comp12

To follow up, Thanks for everyone's comments. This is a humanities context. It is a freshman composition class, where the goal is less to prove mastery of discipline/content, rather to produce persuasive writing. We do have a thorough rubric. It is clear the emphasis is on argumentative strength and original analytical rigor. Most students are, indeed, STEM students, who are used to things like "correct answers" and "mistakes." There is nothing that these students love more than receiving "corrective feedback" and to model their papers off of "perfect" essays. Most have solid command of thr mechanics of writing, and the English language. Many have trouble in moving beyond a middle-school level Five-Paragraph-Essay.

Very doubtful.

Ugh, how do you respond to this question? And, how do you respond to the even more rage-inducing, follow-up question that usually comes right after: "What do you want me to do SPECIFICALLY? I want to fix each of my specific mistakes, so that I can get an A." The following is a conversation that's happened multiple times this year: STUDENT: So, I got your comments and feedback on my draft. But, you didn't tell me, what grade would you this draft if it were the final assignment? ME: Well, that wouldn't be a fair thought experiment for either one of us, because it ISN'T the final draft. The key for the moment is to think about the potential ways you could improve it during the revision process. STUDENT: Yes, I understand that. But, I just want to get a grasp on your evaluation and grading philosophy. Can you tell me what grade you personally would consider this draft? Also, while I understood the feedback you gave and the questions you asked, can you give me some ACTUAL, specific, step-by-step instructions on what mistakes I made, and how I can fix them, in order to get an A? ME: ........[facepalm] WAIT, SO YOU WANT ME TO REVISE YOUR PAPER FOR YOU, IS THAT RIGHT?

How about this one for you guys: Let's say you teach a class that involves writing / creative projects / other open-ended assignments. How do you deal with THAT student who always comes in to ask the infamous question: "Here is my draft. If I hand this in, what grade would you give it?" I figure by now I ought to have a repertoire of canned responses up my sleeve on how that is not an acceptable question to ask.

Any ideas for a lesson plan involving incoming freshmen in a section of 30 students? Being that it's day one, I'm not going to bank on a lot of kids having read their readings beforehand. Being that there are 30 people and only 50 minutes, it's not practical to do a round of detailed personal introductions. Does anyone else have ice-breaker exercises they like to use for large'ish classes and young 18-year old college students? Of course, since it's day one and these are freshmen who don't yet know the typical university infrastructure, I'm sure to spend time explaining lots of these details, like how to read a syllabus, what are their requirements, etc etc. But what suggestions do you have for 1st-day icebreaker activities? Thanks!

Also - discounts can come in handy for nights out on the town...especially for venues and places one might not have gone otherwise. Nearly every single arts organization--museums, symphonies, ballets, opera, theater, etc--have student rush rates that are many fractions of face value admission. These organizations are always hungry for younger audience members to establish repeat patronage.

When I started, I did the whole attempting to mark in as few sittings as possible thing too. Then I sound that I was going crazy. And that students whose assignments were towards the end of the pile showed a correlation to lower grades So now, I make conscious efforts to space them out.

On desk: Laptop and mouse, single-serve coffee maker, a travel souvenir that doubles as a paperweight, a bookends set that keeps thr books I'm currently reading. On shelf: the rest of my "library," the pods for said coffee maker, boxes of tea bags, some trail mix, the regular stationary stock, an archive of student papers and exams which I keep for a semester afterward

Don't fall behind! Don't get sick. Don't procrastinate grading midterms and finals if you're a TA! Don't get ambitious planning your "spring break."

AND, the world observes a moment of silence for another Mr. Nice Shy Guy, who has once again gotten beat to the punch by Mr. Outgoing Funny Bro

They are no longer sold in the US, but I swear by my Senseo machine for single serve coffee. They go for cheap on the used eBay market. You can only buy pods in big suburban centers like Walmart and online, but it easily tops Keurig for me, or you can make your own pods. No plastic capsule waste, no cleaning up grounds and filters. It's a pressurized system, and delivers nice strong drinks with a great thick layer of creamy faux-crema, which no drip system can ever accomplish. Plus, the pods come cheaper than Kcups, Verismo, CBTL, and T capsules

I don't think it's too formal. I shan't ever use 'em.

