Peabloggy

This may seem like a funny question, but it relates to what many people in my life are going through right now.  Two years ago I, and my Peabody HDC cohort, entered into a graduate program.  We all knew that we would be involved in this program for two years.  Two years of our lives were known and blocked out for this program. 

We are in a very different place now.  The program is almost over.  Graduation is May 11th.  When I ask my classmates what they plan on doing after graduation many answer with a big, “I’m not sure”.  There is nothing wrong with this, but it can be uncomfortable.  At least for me, I like to know what my next step is.  Two years ago I knew.  I would earn my M.Ed.  Well, now that it is almost earned I am turning my focus on what happens after graduation.

 It is an exciting place to be.  The challenge is to look at my future with curiosity, not with fear.  I have several job opportunities.  There is so much potential.  I suppose at this point I can say with confidence, “the unknown is interesting”. 

-Anna O

Generic, I know.

But insanely important.

So my question is simple: What is the most practical way you think your boss or supervisor — whomever signs your checks and evaluations — can show you leadership?

It is a 15 minute cup of coffee in the cafeteria, one-on-one? Is it an encouraging note? Is it a star system like in kindergarten which stacks you against the others in your class in healthy competition? Or is it entirely different?

Asked another way, if you could advise the CEO of a large corporation of the silver-bullet in building trust with his or her employees, what would it be?

PS: This isn’t a general knowledge question. It’s a real scenario I am dealing with in a class. And I need a great answer!!

~Kristen Hayner

I have several serious topics about which I’d love to blog, but this is midterm week and too much of my mental energy has already been allocated to other writing projects.

So, I’m curious: what does the average grad student’s diet look like?

Because mine stinks. And I bet I’m not alone.

When I was an undergradute, my roommates joked that I lived on coffee, bagels, peanut butter and egg salad. (gross.) Thankfully, my repertoire has expanded in the past six years. Now, my diet consists mainly of coffee, walnuts, eggs, tomatoes, yogurt and granola, and a sensible dinner that usually includes some form of chicken and broccoli.

But I’m kind of an overachiever, and when I look at the Department of Health and Human Services’ interactive “My Pyramid,” I find I earn a whopping FAIL in the nutrition department.

So I want to know: am I the only one who can’t seem to manage more than one real meal a day? Does anyone have any favorite fast-but-healthy foods that might bail a student out of a hungry bind?

– Rachel B.

I just found out about a contest that The Washington Post has for people to submit alternative meanings for common words. 

For example:
1. Coffee (n.), the person upon whom one coughs.
2. Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have
gained.
3. Abdicate (v.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.
4. Esplanade (v.), to attempt an explanation while drunk.

It is funny, but it also caused me to think about how often people (including me) do not know the meaning of the words they use.  If enough people use a word in a different way over and over, then everyone else assumes they are right.  For example the word actor means a professional acting performer, whereas actress means an amateur acting performer.  Many people do not know this.  It is common for people to refer to female actors as an actress.  Julia Roberts is not an actress, she is an actor. 

When I began to self-reflect, I realized that many of my interpersonal conflicts and arguments have been due to faulty communication and misunderstanding.  These factors boiled down often deal with one or both persons involved not knowing what words truly mean. 

I would like to get back to basics.  I want to know where the words I use come from and what they really mean.  Words hold power.  To know what words mean can be empowering. 

-Anna Oparah

I have been paying attention to Nashville drivers this month.  Why?  I guess I’m a people watcher.  I have noticed a pattern in how people drive in Nashville; IT DEPENDS ON THE WEATHER! 

 Has anyone else noticed this?  For example, today the sun was out.  It was warm enough for me to take a walk this morning in shorts and a T-shirt!  The drive to and from Vanderbilt was pleasant.  In fact, when traffic was slow, the car in front of me was very nice to the other cars around us by letting many of them go in front of him or her. 

The opposite happens if there is any precipitation; rain or snow, it doesn’t matter.  As soon as it starts raining people in Nashville tend to drive worse.  They switch lanes quickly.  They honk if you display the slightest delay at a green light. 

 I know Nashville dwellers are nice people.  The rain must cloud their good judgement.  It sure was nice to have the sun shining on Nashville today, though. 

C’mon, admit it. You’ve Googled your name.

I certainly have.

In today’s Washington Post, a journalism professor from the DC-area admitted to the “crime”, writing about the “alter egos” and “namesakes” she’s found across the country. From New Hampshire to Oregon to Athens (Georgia, that is), sure enough, several turned up.

So I redid my search tonight and it has surprisingly changed a little since I last did a search — maybe only a few months ago. I found myself referenced in a recent job announcement, listed under my father-in-law’s biography and connected to my time in the political world. But then I found an aspiring E-Bay super seller from Arkansas, a basketball player in Massachusetts and a secondary ed PE teacher. My maiden name finds myself in my undergrad days, a nursing assistant, the political contributions of a namesake, a financial investor, a complimentary radio station listener in Newfoundland (where my ancestors hail from) and a runner.

So as mundane as Google is these days, simply looking yourself up can be rather interesting.

~Kristen Hayner

I have a history of negative feelings toward libraries. I have typically avoided them because a) the silence is eerie, b) they smell weird, and c) they usually have bad lighting. Recently, though, my feelings have changed.

Since moving to Nashville and beginning graduate school last fall, I’ve explored several study spots around town. I don’t like to feel sequestered by my student-status, so I often study in public — in coffee shops. Many of Nashville’s local cafes offer free wireless Internet and great coffee. In the past few months, I’ve spent time at Fido’s, the Frothy Monkey, Portland Brew and Bongo Java.

