Herding Cats!

This blog comprises my own opinions and does not include any feline  opinions...or objections for that matter. Please keep that fact in mind before forging ahead.

Have you heard that expression? "It's like herding cats!" I've learned it means that something or some task is next to impossible--or at best--extremely difficult. I really don't know about that since I...ah...er...herd cats on a daily basis.  And while some days can be more trying than others, most of the time, it's not difficult to get them to head in the direction you need them to go.

Go ahead and laugh at me. But after eight years of managing ferals, combined with a lifetime of being owned by cats, I think I've got it down pretty much and pat. *grins at you* The first clue you need is to make them think it's their idea in the first place. Yeah, I know. It's easier said than achieved but that's the main concept in herding cats. However, that's true about motivating anyone into doing what you need them to do, right? Cats are not that much different. 

Ok--there are two exceptions. Every cat remembers when they were worshipped as gods. Sure that may have happened hundreds of thousands of feline generations ago, but  they remember. They also wish you and I and every other human being would remember this important piece of feline history as well. So be respectful. You don't need to bow down and worship them, but please be respectful. Basic courtesy makes them shiver with delight and gets you mousey points. (Similar to brownie points in human terms.) 

What?!?!? Think like a HUMAN!?!?! You've got to be insane! 

The second exception is that cats do not think like humans. This bears repeating. Cats will not lower themselves to think like humans. After all, they believe they are much more intelligent than we are. Their level of intelligence is not defined by mere IQ exams presented by humans. Cats have better percipience of all matters that are important (they do not count politics, religion, or world view/philosophy as important). So if you give a cat's actions human translation, you are in danger of being too simple-minded to understand their lowest level of communication. 

So with those two facts in mind, herding cats can be relatively easy. Motivation and reward works with cats. For instance, when my husband is filling up the food and water bowls for the ferals outside, his biggest concern is the indoor cats who are trying to make good on an "escape." Escape as in getting outside long enough to roll in the dirt, and for fun, have their human friends play chase. Meaning the humans chase the cat until they are ready to go back indoors.  They don't see the consequences of possibly getting into a catfight with the ferals or getting hurt or getting lost because that falls under politics, religion, and/or worldview/philosophy. Remember--those things are not important to cats at all. 

Therefore, it's up to us mere humans to understand what it will take to keep the indoor kitties separated from the feral kitties. We use motivation in the form of treat bag noise to entice them away from thinking about escaping. The reward is what comes out of the treat bag. We don't feed them their treats in a bowl because we realize we are dealing with hunters. So we toss the treat bits out and about and that allows them to "hunt them suckers down and eat them with joy!" That little bit of motivation is often enough to keep them occupied while D carries out bowls of food and fresh water for the ferals outside. 

Here's another example of herding cats--making them go where you need them to go. For the past year, Arby was terribly ill. We had her in Dr. J's office nearly every other week for nearly the past year. She was difficult to diagnose and difficult to treat. She lost weight and because she's not a large cat in the first place, losing a few ounces constantly did not bode well for her. Her coat became ragged, she lost her playfulness, and she was miserable. We contemplated euthanasia but neither D nor I nor Dr. J were ready to give up just yet. Arby is a fighter and whatever was making her sick was not taking the life out of her. 

Finally, Dr. J tried a radical therapy---a shot of antibiotic + steroid + Vitamin B12  once a week for a month to see if that would kill the bacteria in her gut that was giving her acid reflux. To top it off, we were trying daily doses of Mylanta to help curb the acid that was burning her mouth and throat. Arby HATES shots. She doesn't care who gives them, she hates them. She uses claws, fangs, and twisty moves and then more fangs and claws to let us know she's not happy about getting shots. By the time the shot is administered, more than one person is injured, reaching for bandaids and white vinegar and a thesaurus (to swear effectively and creatively).

So remembering to think like a cat, I made a deal with her. She could eat off my plate every day as long as she let me give her weekly shot and two daily doses of Mylanta. She could eat people food as much as she wanted if she worked with me and didn't cause too many injuries in dosing her. She agreed. That night I took  choice, tasty bits off my plate and placed them on a small plate for Arby. 

It worked. Within two weeks, she was responding well to this new therapy and gaining weight. Within a month, her mouth wasn't ugly red or sore. She eats a combination of people and cat foods daily. She only has to go in occasionally for shots, instead of once a week. Her coat smoothed out and is silky. 

And she's been playing again. 

Nonetheless, Arby is feline and cats do not like to be caught. So D will literally herd her into the kitchen where she lets me pick her up for her daily dose of medication.  Somedays, she makes him chase her around the house. Other days, she prefers to get this nasty tasting affair over and done with quickly and runs into the kitchen so I can dose her. The motivation is to keep herself healthy so she doesn't have to deal with Dr. J and his shots...the reward is eating people food. 

