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I am posting this as a benchmark, not because I think I'm playing very well yet.  The idea would be post a video every month for a ye...

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Next Day

It came up in the faculty meeting the other day that if you want your peer evaluation of teaching (where the senior colleague visits your class and writes up an evaluation letter for your tenure or promotion file) written up in one day, ask Jonathan. I just find it a lot less work to write up the observation while it's still fresh in my mind. That way I don't have to take super detailed notes or dredge up memories from last week. I just go, take some minimal notes, and write them up into a letter. I'm sure I do as good a job as anyone else: taking more time in between the observation and the writing of the letter wouldn't lead me to craft an even better letter. In fact, I might forget things I wanted to say.

Some things are just done better in one or two days. I've learned to grade papers super fast too, rather than waiting for a hypothetical moment in the future where time will be more abundant. It's kind of cheap way of impressing people. Cheap, in that it doesn't cost me any more time (saves me time in fact) and in the sense that it's kind of a gimmick. I don't have to be that fast: people are surprised when an academic meets any deadline with a lot of time to spare, since last-minute or late is the norm.

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