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some academic nonsense
May. 6th, 2019 03:16 pm I am feeling in control of things right at this very moment so I'm gonna document it.
So, my Maymester Languages of Tolkien class starts in like a week. After that I'm done with official coursework for my degree. I'm taking two classes next semester - one on corpus linguistics and one for the teaching certificate. I may or may not also take two in the spring (one my professor wants me to have for research purposes, and another for the teaching certificate). But none of that goes toward my actual degree plan, so i can drop any of it at any point and not be adversely impacted. Which is pretty good.
This summer is pretty well filled up. I am:
-taking the Maymester class
-TAing for the online LING 101 class (and being paid for it)
-presenting remotely at a conference in June
-taking a teacher training over July
-designing and conducting a study and writing my QP2 based on the results
-hopefully, improving my LING 101 course design
-probably editing my QP1 into a conference-worthy paper for submission at another time
The teacher training is for an experimental method that the department head wants to introduce in a select few LING 101 courses to see how it goes. Its object is to make our courses more discussion-based. I suspect this will be a slight pain to grade, BUT, the great thing is. I have to do a research project for my teaching certificate, and I can probably use this. I'm going to have to write up the results anyway, because Dr Departmenthead wants to see if it's successful, so I think I should be able to turn it into Real Research. The requirement is not intense, I just need to produce some kind of project and present it at the teaching certificate program's conference. This wlil be really nice if I can do that, becuase it's a genuine cutting-edge thing I've not really seen in linguistics before. So that's good.
The conference is about nonbinary pronouns and as it's technically international I can put that on my CV, and I'll get to see lots of great presentations. I was going to go in person but I thought it would be too much stress, so I took the less-anxiety option. And I've already got my QP2 intro rough drafted, so all I need to do now is design the experiment and let it run for a month while I write up methods etc. So, I think I should quite easily be able to finish it this summer, and if I'm *very* lucky and my advisor is less slow about edits, then I can maybe defend in fall? And then it's my dissertation prospectus.
I'm teaching 101 again next year (with a slight raise that roughly matches the raise in my rent, yay), so my employment for the year is sewn up. May or may not find another second job, we'll see. And then after next year, next summer I'll be...probably working on dissertation prospectus stuff and I'll be going to see Moll. There's also a good chance of me getting to TA online 101 again if the department offers it, because the professor who teaches it seems to like to bring the same team back in when possible. If I do a good job (and I feel reasonably confident that I can do so), then I will probably be asked back if my services are needed. So, that's nice.
And I'm not uneasy about going to Wales. Bit nervous about leaving the cat, but I've checked out petsitting services in the area, and I also have a friend who *might* be able to do it. Getting to and from the airport will not be a big deal, and since I am fully employed this summer and next year, I have time to save up money for it without a problem.
So, that's how things are going right now. I feel like I'm on track with my degree, I've got two Professional Development things lined up and potential for more, and I've got steady employment for the next 12 months, which is pretty good.
So, my Maymester Languages of Tolkien class starts in like a week. After that I'm done with official coursework for my degree. I'm taking two classes next semester - one on corpus linguistics and one for the teaching certificate. I may or may not also take two in the spring (one my professor wants me to have for research purposes, and another for the teaching certificate). But none of that goes toward my actual degree plan, so i can drop any of it at any point and not be adversely impacted. Which is pretty good.
This summer is pretty well filled up. I am:
-taking the Maymester class
-TAing for the online LING 101 class (and being paid for it)
-presenting remotely at a conference in June
-taking a teacher training over July
-designing and conducting a study and writing my QP2 based on the results
-hopefully, improving my LING 101 course design
-probably editing my QP1 into a conference-worthy paper for submission at another time
The teacher training is for an experimental method that the department head wants to introduce in a select few LING 101 courses to see how it goes. Its object is to make our courses more discussion-based. I suspect this will be a slight pain to grade, BUT, the great thing is. I have to do a research project for my teaching certificate, and I can probably use this. I'm going to have to write up the results anyway, because Dr Departmenthead wants to see if it's successful, so I think I should be able to turn it into Real Research. The requirement is not intense, I just need to produce some kind of project and present it at the teaching certificate program's conference. This wlil be really nice if I can do that, becuase it's a genuine cutting-edge thing I've not really seen in linguistics before. So that's good.
The conference is about nonbinary pronouns and as it's technically international I can put that on my CV, and I'll get to see lots of great presentations. I was going to go in person but I thought it would be too much stress, so I took the less-anxiety option. And I've already got my QP2 intro rough drafted, so all I need to do now is design the experiment and let it run for a month while I write up methods etc. So, I think I should quite easily be able to finish it this summer, and if I'm *very* lucky and my advisor is less slow about edits, then I can maybe defend in fall? And then it's my dissertation prospectus.
I'm teaching 101 again next year (with a slight raise that roughly matches the raise in my rent, yay), so my employment for the year is sewn up. May or may not find another second job, we'll see. And then after next year, next summer I'll be...probably working on dissertation prospectus stuff and I'll be going to see Moll. There's also a good chance of me getting to TA online 101 again if the department offers it, because the professor who teaches it seems to like to bring the same team back in when possible. If I do a good job (and I feel reasonably confident that I can do so), then I will probably be asked back if my services are needed. So, that's nice.
And I'm not uneasy about going to Wales. Bit nervous about leaving the cat, but I've checked out petsitting services in the area, and I also have a friend who *might* be able to do it. Getting to and from the airport will not be a big deal, and since I am fully employed this summer and next year, I have time to save up money for it without a problem.
So, that's how things are going right now. I feel like I'm on track with my degree, I've got two Professional Development things lined up and potential for more, and I've got steady employment for the next 12 months, which is pretty good.