So the next time someone tells you that something is "like herding cats" remember that it's not as difficult as it's made out to be.  






 

The Second Annual Bead Soup Party

I wasn't going to join this year's Bead Soup Party, that's hosted by Lori Anderson of Pretty Things. I told myself my time was very limited this semester and I just couldn't possibly squeek in one more item to my schedule. I participated in the first two bead parties and had a blast! But this year is different. I have to teach, get my store up and running, and plan this year's garden. I'm also part of the Assessment Team and have to concentrate on that as well. 

But you know me...despite my being logical and practical...I couldn't resist the siren's call of another rip-roaring, exciting, bead soup party! Yes I did! I sent my email into Lori this morning. Bless her--she organizes all us women into some reasonable, flowing, fun-loving group. That's no easy task. The thought of organizing a bunch of talented, intelligent, unique, artistic women makes me tremble. In fear. Give me college students any day of the week!

That giggling you hear in the background is the Bead Addict. She's thrilled to no end that I relented to her incessant pressure to join this year's Bead Soup Party. She's bead-greedy for one thing. For another, she's been complaining that I haven't bought her--me--us a lot of new and interesting beads lately. Not like we don't have whole drawers full of beads or anything like that...Maybe this will keep her occupied so I can get the store up and running without hearing her complain that we can't possibly sell this set or those earrings or THAT necklace--because they are simply too pretty! 

I like the bead soup parties because they make me stretch out of my comfort zone. I also meet new women who are creative and talented. My first bead soup party partner was Elizabeth of Turquoise Sky.  Whenever I wear that set I created from this Party, I am reminded with fond memories the emails and the developing friendship. 

My next bead party brought me in contact with Dana of Dana's Jewelry Design who sent me pearls--my absolute favorite of all favorites! 

Yeah--I like bead soup parties...and I'm eager to join in this year! Please go to Lori's place and join in the fun! The requirements are fairly simple; a blog, beads, and  an email! 




 

Civic Duty

A week before the last semester ended, I got a notice from the Distric Court  with the dreaded words, "Jury Summons." I got out of jury summons last time I got a summons because I was a student. This time I'm not so lucky. 

I went to the court house on the appointed day and saw a lot of different people there, all waiting with a tinge of anxiety and nervousness. A couple of us started talking. As soon as they found out I was a statistics professor, they immediately claimed that I would not be required to serve since no lawyer--in his or her right mind--wanted to cross a stats professor.  Yeah, right. 

But could you see me sitting on some jury and some attorney spouting off a bunch of stats to impress the jury?!?!? I'd be asking how that attorney reached their "statistical conclusion?" Not to mention I'd want to know their methodology, including how they collected their data, which statistical analysis was used and why, and actually see their findings. I like evidence...hard evidence. And just let a lawyer use that worn out phrase of "Studies show..." or "Research has proven...." Yeah--I'll be all over that one! My students aren't allowed to use such gobblety-gook in my classes! I doubt the judge would appreciate my asking "Which studies..." or "Which research..."

Come to think about it...I think they--meaning the people being called to serve--might have a point.  

So I went to the orientation and stood in the back of the court room by the doors. The first thing I noticed was the odor. Plainly speaking, it stunk. It was bad enough for me to prop  a door open for some fresh air until the bailif came by and said they had to close the door. I whispered to him that the room smelled. He gave me a weird look and I realized he did not smell what I did and that he was probably marking me down as a possible trouble maker. And I seem to fall into that category easy enough. 

There was the usual film about how this civic duty was righteous and honored, and required for citizens of this nation. Ok...I get that. But I personally feel that the our judicial system is...well...flawed. And I think it's best to leave it at that...until when I'm not serving as a potential juror. :D 

So when the judge came in and did his spiel about how we are all serving a higher calling, I almost felt like I was back in church--or one of them I attended as a child.  (Come to think of it, a court room is very similar to a church in its set up. Hmmmm...that requires some pondering!) When finished, he then asked if there were any questions. I caught my arm before it became visible up in the air, waving. I really didn't want to be the one to start a bunch of questions--especially since no one else seem to have any. I don't want the reputation as being a troublemaker early on...especially in front of a judge. 

Anyway--every Friday evening, I have to call this number to see if I'm needed the following week. I'm not looking forward to this while trying to teach. I can see this causing lots of late nights and/or early mornings in my attempts to keep my grading up and not fall behind. But we shall see. If I'm lucky, and the fates have already decided I'm in good favor, I will not have to serve.  

Planning...

Because I teach college level courses, my week takes a bit of planning. Involved in the planning is thinking how much my students will need my assistance throughout the week. This gets a bit tricky because of the type of classes I teach and the requirements for each course. 

