s15rballard

Yes, I have held mandatory office hours and conferences; in fact, I held nearly twice the required amount of time for office hours for the first part of the semester. Barely anyone came and I eventually had to cut my hours down slightly to accommodate for an important obligation, but I'm still holding well over the required time. On the most substantial assignments, I grade by rubric so there can be little question of my reasoning and thereby also create a "paper trail". I do try to keep my office door open, but students have shut it behind them in conferences before. I am planning on getting a doorstop or something for that reason, and now plan on instituting a "conference log" for student visits.

I am TAing for my department, and while grading I have noticed that a great many of my students are scoring poorly because they are not following directions I gave them multiple times (how to write a thesis, how to organize an essay). While I am sure I am not the most fascinating instructor, I am appalled that what was previously a very engaged class has not been paying attention to (or using) the assignment instructions, the course reading, or my advice in class. How can I get the students to pull an about-face on this in the last half of the semester?

Hey all, Could use a bit of advice here--I'm still in the acclimation process to my grad program, and I have fallen sick with a bit of what seems to be a developing cold. I don't think it is terribly severe, but I do wonder if you have any advice for managing this situation when my schedule is dominated by coursework, teaching, and work at a side job for which I can't readily find a stand-in for my shift. Please let me know what your tips and tricks are?