Translating my thoughts into words.
Remembering Coach Paterno, a set on Flickr.
This has been an emotional weekend for everyone here in the Valley. Former PSU player, current Oakland Raider, and Schreyer Scholar Stefen Wisniewski spoke eloquently at the vigil last night about the humanity of Coach Paterno, that he was, like all of us, a human who did things requiring forgiveness and redemption, but he was also a man who provided incredibly positive influence in the lives of thousands.
Today I was going to reflect on the fact January 22, 2012 is the one year anniversary of the passing of Mr. William Schreyer. Sadly instead we remember one of his closest friends, Coach Paterno. It is a truly sad coincidence that these two great men who transformed their respective fields and each of whom left such an indelible mark on Penn State should share this anniversary.
The circumstances of the last few months are not what anyone would have wanted, but I do not believe they will define his career and certainly not his life. Coach often said he lived a full, happy life doing what he loved best with a wonderful family and friends. He transformed the lives of thousands of young men for the better. He reminded us all to be gracious in defeat and when we are successful, to act like we have been there before and will be there again. That, I am convinced, will be his legacy.
At Mr. Schreyer’s funeral Joe said Bill was like a brother to him and that his passing marked the end of a great era. I am sure Mr. Schreyer would say the same.
This evening’s 9 pm mass in the worship hall at Pasquerilla Spiritual Center will be offered for Mr. Schreyer and I am sure Coach Paterno will be remembered as well.
“May light perpetual shine upon him.”
Joe Paterno 1926-2012
I certainly don’t think so. This is a nice, short little piece by an assistant professor of economics at Rhodes College. While I think his comments are reasonable and good for students to read, it is the comments that are more interesting, IMHO. First, the article. Some highlights include:
First, I do not “take off” points. You earn them. The difference is not merely rhetorical, nor is it trivial. In other words, you start with zero points and earn your way to a grade. You earn a grade in (say) Econ 100 for demonstrating that you have gained a degree of competence in economics ranging from being able to articulate the basic principles (enough to earn a C) to mastery and the ability to apply these principles to day-to-day affairs (which will earn an A). I’ve hurt my own grades before by confusing my own incompetence with competence and my own (bare) competence with mastery, so trust me: I’ve been there, and I understand.…In this light, consider this: the fact that you “don’t understand” why you didn’t earn full points for a particular question might itself help explain why you didn’t earn full points. Don’t take this personally or interpret it as a sneer. See it as a learning opportunity. If you understood the material-and do note that there is a large difference between really understanding the material and being able to reproduce a graph or definition you might remember from class-you would have answered the question flawlessly. I recommend (as I have recommended to many others) that you go back, take another crack at it, and see if you can find where you have gone wrong. Then bring it by my office, and we will talk.
Then the responses, particularly to the second paragraph I shared (but do read the whole thing).
[Username] room101 1 day ago“In this light, consider this: the fact that you “don’t understand” why you didn’t earn full points for a particular question might itself help explain why you didn’t earn full points.”This is absurd. The student doesn’t understand why she didn’t earn full points and she is asking … but the teacher refuses to tell her why. She should just know.No, she shouldn’t. She is a student. A part of your job as a teacher is to teach.1. If I ask why I got 90 instead of 100 or 80 instead of 100, it is because I want to do better in the future. If you can’t be bothered to explain why I missed points, it indicates one or more of a few things:2. You don’t care if I understand the material. Otherwise, you would at least say, “To understand the correct answer, review ch. 11.”3. You don’t care if I do better in the future. Otherwise, you say, “In my essays, I am looking for students to use more primary sources.”4. Your grading system is completely subjective and based on your feelings. You have no idea why you gave me a 93 rather than 100.You are hoping I don’t continue asking you because you can’t be bothered to teach.I go through this with most teachers. I’m a 4.0. When a teacher gives me a 93% on an essay, with no comment except “Excellent” I go up to her after class and say, “Thank you so much for taking the time to review my work. I am happy with my grade and not complaining, but I’m wondering what I could do in the future to earn a full 100.”Most times, teachers do not tell me. But going forward, they give higher grades (they realize I will ask why they arbitrarily marked me down and they realize they have no explanation).
No, not Pippa, but PIPA, PROTECT IP Act.((Which itself is also an acronym: “Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property (PROTECT IP) Act.”)) You may have noticed (assuming you have actually come through to this page) that my site has an initial page today protesting SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act (once the blackout is over you can read about it at Wikipedia).1 I encourage you to go ahead and click that Wiki link because there you can put in your zip code and get the names and email addresses for your representative and complain.
I am protesting SOPA and PIPA not because I think that information wants to be free (in fact, I spoke with Information and it hates being personified and has no volition or wishes) or that I think stealing others’ works is acceptable in any sense. Rather the acts as currently written are too vague, do not give opportunity for due process, and will do nothing to stop piracy, the intended goal of the acts. Pirates Thieves will find a way around the restrictions and the only ones affected will be the average user like you and me.
So if this sort of activism annoys you, relax. It will all be back to normal tomorrow and you can blissfully ignore the issue again. Until you can’t.
