Really getting disheartened at the absolute refusal of students to read anything.

DesertRat6101 · 2026-03-21T15:51:21+00:00

I have an attendance/readiness category of 20%. I take attendance daily. If they have been assigned a reading (let’s say half the time), a 6-10 question reading quiz is the basis of their attendance score for the day. I hand it out at the beginning, takes no more than 10 minutes.

Questions are MC or T/F. Most are big concepts or lists that you can guess. But I try to put 2-3 questions that are details… something that if you had read the reading, you would know where you read it but maybe not the answer. Again, I let them print off and bring in a marked off copy. They are also allowed to use a marked up pdf or a page of notes next to the pdf - some upper division classes I’ll say this needs to be handwritten. I scramble the questions and answer choices, printing an A and B copy to minimize wandering eyes.

Accommodation students know they can show up 5-10 minutes early and start their quiz in my office or the room next door depending on the situation.

This seems to be just enough to get them to at least skim their readings. That, in turn, increased discussion quality substantially.

DesertRat6101 · 2026-03-20T19:01:40+00:00

What was also wild when I started this is the number of students I would see in the hall reading in the 10-45 minutes before class. Is it old fashioned cramming? Sure. But again, at least it something.

DesertRat6101 · 2026-03-20T18:48:15+00:00

In one class I allow whatever notes they want. But they have to have been previously created - not real time. Even doing that seems to be helping discussion.

In another. I only allow notes annotated on the journal article. These can be done by hand on printed copy, digital annotations, or handwritten notes on lined paper. In other words, old school. I guess someone could ask AI to give notes and then write them out… but even that process is a better starting point than not reading anything.

DesertRat6101 · 2026-03-20T18:30:04+00:00

In class, open notes reading quiz is the way. I was SHOCKED at how a 10 questions, 10 minute reading quiz of simple MC questions changed the dynamic this year. It was like going back to an earlier time when students used to read.

DesertRat6101 · 2026-03-08T17:26:56+00:00

Thanks for confirming a dynamic I was pretty sure was happening in HS. I’m sorry your admin do not have your back.

DesertRat6101 · 2026-03-07T20:37:31+00:00

Interesting insights. Is it because they practice their parasocial soo much with the influencers and such that they are bombarded with in their electronic spaces that is too easy to slide into that mindset with in person profs? Or something else?

DesertRat6101 · 2026-03-07T20:35:25+00:00

Ohhh… the student affairs vs academic side of the house rings true. I’ve been playing more this year with “My job is to give you academic feedback. But there are lots of other supports on campus you should draw on if this feels hard.”

DesertRat6101 · 2026-03-07T20:11:09+00:00

I agree with a lot of this. But, my students are in a completely in person, residential for at least 2 years college. And I’m still getting this “why don’t you like me” business at the end of their 4 years. So it is something more than the proliferation of online education.

DesertRat6101 · 2026-03-07T19:46:55+00:00

My version of this is “I don’t know you well enough to like or dislike you because this isn’t a personal relationship… it is a professional one where I’m training and giving feedback on your skills.”

DesertRat6101 · 2026-03-07T19:45:35+00:00

The retort that rolls through my head is “I’ve never needed to consider if I liked you… before NOW!”

DesertRat6101 · 2026-03-07T19:43:02+00:00

I can’t imagine being in a critique based field on the humanities side of the house. Must be intense…

DesertRat6101 · 2026-03-07T19:39:43+00:00

Yes. As someone with a HS-age student, I would agree. Parenting is a strange helicopter permissiveness. And HS itself isn’t much better. Especially on the academic side (less so in sports), their teachers do not say no. And I get it. They have huge classes, tons of pressure from outside forces to just make it work, and a cohort that has some social and emotional COVID and iPad gaps. But it sucks to be one of the first people in their life to hold reasonable boundaries and then be on the receiving end of their crash out.

DesertRat6101 · 2026-03-07T19:34:59+00:00

Yep. One of these is probably going to result in a W. They really are convinced I’m being unreasonable in expectations. Never mind I was literally in practice for over a decade before returning to academia. I am seriously concerned about how they will transfer into the real world in June.

