ego scuffed up—for the sake of learning and building community.

Now is the time for peaceful, non-violent, loving and authentic communication.

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Should Professors and Students be friends?

In defense of social media

I am a professional Social Worker and one of the things that has been clearly placed in our revised code of ethics is that social workers should not be friends with clients on social media and that those of us who teach and supervise should not be friends with those we teach and supervise on social media.

I arrived on Facebook in Summer 2009, and being on Facebook has been one of the best things I’ve done in the past 10 years. I’ve reconnected with high school and college friends, I’ve built new relationships, I’ve gotten to know people well that I only knew in passing.  Facebook has allowed me to express myself and proofread my expressions before posting.  Facebook has made me a more confident writer and given me feedback-feedback that has supported me, energized me, disappointed me, and led me to rethink what I am thinking and writing.

All and all, Facebook has been a very positive experience for me. My Facebook friends or Face-babies as I call them, have provided me with quotes, memes, prayers, sayings, advice, wisdom, news, New York Times and Atlantic pieces and more.  Facebook has led me to articles and links that I have used in classes.  Facebook nudged me to go deeper in reading and I have accepted those offers to go deeper.

Maybe I am unique because I have an excellent group of Face-babies?

So. about students as friends on Facebook? Last week I had another realization. I want people to read my posts on Facebook and I want them to read my blog. When I speak in class or post in my course shells, I want students to listen and read what I’ve written.

Since I teach graduate students, most all of my students “know the rules” that they should not be friends with their Professors on Facebook, and I’ve had some students/alums to send me a friend request days after their graduation. And, usually I quickly accept.  Because what I put on Facebook I would say anyway. I am at a point in my life where I can be honest and that is part of my privilege.

Yes, I have had the workshops/training on social media/technology and professionalism, and one thing I learned from these trainings was emphasized to me earlier this month. Sometimes I learn too much about others on Facebook. Maybe they are at the beach or spending time with their children when I feel that they need to be working on a report with me?  I want others to have their privacy. As a professional, I should only get information about colleagues and my student colleagues in a professional setting and professional fashion.  That is when “Unfollowing” comes in handy.

And, of course, I don’t look students and clients up on Facebook. No way!  I have better things to do than stalk and sneak.

I am glad my students and colleagues know about boundaries too. This helps me because I can be an over-poster, and my tendency to over-post, over-share led me to get this blog.

Welcome to my blog!  Feel free to comment. I hope this becomes a two way or three way or four way street.

Self-care and social justice

In my profession, Social Work, we hear a lot about self-care. When we get overwhelmed, get angry or cry about the slights, injustices and micro-aggressions and sometimes macro-aggressions at work we are reminded about self-care. It is like if we are not engaging in self-care we are not doing something right.

When I first heard of taking care of myself in this way in the 1990s, I thought of self-care as eating cookies and taking bubble baths which can still be a part of my self-care.  But, let me write about what self-care is not . . .for me.

My self-care is my self-care. . . not other people’s ideas for my self-care. My self-care is not going out to eat and drink in a crowded, noisy restaurant and either gossiping about work or trying to make conversation about things I am not interested in (I wonder if this will be easier now that I have a hearing aid)?

My self-care is not letting people down because I am doing these so-called self-care activities.

What is my self-care?

My self-care is eating, exercising, sleeping, resting, thinking and interacting in a way that serves my body, mind and spirit. My self-care is doing my jobs well, practicing and preparing before I go into something that I am either doing for work or that I’ve volunteered to do. My self-care is listening to myself and others, and being honest, but polite, respectful, patient and forgiving with myself and others when I just can not do something. . . and being polite, respectful, patient and forgiving when others can not fulfill their obligations.

My self-care is looking for justice, and thinking of care and self-care in the long term-not just the short term. Balancing the rights, needs and wants of myself, others and all my environment. To me self-care can feel hard and burdensome in the short-term.

My body, mind and spirit need a lot of care. My body, mind and spirit are like babies, and so are yours.

