Monday, July 31, 2017
Norm Violation: A Simple Example
I pulled into the grocery store parking lot yesterday. It was 7:00ish on a Sunday morning. No shortage of parking spaces, as you can see. I'm guessing the owner of this fabulous Dodge Challenger didn't want to take a chance on someone denting or scratching their car. We are taught to park between the lines, but some of our fellow drivers bend the social rules now and again. There is no punishment for this norm violation that I know of, unless silent judgement counts. Or being used as an example when I teach norms in Introduction to Sociology. A new semester begins soon. My file of examples is always growing.
Friday, July 28, 2017
Two Ways to Be Prepared to Teach First-Year College Students
The fall semester is coming soon. I'm feeling the pressure. More work now is less work later, I like to tell myself. So after I write this I'm working on my syllabi. I'm thinking of new 18-year-olds in my classroom. Should I read the latest research on millennials so I know how to teach them? I suppose I could, but more likely I'll draw on two key things to remember:
1. Don't overgeneralize.
If I read a list of all the things that happened before the incoming first-year students were born, it serves as a useful reminder that students are young and professors like me are not. I was born in 1972. If I make an obscure reference to a baseball player that I loved when I was a kid (Oscar Gamble) there is no way in hell they will catch the reference. But that doesn't mean all 18-year-olds are the same. It's a mistake to paint all 18-year-olds with a broad brush and, for example, assume they're technology whiz kids. I find in conversations with students (and in simple observations) that youngsters are, in some ways, like oldsters. Some 18-year-olds have their phones in their faces while others don't. Amazing. People are different. Oldsters shouldn't assume all 18-year-olds can't function without iPhones and PowerPoint just as 18-year-olds shouldn't assume oldsters don't know anything that happened after 1986.
No, the students won't catch my Oscar Gamble reference, but some of them have watched The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles. Those specific movies come to mind because I can remember two of my students recently making references to them. So while I'll stay away from super obscure popular culture references, I won't avoid more obvious references. They know who Michael Jordan is and I can mention him if I talk about consumption and Nike or if I want to assert he's better than LeBron (although for the first time in my life I'm wavering on this point and close to shifting to LeBron being the better player. Stay tuned).
In conclusion, don't overgeneralize. People think and act differently. Don't broad brush. And if and when someone who is 18-years-old tells me Oscar Gamble was a clutch pinch hitter then you'll get a mea culpa from me for assuming he's too obscure a reference.
2. Treat students with respect.
The thing about 18-year-olds is that they're people and here's one thing I'm 100% confident about having lived on this warming planet for 44 years: people like to be treated with respect. You already know that, right? No one likes to be disrespected. It's true for 18-year-olds and 80-year-olds. If we do the best we can to treat students with respect, I think we'll usually find the student-professor relationship falls into place. Mistakes will be made, as they say, because we are human and thus imperfect, but we should aim to give respect to our students. They notice. They appreciate. [If you are thinking "Hey you said don't overgeneralize but you're overgeneralizing by saying all people like to be respected" then consider this an exception to my don't overgeneralize rule.]
So there you have it. Don't overgeneralize and be respectful. You're almost ready to crush it in the classroom when the new semester begins. So shape up your syllabi (sooner than later) and have fun when school is in session!
1. Don't overgeneralize.
If I read a list of all the things that happened before the incoming first-year students were born, it serves as a useful reminder that students are young and professors like me are not. I was born in 1972. If I make an obscure reference to a baseball player that I loved when I was a kid (Oscar Gamble) there is no way in hell they will catch the reference. But that doesn't mean all 18-year-olds are the same. It's a mistake to paint all 18-year-olds with a broad brush and, for example, assume they're technology whiz kids. I find in conversations with students (and in simple observations) that youngsters are, in some ways, like oldsters. Some 18-year-olds have their phones in their faces while others don't. Amazing. People are different. Oldsters shouldn't assume all 18-year-olds can't function without iPhones and PowerPoint just as 18-year-olds shouldn't assume oldsters don't know anything that happened after 1986.
No, the students won't catch my Oscar Gamble reference, but some of them have watched The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles. Those specific movies come to mind because I can remember two of my students recently making references to them. So while I'll stay away from super obscure popular culture references, I won't avoid more obvious references. They know who Michael Jordan is and I can mention him if I talk about consumption and Nike or if I want to assert he's better than LeBron (although for the first time in my life I'm wavering on this point and close to shifting to LeBron being the better player. Stay tuned).