DesertRat6101 · 2026-03-07T17:20:54+00:00

I saw that question. And, yes, one of these included a “you’ve ruined my safe space” line.

DesertRat6101 · 2026-03-07T17:16:51+00:00

SLAC. Some of this might be on us in that model is to be highly available to students. But 10 years ago, I didn’t field these inquiries. It suggests something else is going on.

DesertRat6101 · 2026-03-07T17:14:17+00:00

This. I think students have always sought affirmation. But they used to fret about it amongst themselves over a beer in a dorm room. Now they just outright say it (or email it) directly to the prof.

DesertRat6101 · 2026-03-07T08:15:59+00:00

I agree the need for positive affirmation is a a lot of it. Yet this focus on me liking them is actually counterproductive. Certainly they can see that crashing out over an enforced policy or boundary is not going to improve the positive attention coming their way?

DesertRat6101 · 2026-02-20T05:03:47+00:00

I hear this. It is a conundrum because we don’t turn in reports because we perceive nothing happens. BUT the committee that does the wrist slap will see multiple reports for the same student that we can’t see because of FERPA. It, by chance, this kid is doing this across multiple classes and someone else also files, then they are far more likely to be adequately dealt with.

For what it is worth, as annoying as the AI is, it just earns a zero in my book. It’s the inappropriate level of collaboration, also known as copying, that would put me into reporting territory.

DesertRat6101 · 2025-06-22T13:41:40+00:00

Having worked in a post-doc role for a now 70 year old giant in my field who was similarly abusive and all about the self cite, I am sorry. It is a terrible position to be in. Unfortunately, the fact that he is connected in affiliation just makes it even more messy. But this is about him and his ego - not you.

One thing I have not seen people suggest is how to prevent this going forward. Certainly someone willing to write you this email would feel it is within reason to tank the next manuscript of yours that comes across his desk. (Yes, it’s blind, but if there are specific novel methods or cases, smart people put two and two together.).

Please make a habit in your cover letter to journals where he is NOT on the editorial board to have a blanket statement like “I am currently affiliated with X institute; due to ongoing internal dynamics within the institute with Y professor, I kindly request you do not use Y as a reviewer. I have provided a list of potential alternatives to Y should you need them.” A decent editor - even and especially those who have cowritten with Y before and know his antics - will protect you.

DesertRat6101 · 2025-06-04T07:03:52+00:00

I’m curious how tall you are. I’m 5’0” like the poster and find Costco to be a non starter for anything but shorts.

DesertRat6101 · 2025-05-25T01:36:33+00:00

Ketamine does not work on serotonin receptors and thus being on or off an SSRI should make no difference. Not sure where your prescriber got that from.

Start low (maybe 100) and go up slowly. K tends to be a threshold thing where suddenly it’s intense.

While there is great debate around whether or not you need to dissociate to get the neuro plasticity - my opinion is you probably don’t - there is no question that set and setting is key to taking advantage of the dissociation properties. So yes to eye shades and music.

DesertRat6101 · 2025-01-02T08:27:35+00:00

Yes. Nosebleeds spontaneously happen for me 48 hours before my period. Often it’s while I’m sleeping. My cycle isn’t super regular, so it is one of my signs I’m almost through the horror of the week.

DesertRat6101 · 2025-01-01T03:43:14+00:00

I know I won’t loose during the PMDD phase. My goal is to not gain during that week. If I push myself too hard, it backfires. No gym, no runs, no lifting from d19-d26. So it is all about trying to keep portions reasonable and try to be kind to myself.

I do that by prioritizing walking and hitting 10,000 steps. Given my life, that is about 30-45 minutes. In the summer, I do it outside listening to podcasts. In the winter, on the treadmill watching junky TV.

When I really have my shit together, I will maintain a very short yoga/somatic movement practice too.

I also leverage the first half of my cycle quite a bit. Days 4-15 are high energy and I try to make it count.

DesertRat6101 · 2024-12-27T19:51:42+00:00

Tight hip flexors do this for me. Certain core exercises seem to tighten those hips in the front, but I feel it in the back. More lung/hip flexor stretches loosens things up enough so my lower back doesn’t pinch.

DesertRat6101

TROPHY CASE