far_to_go

I'm working as a TA for my department now, which is valuable experience. After I defend my dissertation proposal, I'm hoping to get hired to teach a course or two - this is fairly standard in my department. Also, my university has a mentoring program called "Tomorrow's Professor Today" that I plan to take advantage of when the time is right (in my department, it makes most sense to do this in the 4th-5th years). It's run by the teaching resource center on campus, and includes a wide variety of activities/services meant to help kick-start a teaching career: they video tape your classes and offer feedback, offer workshops on writing teaching statements, arrange for you to "shadow" experienced professors, etc.

MMDYE, don't worry. In my program, there's actually a slight preference in favor of accepting people who are *not* fresh out of undergrad. Applicants who are a few years out of undergrad generally have a clearer idea of what they want to study and what they want to get out of grad school, regardless of how they've spent the "gap years" (working, doing research, getting an MA, etc). If you can, I'd recommend that you take a class or two here and there just to stay sharp (and, if possible, to build connections in the department where you want to end up). Think about how your work relates to your academic interests, but don't force it. Read books and articles that interest you. All of these things will help you to position yourself as a more mature, developed, and thoughtful applicant when your next app season rolls around. And in the meantime, save up as much money as you can- grad school stipends make for a tight budget!

dirty face

This helps me quite a bit! I'm doing a "directed readings" course this semester, and if I didn't have bi-weekly meetings with my prof, I'd never get anything done. I am not that good at meeting "fake" deadlines, but I find that positive reinforcement works well for me. I tell myself, "If you read those 3 articles/finish your paper/submit that grant application, then you can get some ice cream/go for a hike/ watch that movie." Having a concrete reward in mind, even if it's relatively small, helps me to focus and get the work done. I also use music quite a bit to help me study, mostly instrumental classical or jazz. Sometimes when I need to get a project done, I'll buy myself a new Mp3 album and tell myself that I can only listen to it while I'm working on that project. I rely on structured procrastination, or what I like to call "clearing the decks". If I have a major project to accomplish during the week, I try to do everything else first that might prevent me from working on that project (smaller academic projects as well as non-school responsibilities like laundry and grocery shopping). I do set a time limit for this. Once I've "cleared the decks," I find it's much easier for me to burrow into the big project - and by that time, since the deadline is usually approaching, I'm under pressure. Which usually helps.

mob rule

I love teaching! Before I started my PhD program, I'd taught/tutored students in various subjects all the way from kindergarten to college undergrads in a variety of part-time gigs. My decision to pursue a PhD was made with a definite intention to pursue teaching as a full-time career. That said, I do love research as well... I like to come up with new ideas, I like to travel, I like to observe and interact with people, and I like to write (I'm in anthropology, so that's basically what our research consists of!). I feel very lucky because I can't think of too many aspects of being a professor that I wouldn't like (maybe dealing with departmental politics? and grading?) My ideal job after PhD would be one where I can teach/mentor both grads and undergrads and also have time to develop my own research. Here's hoping I get it!

sex drive

Oh my goodness, what a great topic!! My roommate and I recently discovered Hershey's Banana Pudding ice cream. It has chunks of Nilla-wafer-like cookies in it- soooo good! In our area, it's only sold in pint cartons in a convenience store near our house, so when we decide to indulge, we usually go for a walk to buy it and then split the pint. Nice way to end a day of studying. We also occasionally drive to Wendy's to get Frostys (hands down, my favorite soft-serve). My roommate had never had one until a few weeks ago (he's an international student). Cute story: he can't remember the name and so he says things like "Do you want to go get a Coldy?" or "I'm in the mood for a Chilly." Hahaha, gotta love it!

Jaxwolf, sorry to hear that you had to do a last-minute move at the beginning of the semester! It's a good thing that the landlords didn't give you a hassle about it, at least. And congrats on finding a new place! I live a 15-30 minute walk from my school (depending on what building I'm going to) and I love it. It's good for my sanity and health to spend some time outside walking every day. I can also catch the bus on days when I'm running late or the weather is bad. I'm living in a small college town and sharing a house with 3 other students- my rent is a little under $400 a month. For me, even though I might be able to find a slightly cheaper living situation further away from school, it really isn't worth it, since I'd have to buy a car and deal with the hassles of car ownership, parking on campus, etc. Of course, everyone's situation is different. I would imagine that distance from campus would have a much greater impact on price in urban environments.

I second the advice in the original post. Just to add another piece: When I was applying, I wrote to students currently in the program and asked a few standardized questions about whether they were satisfied with their experience so far and what the general climate of the department was like (I was looking for a place that was friendly and cooperative, rather than cut-throat competition). I didn't spam everybody on the department website, of course, but I chose people whose interests were similar to mine and tried to connect with them. The replies I got were very helpful- and even the NON-replies were helpful, since there were some interesting patterns (as in "I e-mailed 5 students at X school and none of them responded? Hmmm...") So, in addition to contacting POI's, consider contacting grad students as well, especially those who are working with your POI.

It's definitely worth it to get in touch with potential advisors. It not only increases your chances of getting in to the program, but it gives you the opportunity early on to start evaluating whether you really want to work with that person or in that department.

