Relaunch Reflections

It’s the last day of the semester before Spring Break, and I have just attended a really great session of an academic book group I’ve joined. (It’s the Maple League group discussing Jesse Stommel’s Undoing the Grade: Why We Grade, and How to Stop). During the discussion, someone reminded us that we have to teach the students we have, not the students we wish we had, and I decided to look for an old post I’d written. Couldn’t find it, by the way. At any rate, I ended up going down memory lane, and wow, have some of my ideas on teaching changed a lot — I think for the better. In fact, my thoughts have changed enough, especially since COVID, that I figured I might really manage to relaunch this thing, after such a long hiatus. Maybe. I miss writing. I’ve learned a lot about being in academia, and being an academic. My teaching has changed. My goals have changed. I’ve got older and am starting to recognize that I might not live forever, and that I might also have to keep this body and mind going a lot longer than I expected. There’s a lot to talk about, mostly from new perspectives. Some of what I used to think is pretty cringe to me in my 60s. It’s who I was, and who I was is part of who I am, but who I am is different.

I’m not sure where this is going — I’m pretty sure that this will continue to be a combination of academic life, teaching, and writing whinges, maybe with some history put in for good measure. I’m not even completely sure why I am doing it, except that I need to practice writing regularly, even if it’s not specifically academic writing. I need to be more circumspect than before, because people know the name behind the pseudonym, and SLAC is not a place that welcomes anything that might be considered bad press. Probably including that sentence, but then, what college does? Anyway, if you see this, say hi! I don’t think I’ll be publicizing anything here till I’ve got back into a habit, just in case. Wish me luck!