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Week 7: You are Valdosta State to our students

For me, this is nice to think, but we are a team. And, even though I have been at Valdosta State University since 1999, I feel like a small part of Valdosta State University. I am a Professor in a program in a college in a university. I teach graduate students-MSW students. Our students come to class in the evenings and on weekends.  Sometimes I don’t feel like a true teacher because I don’t teach four days a week a couple of times a day, but I especially do my time with the online course preparation and grading.

I get to know students that way-and one of the items for this week is “Make it a goal to talk to at least 20 students this week.”  Do the students I teach count? And, then there was the guy on the stairs asking for directions.  Doing these weekly posts has made me more mindful of the students.  Sometimes I wonder if students want relationships with us?  Professional relationships, mentoring relationships-yes, and even if they aren’t holding a big sign that says, “I am a student, mentor me” this is our role. To show them how to be professional and to guide them in this academic, professional and adult world we are living and working in.

So I guess in that way I am VSU, and I am a professional social worker.  And, for some of our students- not only are the faculty VSU, but our building, our floor and our classrooms are VSU. I believe I have a responsibility to push the students out beyond our classrooms into other programming and educational experiences at VSU and in their communities.

Now that I am done with the seven weeks and themes, I have some more up my sleeve. So stay tuned. I usually post on Wednesday or Thursday of each week.

I just finished teaching a class and it seems that the new students are coming together as a class—maybe even as a team? I’ve never thought in terms of a team.  What is a team?  I looked it up in dictionary.com and I like the second definition best “a number of persons associated in some joint action.” Or, maybe I like the first definition “a number of persons forming one of the sides in a game or contest?”

The discussion tonight wound up being about diversity and white privilege, and I liked the way the students asked questions of each other, gave examples and were so considerate of each other. That is the beauty and one of the true pleasures of having a class that is racially diverse—or at least racially diverse when it comes to Black students and White Students. Our MSW program still has more to do when it comes to promoting diversity and these conversations, but it is good to see the students initiating the discussions and leading the way.

Oh, about the theme for the week Assemble the team, I think the intent of the theme is to encourage Valdosta State University (VSU) faculty and personnel to assemble the team together for the students—the advising team, the success team etc. This is important for beginning college and VSU students, and for the MSW students as well.  This theme comes at Week 6 when it is not only important to connect students and encourage students, but for things to come together for student success.  The feel of Week 6 in the semester is different than the feel of Weeks 1 or 2 or Week 15. In Week 6 there is more work to be done, the students, faculty and VSU personnel are just getting into the thick of things, and the end of the semester may seem far away.

This week and for the rest of the semester I hope to continue to see that we are a team. I am not much into team sports, and I grew up seeing higher education as being more hierarchical than a team.  In my higher education experience, we covered some pretty controversial and substantive topics, but it was real clear that students were students and faculty were faculty (Ha, ha, ha).  We generally talked more of the team talk than walked the team walk. So here is to us being  a team.  A team for the student success.  With the team, sometimes I am a facilitator, sometimes a lecturer, sometimes an evaluator, sometimes a listener. I am embracing this new way of thinking. Go Team!

The theme for Week 2 was Connect our students with activities, and the theme for Week 3 was Connect our students to resources.  I see Week 5-Encourage Experiential Opportunities as being similar to these, but different.  Similar in that it involves more than just reading books and articles, and more than just lectures-readings and lectures can certainly provide background for and enhance these experiences. Experiential opportunities often incorporate activities and resources, but experiential comes from experiences (obviously).

As a Professor I can facilitate and guide students to experiences that can stimulate their thinking and generate new ideas for them.  Experiences I have facilitated are enabling Valdosta State University students to attend the National Association of Social Workers Advocacy and Lobby Days in Atlanta, Georgia, having students present and publish their work and linking MSW students with the Valdosta Affiliate of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) for our annual political forum and Sister to Sister summit for middle school girls. I have also been an adviser of the Graduate Social Work Organization—currently I am a co-adviser.  And, guest speakers are good too. Guests (even Skype guests) can bring new voices and faces to the classroom—new resources for the students.

These experiences are best when these are things the student wants to do or things the students come up with. Sometimes a learner does not know they want this experience until they have it, and sometimes students learn that once may be enough for them for some learning experiences.  That is a big part of knowing what you want to do-knowing what you don’t want to do.