Yesterday, I worked on my syllabus for my Intro to Stats course. This course teaches beginning college students the basics of statistics and introduces them to the concepts of research. Since this course is strictly online  and means not having any interaction with the students (outside a telephone conference or two),  it means I have to develop step-by-step PowerPoint presentations that answer all questions. If you've worked with PowerPoint, you know the slide presentations can be short or extremely long. My Intro to Stats students will be using Excel to do their statistics. That little bit of information means doing lots of screen shots and then modifying them with arrows and text to help them understand the information I'm trying to convey.  

A Sample of the Screen shots modified for PowerPoint slides

 I learned that if I post their information and assignments on Monday and made it due the following Monday, I would not get them graded in a timely manner. Much to the disgruntlement of my students, I now have their homework assignments due on Saturday nights by midnight. Because there is no interaction between me and the students--outside a few telephone calls, I have to grade differently. Grading for strictly online courses is distinct from grading face-to-face or voice chat classes. For face-to-face or voice chat classes, I only have to explain "why this is the correct answer" once. With online-only classes, I have to explain"why this is the correct answer" thirty times.  That can take me an hour per student to grade stats assignments. And there have been times when I've spent two or three hours in an attempt to understand where the student is coming from and how they reached the answer they did. 

Planning also means looking at the time I'm available to my students so I can answer their questions. Normally, I hold office hours for each class on a different day of the week. For example, my online-only class is on Mondays--the day I post their lessons. Tuesdays was for my Intro to Social Welfare students; Wednesdays for my online voice chat graduate stats students; and Thursdays and Saturdays for the interactive TV and face-to-face graduate stats students. The days I was available to my students were the days I was teaching their classes. This was also equally frustrating because if a Intro to Stats student sent me an email on Wednesday, chances are I would not even get to that email box to see it until the following Monday. 

But Cathryn, why is that? Why can't you just open  up your email box and see what the students are sending?  

Thanks to new technology called Blackboard, I have a separate email box for each class I teach. All the classes are separated, with their own desktop, email box, chat rooms and discussion boards.  So when I'm in one class, I cannot access any other class, unless I close out the class I'm in first. It's made worse because I teach for two separate universities and each have their own distinct, individual Blackboard accounts. To solve this, I told my students to call me if it was important, meaning they cannot complete their assignment without assistance from me or if it involved an issue that interfered with their learning (family crisis). But that also means my phone is always busy--or so the complaint goes. 

So planning my semester means parceling out blocks of time so I can be available to all students. I was going to hold an open office day on Tuesdays until I realized that I would be in meetings all day on Wednesday--which means my Wednesday students will not have access to me until class time. So Friday becomes the open office day for all students.  It also means that Sunday is my only real day off since I hold review sessions on Saturdays. 


All in all, I would rather teach college level than elementary or middle school or even high school. I can't imagine what those teachers go through just trying to plot out each quarter and semester. My classes are fairly easy to put together once I figure out a schedule. My hat is off to those who teach children. 








 

  

 

The New Semester

Every new semester offers its own sense of excitement. This semester starts next week and there's a new book involved. I haven't even read it yet--just scanned it briefly when it arrived. I haven't looked at thePowerPoint presentations or my lesson plans or the assignments. I haven't written the syllabi for the classes I'm teaching. For the first time in four years, I've been enjoying my time off. 

There's two issues for me with that statement. The first is I really enjoyed my time off--really, really enjoyed it. My son came home for a very short visit (one week) and I resolved to teach him new recipes to take home with him as well as enjoy his company. My husband and I spent much needed time together. The cats got to have Mom's attention for more than just a few minutes at a whack.  I got to sit down and bead every day to my little heart's content. That right there was such a balm to my frustrated, anxious, and disappointed psyche. Beading is very necessary for my soul.

The second issue is that I enjoyed myself. Meaning I'm behind on getting ready for this upcoming semester. I'm going to have to bust my butt to get ready to teach next week.  And I need to do this while I'm still enjoying my time off. Because I don't have to be at work until next week.

See what I mean?!?!?! ISSUES!

Seriously, I LIKE teaching statistics. It is a challenging and innovative class to teach. It makes me look outside my comfort zone while pulling students outside of their comfort zones. It expands the mind and opens up whole new possibilities. It's rewarding when I run into a former student months or even years later and they tell me they actually have been able to use what they learned in my class.  
  
I've had to reflect on some concerns that cropped up last couple of semesters with both my undergraduate and graduate students. One of the main problems is that I teach statistics. Statistics is one of those courses that every one is required to take and it's also one of the most dreaded courses to take. It's the course that even mathmeticians hate. So most students come in with the student role attitude.

The student role attitude is simply this: "I don't know why this course is necessary. I'm never going to use this information in my career so it's another one of those waste-of-my-time-and-money courses. I'm doing to do whatever I have to do to survive this course, get through it, and get out with my GPA (Grade Point Average) intact."  

