General update

[luzula]

1) We have ended K's roommate contract with a minimal amount of drama, and he is moving on on the last of January. Things are slightly awkward now, but not as much as I feared. Whew.

2) I got bad evaluations on a course, which I am not used to. Students usually like me! But these ones didn't. It makes me wonder what these evaluations actually say, since the course was basically the same as last year, and it got good evaluations then. I'd only changed one thing about it, and nobody complained about that thing. Oh well. : ( Different group dynamics?

3) I have got slightly obsessed with making a reference collection of wood-living fungi. The weather has been mild, so it's really the perfect time of year to collect them. And I just find the process of gathering, determining the species (if I can), registering them in the online species observation databank, and writing herbarium envelopes for them very engaging and restful. Collection is now at 32 species and rising. And my moss herbarium is at 225 species.

4) I am stalled on Yuletide. : ( I do have an idea, and I've done some research on it, but it's rather ambitious and I am avoiding working on it. If you have motivational tricks to share, please do. How is your Yuletide assignment going?

Comments

[ride_4ever]

1) Good.

2) Baffling.

3) Interesting.

4) I'm not doing Yuletide, but I am doing some other fannish holiday stuff: I'm writing for the Porn Advent Calendar and I'm co-modding the dSSS.

[luzula]

How is the modding for dSSS going this year?

[tamsin]

I'm sorry you got bad evaluations. Does the course have lots of discussion or group work? Because then group dynamics can absolutely play a huge role.

[luzula]

No, it has lectures (which are to some degree interactive) and study sessions where students work on their own and can get help. But group dynamics can still be important, obviously...

[feroxargentea]

Re: Yuletide, do you have a friend or two (preferably in the same fandom) you could share your ideas privately with? Their thoughts and suggestions and enthusiasm are the best motivation I know of. Even if you know they're only being cheery because you need it, it still helps.

[luzula]

Ha, fitting icon. Thanks, that's a good idea, I'll try that!

[seascribble]

Congratulations on doing the hard roommate thing!

You don't get copies of the students' comments? In my graduate school, they were typed up and delivered to the profs (who summarily ignored them).

[luzula]

Yes, I do get copies! That's how I know they disliked the course...what I meant was that the evaluations might be affected by stuff doesn't actually have much to do with how the course is organized. I mean, given that the course was basically the same as last year and the students liked it then.

[dhampyresa]

Yay for numbers 1 & 3. Hugs for 2 & 4?

[luzula]

Thanks! : )

[glitteryv]

It must be such a relief that the situation with K is on its way to be resolved.

The bad evaluation is one of those things that are unfortunate. Since you've done the same program, I agree with you that the reaction came from being a different group over anything else.

Hooray for your obsession?

And good luck on your Yuletide. Sometimes it's a matter of writing stuff down, just getting started is sometimes enough to get that fic down once and for all.

[luzula]

Okay, I have determined that this is a day for trying to get things done that I have put off, among others working on Yuletide. We'll see how it goes...

[mergatrude]

I'm glad you've resolved things with K. *hugs*

We've noticed that group dynamics can affect course evaluations, especially in smaller courses. *hugs*

[luzula]

The students were also unhappy with each other, some people being annoyed that others were whispering/talking in class, which I didn't always hear because I was at the front of the lecture hall, and were annoyed with me for not doing enough to stop that.

[mific]

Good news about the roommate thing, whew.

I have no Yuletide words yet, a few vague ideas, but I do have a beta lined up, yay! So I’d better get cracking! Good luck with your fic.

[luzula]

This is actually the first time I have trouble with Yuletide ever! I'm usually inspired and start writing right away...

Good luck with yours as well!

[karanguni]

I locked myself into a room and banned myself from opening any more research tabs in Chrome for 20 minutes and it sort of helped...

[luzula]

Thanks, maybe I'll try something like that. For me it's not opening research tabs that's the problem, it's more a combination of being intimidated by the story idea, failing to find the character voice, and then doing other things instead. Which is easy because there are always other things that need doing.

[toft]

Sometimes groups just don't click and everyone's impression of the course goes sour. It happens! Don't feel too bad about it.

[luzula]

Thanks for the reassurance! Yeah, I'm trying not to feel bad about some of those comments. : /

[toft]

(My Yuletide assignment is going NOWHERE, I just finished reviewing canon and have 0 ideas)

[luzula]

Ack. : ( Well, at least I'm not alone in being stuck...maybe brainstorm with someone who also likes the canon?

[scribe]

Whew, I'm so glad the roommate situation got resolved with a minimum of fuss!

I wrote about half my yuletide in a fit of productivity, then promptly lost motivation to finish it and haven't looked at it since. Whoops. >_>

[luzula]

Thanks!

That sounds like a good start, though! I will be on a train without internet for about three hours tomorrow, hopefully that will make me focus enough to write something.