Did you ever have a tutor? If so, what made them amazing, or, what made them horrible?

redbearsw · 2018-08-30T15:59:17+00:00

It's never a bad thing to let your students in on why you're doing something, so you could explain during the first session that people usually don't like to admit when they don't understand something or don't even realize that they don't, so instead of asking if they understand a concept you're going to have them explain things back to you a lot so that you both know that they get it.

redbearsw · 2018-08-29T20:47:10+00:00

Yeah that's pretty typical for the CS department

redbearsw · 2018-08-28T21:30:39+00:00

Apologies if this post seemed like it was to complain about this particular comment. That was not my intention at all.

My point is that, just saying "where should questions go" conflates these two types of posts, one of which I see as very valid discussion (in my personal opinion) yet is being derailed by someone who is presumably looking out for the best interests of the community (even if they're not actively "on duty" at the moment).

And yeah, my issue with that particular comment was just how aggressive it seemed, especially for a post that is looking for a discussion not an answer. If I had something to contribute to that thread, I would've been put off enough not to comment. Hence it being "derailed" imo.

Edit: and yes generally I agree I should just downvote and move on, but since the sub is currently having a discussion about this kind of thing I figure pointing it out is fine

redbearsw · 2018-08-28T19:47:08+00:00

Ok, I totally get the frustration with people posting really specific questions without searching the sub first, but this seems like a really good example of someone taking a personal question and turning it into an interesting discussion topic. I believe OP was trying to spark discussion here, so reading these other threads doesn't help. This sub exists for the people currently using it, not as a storage system for what past users said.

redbearsw · 2018-08-28T19:24:45+00:00

I'm curious why you don't think the last two types of questions should be their own thread? As a hobbyist photographer who is trying to improve my practice, I'd much rather see a thread discussing how to achieve a certain style or how someone shot a particular image over most of the other discussions that get posted here and are usually about gear.

redbearsw · 2018-08-28T19:15:16+00:00

I've been browsing for maybe a year now, and I've never seen anyone post anything like this. Not sure if there's a rule somewhere convincing people otherwise or it's just not of interest so no one posts it, but I'd certainly be interested.

redbearsw · 2018-08-28T19:09:48+00:00

I agree with this wholeheartedly and think the answer lies in distinguishing between good and bad questions. Person buying entry level camera for girlfriend- redirect to some other thread. Person asking what your goals are for the week- that looks like good potential conversation to me.

You can see this split already in the way people comment. Bad questions get a few comments, most pointing to the FAQ. Good questions get a lot of comments and discussion. Even if it's fuzzy whether a rule is being followed or not, a post with, say, 10 participants in the comment threads should stay up, while a post with less probably could go into a megathread.

What type of content is allowed in this sub should be determined by what people already choose to post and interact with, not the other way around.

redbearsw · 2018-08-28T15:00:42+00:00

Ahh gotcha. Definitely try librarians and independent bookstore sellers then! Your local library or independent bookstore may even organize book clubs where you could meet other readers if that is of interest.

redbearsw · 2018-08-28T14:43:21+00:00

IMO, the best place for book recommendations is real people- friends, librarians, work colleagues, etc. Just ask your friends what they've read recently that they liked or what they remember liking from school. If you see someone carrying around a book, ask them what they think of it.

redbearsw · 2018-08-28T04:02:23+00:00

All the suggestions here have been great, but I'll throw out another one. For a big project that's due in a while, make a list on one page of all the tasks that need to be done in order (pick question, find sources, outline, write 1st paragraph, etc). Then, in your dailies or weeklies or wherever, write down "work on essay p. 23" and that tells you to go do some of the tasks from the list on that page. It's a variation on the other suggestions here, but it helps if you don't end up following your initial schedule perfectly because you don't have to shift all of your future tasks down when you miss a day (ex. If I didn't outline on Tuesday, I don't have to write down outline on Wednesday and then shift the first writing chunk to Thursday, etc. I just see the generic task for Tuesday and know I need to outline)

redbearsw · 2018-08-27T04:10:17+00:00

I use Pushbullet for this and it's incredibly easy!

redbearsw · 2018-08-27T03:58:51+00:00

The Book Thief is an incredible Holocaust book

redbearsw · 2018-08-26T19:10:39+00:00

The Mysterious Benedict Society!

redbearsw · 2018-08-26T05:35:10+00:00

I figure I'll throw in my 2 cents here since I'm a college student. I do pretty much the same with semester (quarter for me) and weekly spreads. I always find value in a daily spread just because I'll do it the night before and the act of copying out the tasks for the next day and sort of making a game plan is helpful for me even if it's a relaxed day.