But yesterday, I became disillusioned with coffeeshops. Fido’s has removed all public electrical outlets, so unless you have super-laptop, don’t plan to stay longer than an hour and a half. Portland Brew is closed on Sundays and the Frothy Monkey frequently closes unpredictably, which leaves Bongo Java and Starbucks unbearably crowded…and brings me to the subject of libraries. I’ve started venturing into them more often.

The Peabody Library has quiet rooms, lots of windows, tables, comfortable chairs and doesn’t really smell like anything — good or bad. The Iris Cafe is open on the weekdays, but you can bring coffee and drinks into the library anytime. When the weather is nice, there are plenty of places to study outside, and there are outlets everywhere. All of these things make for an unexpectedly Rachel-friendly study spot.

Anyone else have other suggestions for great places to study? Any tips on secret spots I don’t know about yet? In my view, these are the key criteria: good lightning (windows), comfortable seating, electricity, and permission to eat and/or drink. Happy fellow patrons are a bonus.

–Rachel B.

What is consulting? If you are one, how do you figure out who your “right fit” client is? And when, as an independent consultant, can you start saying, “I only want to take my ‘right fit’ clients?” as opposed to any job because I ultimately need to put food on my table? What about when a situation gets difficult — as in, you have to tell your client that the way they are attempting to do something is not the best way to go? WHat’s the most diplomatic yet honest way to approach the issue?

Most of these questions cross my mind all day, as much of my job entails consulting on communications efforts of both large and small organizations. And they are questions we’re attempting to answer in LPO3372 Consultation Skills with Dayle Savage, both through readings, discussions and other methods.

This “other methods” category includes interviewing 2 consultants - in any field - regarding their work. In addition to the above questions, we’re asking about “ah-ha” moments, when the best course of action became clear to either the consultant or the client.

We’re also asking about the consultant’s training — was there a mentor involved? Was it all by experience? How did you “learn” it? Truly, where is the line drawn between what you can learn in a class setting, what you can learn by experience, and what is just innate knowlege and intuition.

So if there’s a consultant out there, reading this post, who has some sort of insight into this, leave a comment and a way to be in touch. I’d be curious to hear your thoughts.

~Kristen Hayner

‘Literacy’ may not mean what you think it does.

In evaluating a person’s literacy, the measure could be: can you read and comprehend at an appropriate level of difficulty? Or, it could be: are you tech-literate? Net-literate? Blog-literate? And now, for me, are you podcast-literate?

I have recently become a pod-caster. It’s kind of embarrasing because I know that I don’t have anything so important to say that people should listen to me talk about it online or on an i-pod while they’re working out.

But for those of us in ENED 2920 (Adolescent Literature) with Kevin Leander and Jim Furman, experimenting with a new or unconventional form of literacy is a requirement. So I chose a podcast.

Think about all the images (visual and auditory) you encounter between the time you open your eyes in the morning and then close them at night — or better, between waking up in the morning and walking out the front door. We constantly take in information and “read” it — whether it’s the look on someone’s face, the tone of a human voice, the layout of a myspace page, or a podcast. The question is, where do we learn to do that kind of reading and interpreting efffectively? If the answer is “in the classroom,” then are we doing a good job as teachers to equip students with these skills? If not, how can we improve?

That’s one of the issues we’re discussing with Dr. Leander (and it’s the reason for my sheepish podcasting) but it’s also the focus of the Mid-winter Conference of the National Council of Teachers of English held this year at Peabody, February 23-25. The conference will focus on issues of new and nonstandard literacies: specifically the “living literacies of the body and image.”

It’s pretty amazing that I was able to create a personal podcast just by signing up with Gcast and that I can record my voice on the Internet by making a call on my cell phone. But in a world where anyone can publish audio, photos, video, information, and a “wealth” of other ideas on the Web, how do we teach students to become discerning readers of these new and emerging texts?

And why might it be increasingly important that we do so?

– Rachel B

Has anyone ever told you “Don’t expect anything and you’ll never be disappointed”?  I think many of us have at least heard someone say this phrase.  Some people really believe that following this suggestion will make their lives better.  It makes me wonder, is disappointment so bad? 

“Expectations are premeditated resentments”.  I’ve heard this one, too, most recently at an AA meeting.  My HDC Addictions course requires that we attend 4 AA meetings.  It is there where I began to ponder expectations.  I believe there is an important distinction between expectations and hope. Expectations are specific.  If you don’t get what you expect, you will be mad, disappointed, hurt, resentful, and so on.  Expectations are well defined.  Expectations involve maintaining control over your life, and often the lives around you.  Expectations, however, are rarely communicated.  Expectations are rarely met.  I suppose that is where the first phrase comes from. 

Hope is not specific.  It is broad.  It is outlook on life of looking forward to good things, but not defining exactly how those good things will come about, look like, taste like, etc.  Hope is choosing to believe that God is in control.  Hope is letting go.  For example, someone may hope to marry someday.  The alternative, to expect, would be to specify who, when, how, and where this marriage would occur.  And if it doesn’t happen exactly how you planned, then you are crushed and angry.   

Expectations don’t give much grace or wiggle room.  Hope does.  I have enjoyed the stimulation of thought that these AA meetings have spurred.  I encourage you to get online and find an open AA meeting.  Just go with an open mind and learn. 

-Anna Oparah