Okay, back from the sidetrack Adding to the OP's list of DON'Ts: Don't "borrow" the stapler sitting on another student's desk when s/he's not there. Get your own. Same with post-it notes and paper clips. If he IS there, don't even ask him to use it, because he won't say no. Then, soon you'll be freeloading all your stationary from him the entire year. And he won't like it. Don't live in the office. If you need to stay until 2AM working, then it's perfectly fine. But if you're gonna stay until 2AM watching Youtube and using Facebook, then just go home. It's a communal work space, not your apartment. No yoga mats, no taking "naps" on the couch. Don't bring all your toiletries/combs/toothbrushes to the office for regular "all-nighters" Don't go on Skype chats at your desk, even for professional/academic conversations. Use the conference room, go outside somewhere, or go home. And some DO's: If you have a stapler, expect to be refilling it very very often. Turn off the lights if you're the last one out. Or if there is any chance you might be the last one out. If there is a shared kitchen space, put your own stuff in ziploc bags or tupperware, and label them. More importantly, throw out your food from the fridge if they're spoiled! Bring layers. Maybe permanently leave a pullover in your cubicle shelf. Ask others before you decide to open/close all the windows and change the thermostat. Buy a Kensington Lock for your laptop if you are going to be using it at this space often.

Hahaha - this isn't so exclusive to office spaces, but to life in general. I always secretly hated that person. You know, the one who shows up at the last day of class, or if it's someone's birthday, or to celebrate someone's accomplishment, or whatever...and goes OH MY GOD OH MY GOD, I MADE CUPCAKES FOR EVERYONE!! THEY ARE MY GRANDMA'S SPECIAL FAMILY RECIPE! TOTALLY VEGAN! COMPLETELY GLUTEN FREE! AND LOOK I MADE THEM INTO HEARTS AND BUNNIES AND LADYBUG SHAPES ESPECIALLY FOR U GUYZZ! PLEASE, EAT THEM ALL, EAT THEM ALL! No, I don't want to eat them. I don't like cupcakes. No I don't have to be an evil, heartless, cruel monster to not like cupcakes. No, I don't care if they are vegan and gluten-free. Cupcakes just don't appeal to me.

This is a good topic. At my department, we have a huge (like, a building) space set aside for the graduate students. It's dirty, old, run-down, out-of-the-way (not very close to the actual physical department) space, but it's there nonetheless, which is not to be taken for granted given the real estate problems on campus. The students 'self-run' this space. The desks are "modular" so those who want to use to the space can move the desks around and build their own cubicles. Some like it cafeteria-style, others go into reclusive corners. We have a kitchen space for shared coffee, tea, microwaving, and it works well, although it gets dirty during certain peak times. I don't share my desk, although some do. I think the key is: keep a mini-shelf / storage container / safe and put all your files and books in there. Close it when done and put it to the side when you leave. Are there any common areas not assigned to a specific student, but are usable by everyone? If so, I may grab my files and bring it there. Or, is it rare to have everyone in the office at the same time? Perhaps you could just take your books to another student's desk when s/he is not there. If he comes in, of course you'd have to vacate. The key to all this, is to reduce clutter. Have a safe box or a plastic container or something, and keep your files in there, rather than the preexisting fixed cabinets. In a shared deskspace, you may enjoy the ability to get up and move with ease. My own cubicle is pretty cluttered by now, with just about my entire library of books checked out, and plenty of folders of notes and essays. Then again, I don't share my cubicle, so this is pretty much my permanent office setup for the rest of my graduate career on campus.

I think Kwest has supplied for us the definitive answer. I think we know can end this for good, without need to have any further discussion on this subject whatsoever now (please?).