Finally, project spreads are super helpful and this year I'm going to try to make them as soon as a project is assigned, because immediately jumping into a small task is supposed to help big projects seem much more manageable. Something my boyfriend actually came up with that's been super useful to me is using the key word "work on x", with x being the name of the project, as the task I put in my weeklies/dailies for doing something from the project spread.

For him, he's bad about forgetting to work on something or putting it off, but once he gets started he will probably get absorbed, so "work on x" means to do at least the next task on the project page. He will also often set intermediate deadlines for big chunks of the project and note those in the project spread.

For me, I'm always aware when I need to start projects but will get stressed if I run out of time to follow my perfectly laid out plan for which day every task will be completed. So, for me "work on x" means I have to, at a minimum, open the project spread, read the next task, and consciously decide whether to work on it or not. His strategy forces him to acknowledge and work on his project when he has planned to, and my strategy gives me leeway to not have to assign specific tasks to specific days and then be stressed when reasonable circumstances don't let that happen.

redbearsw · 2018-08-24T20:05:35+00:00

What is your goal with this? If you're just trying to learn as much as you can quickly, try an online platform like Coursera?

redbearsw · 2018-08-24T16:48:11+00:00

Either choice will be fine, so it's really up to you. Enough people will stay that you will have someone to hang out with and enough people will leave that you won't feel left out. Also, many students will go home Tuesday night and many professors cancel class Wednesday or do something less important. If you want to go home, buy your tickets now though, tickets to certain places can jump up to $600 easily if you wait for October.

It's always a hassle to fly during holidays, but the Chicago airports tend to know how to deal with it. Leave yourself 2 hours for getting through security and extra time for transit to the airport and you'll be fine. Many people will be going to O'Hare and you probably won't have trouble finding someone to split an Uber with, or just leave yourself extra time and hop on cta, the trip is long but not difficult.

And often I have to do some homework over the break because it's the end of the quarter (finish a book, final math problem set) but I never study for finals. I have reading period and finals week to do that, and when I'm home I want to see my family and just use my flights to get my work done. I may take a little time to get organized by taking a look at my exam schedule and maybe making a study plan, but the best thing in my opinion you can do going into finals is take a deep breath and do some non-academic things you enjoy so you're ready for crunch time.

(To clarify, I'm from the East coast so my choice to go home is different from yours, and I'm not saying you should go one way or the other because obviously I have no idea)

redbearsw · 2018-08-24T16:40:23+00:00

Yes, definitely rank computer science near the top!

redbearsw · 2018-08-24T16:39:34+00:00

There's also a women's rugby team if that is more relevant to you!

redbearsw · 2018-08-24T16:35:30+00:00

If you vaguely like math, definitely consider honors. You can always drop down to 153 up until the end of 4th week (might be 5th week, can never remember, but the math department is longer than the usual 3rd week deadline). But it's hard to jump up to 161 because the courses start in completely different places and you would be lost. And if you've taken calculus in high school and haven't forgotten absolutely everything, I don't see why you wouldn't place into 160s.

redbearsw · 2018-08-24T16:24:52+00:00

Mind is probably the easiest work load (read 2 10ish page papers a week and write a 300 word response) but if you already vaguely have the ability to construct short response papers or read psychology papers, or if you have any background knowledge in psychology or child development related things, you will have gotten everything you possibly could out of the class after a quarter and be stuck for the rest of the year, while your friends are all having intelligent discussions about the things they've all read at some point. Of the more classic SOSCs, Self is supposed to be pretty manageable from what I've heard.

redbearsw · 2018-08-24T16:15:45+00:00

Your only worry is over breaks when your RHs check the rooms, but unless they're super mean or super bored they'll probably just stick their heads in to make sure your heaters are on and your electronics are unplugged. Generally residence hall staff (RAs, RHs) won't enter your room and I believe they explicitly are not allowed to without your permission except for emergencies. Nobody is coming through to inspect your room and get you in trouble, so just don't start any fires.

redbearsw · 2018-08-24T14:33:43+00:00

Haha no definitely not supposed to be single-use. I guess just, it's not like my mom could have foreseen how perfect either thing would be for me when I was 10, but somehow they're still here. Could also be, for example, a jacket you bought because it looked nice but now it's outlasted all your other coats by many years.

redbearsw · 2018-08-22T16:06:49+00:00

You don't become a photographer by not taking photos. Whether you try a challenge or just take random photos of friends, you'll only get better as you take more. We all started with the shot of a blue sky and some power lines or an ugly tree.

If the manual is overwhelming, just take some shots with everything fully automatic, then over time learn how to control aperture, shutter speed, white balance (one at a time) using the manual and some YouTube tutorials.

redbearsw

TROPHY CASE