Jynx, sorry to hear you're having a tough time with the research program. You may not know how to do your part right now, but I'm sure you CAN learn to do it! Hopefully you'll find a way to let your colleagues know that you need some more help getting started, and they'll be responsive to that. One of my incoming cohort-mates last year was in a situation that sounds similar to yours. She was new to our field of study and was very worried about whether she'd be able to catch up with those of us who had a background in the field. She hung in there, and now she's doing well and loving the program. Hope this will be the case for you too.

I watch Mad Men! So glad it's on Netflix now, since I don't own an actual TV. Other faves: - Family Guy - Law and Order SVU - Glee - The Office - House - Big Bang Theory I'm thinking about starting Dexter, based on strong recs from friends. However, I hate that it's not streaming on Netflix... getting the discs in the mail takes such a loooong time. Ha, I can't believe how impatient I am! Also, not exactly TV, but my roomies and I do make time for a weekly movie night. It's a great house tradition.

I bought a Kindle for 'pleasure reading' over the summer and LOVE it. However, I'm going to stick with print textbooks for my coursework, at least for now. It is possible to highlight/annotate on Kindle, but much easier on a paper version. Also, the page number issue is a big deal when you need to quote the book in a paper, or just need to get "on the same page" (literally) with your prof and fellow students in a seminar.

I usually go on the university bookstore's website a few weeks before classes start, find out what books the profs have ordered, and then buy them from Amazon or half.com. That way, the books have usually all arrived by the time the semester starts.

At my school, the majority of grad classes are not cross-listed. The relatively few that are cross-listed tend to have only a few advanced undergrads, and on the whole are run as grad-level seminars.

Thanks for the comments, everyone. I think I'm going to go ahead and keep permitting laptop use for now- we'll see how the semester goes. One of my colleagues has decided to ban laptop use but says she may ease up later in the semester if students argue that they would find it useful.

Hi everyone, The title pretty much says it all... do you let students use laptops in your discussion sections? Why or why not? I teach small discussion classes of around 20 students. I've previously allowed laptops, because some students prefer to read/annotate the readings on their laptops rather than printing them out. So far, it hasn't seemed to cause too much of a problem- I tend to watch the kids with laptops on rather closely to make sure they're not goofing off or creating a distraction for students around them. Still, though, I can see a strong argument for prohibiting laptops in classrooms. It's just too easy for students to jump on Facebook. What's worked for you?

I'm done with my first year of grad school, but I've spent this past summer doing fieldwork/language learning in a relatively difficult-to-live-in "3rd world" country. I'm looking forward to school starting, but I'm also just looking forward to getting back to the US for a nice hot shower, And a burrito. After that, I'll be ready for classes!

Going to second what others have said about the importance of getting permission before you do any recording, both from profs and from fellow students. One of my colleagues failed to do this and was raked over the coals, threatened with expulsion by a member of our department's ethics board, and forced to give a public presentation on the ethics of recording as penance. That said, if you still think it would be worthwhile to record, do invest in a good digital recorder (they're not too expensive). That way you don't have to deal with analogue tapes- you can upload the digital files onto an Mp3 player and listen to them while you work out at the gym or take the bus home.

A few weeks after my first semester in grad school started, I asked a visiting speaker (in a personal chat) what she did to make it through her first year of her PhD. She said, "I bought a comfortable reading chair and a very large bottle of vodka, and I made good use of both." I followed her advice ;-)

I'm TAing an anthro class called Culture and Film in the fall (ahhh! I'm so excited!) For the first day, I'm planning to have everyone tell their names and three movies they watched over the summer. I'm hoping that this will give me some insights into who they are and also provide a good transition into discussing the course content. I've also used runonsentence's #1 suggestion, and it is very helpful. You and all of the students WILL learn each other's names.

I did my first year of my PhD program without a car. It was a bit tough at times, but def not impossible (although, of course, this will depend on your city and your location within it). I did get a Zipcar membership, which was very helpful for occasional trips to the grocery store/ presenting at a conference 60 miles away / a few other errands that I couldn't have pulled off without a car. All in all, though, I think I used the Zipcar about 6-7 times per semester- everything else I managed to do by walking, public transport, and bumming rides from friends. For the upcoming school year, my roommate and I decided to split the cost of an old station wagon that still runs well- a friend was moving across the country and sold it to us for $700. I'm interested to see how much we'll actually use it, since we both became accustomed to going carless last year. Plus, it's a stick and we're still learning to drive it! :-)

Agreed. If you can make a few tweaks midway thru the semester in response to feedback from student evals, the students feel like you care. This can definitely bump up your end-of-semester evals. I've done this myself, and it's quite simple. I distribute index cards and ask students to answer the question "What's working about this class, and why?" on one side. On the reverse, I ask them to answer the question "What's not working, and why?" It's anonymous, of course, and takes only about 5 minutes of class time, but it can be really helpful. I've even had students mention it positively on their end-of-semester formal evals.

I'm leading a seminar series for the new TAs in my department this fall, and I recently wrote up this list of tips on how to deal with some of the logistical aspects of TAing (taking attendance, grading participation, etc). Hope it's helpful! http://marginalia84.blogspot.com/2011/07/tips-for-new-tas-notebook-method.html One strategy that worked well for me as a new TA was to think about how my favorite profs and TAs from my undergrad days handled their classes, and then to act accordingly. I also second the point that a few people have made about the importance of mixing it up every 15-20 minutes; in my 50-minute TA sessions, I try to plan at least 3 different kinds of activity so that I'm not just left asking "So... what did you guys think of the readings?"