I thought I'd ask forum posters if they have any tips on revising a paper (originally written in, e.g., a seminar) into a conference paper. I'm still early in my graduate career with only a couple of presentations, so I'm still learning on the way, and I wonder what advice others have. You may amend this topic to also include revising into journal-submission papers, but I gather there is already plenty of discussion on editing a journal essay, and it'd be heavily dependent on field and specific publications anyways. For me, in the case of read papers, I've learned generally to avoid using em-dash independent clauses. They could be great in print, but when spoken, one can almost find a clearer way to rephrase the sentence. I also find it useful to use parenthetical remarks, tucked between paragraphs. (Then, I can look up when I reach there, and make it sound like I'm commentating off the cuff!)

As an addendum to the OP, and as clearly supported by netp's experience in a successful admission, I think that the fluency of programming in environments like Max and PureData and Supercollider is really the bare minimum. Think of it them as analogous to Finale and Sibelius fluency for a composer. That is, the end goal of such a graduate program is not to train in and be great at these software, but to use these skills toward research and innovative projects (which may or may not include compositions and performance projects).

I've received desk copies every department I've TA'ed. I don't think I've ever heard of a case where the TAs had to buy their own copies.

UC Irvine and Buffalo have well regarded Visual Studies programs, and Rochester has Visual and Cultural Studies, if that's of any help.

As the title states, Is it okay to take an essay that was presented and published in the proceedings of a conference, revise it, and resubmit the new piece to a journal? Would the new article require a disclaimer saying that an earlier form was already published in a conference's proceedings? Or, if the new paper is sufficiently different and expanded upon, can it function as a new, stand-alone paper?

Bean and cheese burritos for me! (assuming the foresight to cook beans in bulk in advance)

Basically, the team sports that Americans follow fall into what is called the "Big Four" - they are baseball (MLB), football (NFL), basketball (NBA), and a very distant hockey (NHL). Of course, America is huge, and the culture in what sport is THE sport changes dramatically depending on the region and the city you are. For example, New York, Boston, and San Francisco are huge baseball cities. Los Angeles is probably the big basketball down. Much of Ohio, Philadelphia, and the cold Northern states love their football. Detroit is a notorious hockey town. But one particularly thing, that often foreigners are unaware of and surprised to find, is something distinctively American: the NCAA! Every country/continent has their professional sport-following passions, but only America has such a high profile college sport world too. The top college divisions get pretty much equally high amounts of media coverage and public profile as professional teams. It's enormous business (even though players don't get paid anything more than scholarship money). The most-followed college sports are definitely football and basketball. The weight of which will depend ENORMOUSLY on what region you are in. The southeastern states enjoy NCAA basketball. The Midwestern states are big on NCAA football. The Northeast, on the other hand, do not have lots of big, public flagship types of universities (they have more private, Ivy, and liberal arts colleges), and as a result do not have as big a passion on college teams, instead choosing to focus on the pro leagues instead.

I use the app Penultimate and a stylus for much of my handwritten notes and drafting. There are probably some other fancier apps, but Penultimate syncs into the Evernote ecosystem, which makes organization much more streamlines (assuming you use Evernote for synching your typed notes.)

Never applied to CCRMA, but yes, as you predicted, it's for sure very heavy into "computers." Keep in mind that most all "computer music" programs are heavy into research. While there may be some courses along the way in aesthetics, or creative practice, the majority of the time the focus is on technological research. Think of it not as a "composition" program which happens to use computers as a medium. It's more about working with technology, and developing new stuff that could be potentially utilized in interesting and creative ways. Most of my friends in computer music programs tend to spent their time either doing coding, programming, designing instruments, building interfaces, working on installations, implementing physical modeling, setting up motion tracking, etc. etc. CCRMA is the cream of the crop as far as reputation and (probably) selectivity. It's had a reputation for several decades now as one of the innovative centers of research for computers and music technology. Same goes for the Media Lab, where there is even a more close relationship with engineers. With a school like Dartmouth with only a small MA degree, the Digitsl Musics program might be different; I believe the focus there is more on creation and composition, with everyone taking the same core classes and building that fluency. There's less of a long-term focus on research. Sorry, I don't know much about the program at CMU.