For a faculty it does take coordination and organization and these skills are different than providing course content and grading. I must say there are lots of moving parts when you plan experiential opportunities.  And, sometimes there is risk and liability involved—it is always good to plan and communicate with others throughout your setting.  It is amazing the things that can come up. We need each other for these experiences to be successfully executed.

As a social work educator, I have a lot to say about Experiential learning and even though I am not a field director, I have been a field liaison and field instructor. And, in social work—it is a true joy to see students and alumni contribute to their communities and profession. I am proud and honored that I can create these experiences and share with students. I am a lucky Professor!

Week 4: Understand the challenge of the first grades

As I write this, I am thinking I don’t need to be writing this, I need to be posting in my course shells and grading.  Tonight MSW students from two classes I teach attended and facilitated groups in VSU’s Readers’ theater for new students living in VSU housing.  I was pleased to see the MSW students’ contributions, and also our program being out there—out of our building and with a population that I don’t often see us with—the undergraduates at Valdosta State University.

So the challenge of the first grades . . . the students I teach are Masters students, but me and my classes are new to some of them.  And, the fourth week is usually when assignments have been submitted and there are grades—the early grades, the before midterm grades.  I have learned a lot about grading over my years of teaching. My father who was a college professor would say that “Grading is the dishwashing of teaching” –meaning that it is a necessary task that is usually done at the end, and something that is not be the most enjoyable part of teaching.

When I started teaching at the university level in 1998, online and hybrid teaching were just beginning. Grading before online was grading actual papers or exams—red pen in hand, and when I started as an instructor it took me so long to grade. And, then moving to online—probably about 2003 or 2004, and not everything was submitted online then. That was another learning curve.  Reading the work and grading on the screen, inserting comments, changing font colors, saving, and returning the work to the students. I have gotten faster over time, and more confident.  Faster with the technology and more confident in my ratings and conclusions about student work.  And, technology has gotten lighter—lighter in that when I travel my laptops aren’t as heavy, and lighter in that technology is easier and more reliable now.

Right now in my career, I don’t mind grading as much I used to. I enjoy the quiet of reading a student’s work and I must say I give interesting assignments—so that helps.  I see grading as communicating with the student.  I have learned so much from my students through their work—learned about policy, laws and court cases,  social problems, current events, populations at risk for oppression, discrimination and poverty, and international social welfare and social work. I aim to give lots of written feedback as well as a numeric and letter grade.  I try to soften the feedback, “Try rewording this” or “This is a little short, elaborate more” or “You write conversationally—you write like you talk, take a more professional tone, use language/terms that are more specific.”

So back to the challenge of the first grades, one thing I have learned is that grading is not over once you return the paper, exam or assignment.  Students will have questions, comments and concerns especially if their grades are not what they want them to be. Encourage them to reach out, make time in your schedule for them to reach out, discuss the assignments in the next class—this can be done early in the semester. Have graded assignments early in the semester. Don’t wait.  Early is the time for practice, mistakes, lessons, phone calls, appointments, and learning.

Midterm? Later? The last week of class?  When grades are due? Well, I am not writing about that now, and I must get back to my course shell—I’ve got articles to post and grading to do.  We are still in the fourth week of class. More about later-later.

Saturday, August 25  I did a workshop on Grant writing & Program Development for the Valdosta State University, MSW program consortium. I organized my workshop using a powerpoint and annotated bibliography. I posted the annotated bibliography as a page on the link to the Grant writing & Program Development workshop on the home page of this blog.

I guess I could say that this workshop was connecting students, alumni, community members and others to resources.  I was very pleased that so many attended–not just alumni and people wanting and needing Continuing Education hours, but students and my friends–some of my partners and allies in community development here in South Georgia.

Even though I value connecting students and others with activities and resources, it is a change of mindset for me to embrace this emphasis.  I have always seen this as something that I do that is extra–not like the lecturing, the papers, the exams and the rigor of the classroom that are supposed to be the most important.

I am trying to find a way to measure this. What do the students learn from these activities and connections.? Will these opportunities help the students to become better professional social workers?  What about connecting the students with activities and resources is helpful for them?

Feel free to comment . . .and by the way . . . I’ll ask the students too.  See you next week.