In conclusion, don't overgeneralize. People think and act differently. Don't broad brush. And if and when someone who is 18-years-old tells me Oscar Gamble was a clutch pinch hitter then you'll get a mea culpa from me for assuming he's too obscure a reference.
2. Treat students with respect.
The thing about 18-year-olds is that they're people and here's one thing I'm 100% confident about having lived on this warming planet for 44 years: people like to be treated with respect. You already know that, right? No one likes to be disrespected. It's true for 18-year-olds and 80-year-olds. If we do the best we can to treat students with respect, I think we'll usually find the student-professor relationship falls into place. Mistakes will be made, as they say, because we are human and thus imperfect, but we should aim to give respect to our students. They notice. They appreciate. [If you are thinking "Hey you said don't overgeneralize but you're overgeneralizing by saying all people like to be respected" then consider this an exception to my don't overgeneralize rule.]
So there you have it. Don't overgeneralize and be respectful. You're almost ready to crush it in the classroom when the new semester begins. So shape up your syllabi (sooner than later) and have fun when school is in session!
Thursday, July 27, 2017
Tuesday, July 18, 2017
Song of the Day - "New York" by St. Vincent
This morning on Sirius XMU, Julia Cunningham described St. Vincent's "New York" as a beautiful song.
I agree.
The opening line is a good one: "New York isn't New York without you, love".
A song about a place that isn't as good without one person in it. A song about a lover, a friend, who makes a place what you need it to be.
A place where "you're the only motherfucker in the city who can stand me".
Do you have a person in your life who can deal with your shit and handle your weirdness? Or handle your strength? And maybe even forgive you once in a while? Millions of people in New York, billions of people in the world, but you're lucky if you can find just one.
It's a beautiful song about yearning. A special person in a special place fills the void.
I agree.
The opening line is a good one: "New York isn't New York without you, love".
A song about a place that isn't as good without one person in it. A song about a lover, a friend, who makes a place what you need it to be.
A place where "you're the only motherfucker in the city who can stand me".
Do you have a person in your life who can deal with your shit and handle your weirdness? Or handle your strength? And maybe even forgive you once in a while? Millions of people in New York, billions of people in the world, but you're lucky if you can find just one.
It's a beautiful song about yearning. A special person in a special place fills the void.
Monday, July 17, 2017
What I Would Have Posted on Social Media Yesterday, Probably
I have no presence on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook, the place where many of my friends and relatives reside, posting memes and pictures of daily activities. I take pictures almost every day but for the most part they sit on my phone, seen by no one. They are not liked, except by me. I don't have any high-minded reason for not being in those social media spaces. I used to be on Twitter and enjoyed it for a while. I think I'd join Instagram but who cares about the 24 ounce can of beer I drank at the Buffalo Bisons game yesterday? And that's probably what I would have posted. It was a hot one at the ballgame. I usually buy a $6 craft beer in the first inning, and then one more later in the game. Yesterday was one stop shopping, an $8.25 big can of Labatt Blue. I liked my big can of cold beer on a hot summer day. I probably would have shown it to my social world, and tried to add a clever caption. That's a good enough reason to be on social media, or not to be. Either you want to show people what you're up to, or you don't. You want to express something publicly, or not. That I write on this blog is evidence that I care to share in some way, or at least keep a public diary of sorts.
Tell me, why are you in the social media spaces you prefer, and how do you operate?
Tell me, why are you in the social media spaces you prefer, and how do you operate?
Thursday, July 13, 2017
Inspired by Springsteen's Storytelling Genius
For a long time, I've been writing sociological stories. I keep trying to merge my loves of creative writing and sociology. Stories and poetry are some of the vehicles I've used for conveying sociological ideas. I'm enamored by those who tell good stories. I'm also a classic rock fanatic. So it's no surprise that I'm a Bruce Springsteen fan. Put on "Born to Run" or "Rosalita" and I'll run through a brick wall. The early Springsteen is so amazing. You hear the hunger in his voice. He's had an tremendous career but I'm especially drawn to 1970s Bruce. This week I'm inspired by a lesser known Springsteen tune, "Meeting Across the River". Loan me some money, Eddie, stay cool Eddie, don't blow it, "word's been passed, this is our last chance". The piano, the horn, the story, all outstanding. Around the 2:05 mark, it feels like the song is fading out, but there's still a minute to go. He rhymes "hocked it" with "pocket". The caper will work out, he's determined to keep his word, he's going to throw money on the bed so Cherry knows he isn't a bullshitter. Enjoy...
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