Some of you may recognize it immediately. From the first week of classes, I'm fighting an uphill battle from the get-go.   I have to overcome that student role attitude with difficult material and a frustrating class. Having taken several semesters of statistics myself, I understand this. I can even relate to the students because I've been in their shoes. However, most of my students need this course and the knowledge for licensure, competency, and/or state board exams. 

So I tell them from the get-go: "I'm not worried about your grades. I'm more concerned about you learning this material. If you learn the material, your grades will be good." 

Unfortunately, most students are worried about their grades and could care less about learning the material. Some of my graduate students are on a special scholarship that pays for their tuition, books, travel expenses, computers, and gives them a nice living stipend. Those students have to maintain a B or better in grade point averages (GPA). If their GPAs drop below a B, they lose their scholarship and have to repay all the money back. It really makes learning difficult when one's mind is anxious about passing a course with high enough grades. 

Another concern is the rampant cheating that occurs in my online courses. Because of this, I have to revamp my assignments every semester so they are not easily recycled into the next semester. Some semesters give me more difficulty because of the possibility of cheating. Last semester, I had a married couple and three roommates taking my class. This meant for exams, I had to devise three separate ones so none of the students could take advantage. However, this doesn't alleviate cheating on the assignments. Most of the time I can catch that because students who are cheating usually will give the same wrong answer, especially when it's an answer that really far out. The chances of that happening are slim.  

I've had to develop a zero-tolerance to all forms of cheating for all my classes. This disturbs me. Last semester, I was forced to fail students for cheating. That always frustrates and disappoints me when I'm left with no other choice but to fail students for cheating. Interestingly enough, I don't have a problem failing students who fail to show up to class or do the course work. 

Finally there is what I call the Demanding Student. The Demanding Student is the one that will use up most class time and interferes with other students' ability to learn. The Demanding Student does not want to work for his grade, but expects me to give him a decent grade. The Demanding Student can give me all kinds of reasons why he cannot get the work done but insists that I give him extra time to complete assignments. The Demanding Student comes to class unprepared and views the review sessions I hold for ALL my students are his one-on-one personal time with me.  Failing to convince me, the Demanding Student starts using attack mode, such as filing grievances against me, naming me as part of a lawsuit against the university, or sending me emails several times a week, telling me how unfair I've been to him. When the Demanding Student fails the course, he immediately demands to receive either an Incomplete grade  or at least a C so that he does not lose his scholarship, funding, or class standing. 

He is the most draining on the instructor and his classmates. It's bad enough when an instructor has one Demanding Student in a semester, but it makes teaching difficult when there's several Demanding Students in a class several classes. By the way, the Demanding Student is the only time I pull out my "adjunct faculty" card. It's similar to the "Get out of Jail Free" card in Monopoly. As in: "I'm adjunct faculty...I may not be here next semester to teach so you HAVE to get your work into me this semester." Or "I'm adjunct--that means I'm on contract and my contract ends on such-n-such date. I'm not working for free after that date."

So while I prepare for the upcoming semester, I'll be thinking of hopes and opportunities. Have you run into similar situations where you work or in your life?

Another New Year Already?

Today is the second day of the new year. This means it's the day I take down the tree and pack Christmas away for eleven months. It's a day that I greet with a conflict of feelings: joy that my family was together for the holiday; sadness that the holiday season is over; excitement for the upcoming events; and a mixture of anxiety and enthusiasm because I have to return to work tomorrow. It's a day that drives me to create one last dessert because I know I have to go back to eating healthy in just a couple of days. It's the day I should clean my desk of all my beady things and get ready for my classes. Notice I said "should."  Doesn't necessarily mean I will! But it will be the day I try to get one more beading project completed so I can work without distraction. 

Do you make New Year's resolutions? I learned that I set myself up for failure when I make resolutions. I'm good for about three weeks and then something interferes with my resolutions. Usually, it's me that interferes with them.

I admire those who can set New Year's resolutions down and follow through with them all year round. I always wonder what they have that makes them able to do it. So I asked a few people who practice the New Year's resolutions throughout the year.

I learned that the number one reason they are able to stick to their resolutions is because they plan how they will achieve their goals.  They don't simply chose and pick resolutions, but actually develop an action plan that will allow them to work at attaining those goals. And some of the people I talked to actually write down the steps of accomplishing those goals. Every one said it's easier to create easy, workable goals to accomplish that adds up to the major acheivement.  It's similar to developing a purpose and the processes of a business or agency. And resolution planning also involves realizing one's limits in time, money, space, and enthusiasm.  

For example, if I resolve to eat healthier, I need to plan how to achieve that goal. That would entail defining what healthier eating means and what goal will be acquired by eating healthier. Then I would have plan the action steps to eating healthier, which would involve buying and growing healthy foods and learning new recipes and cooking tasty meals that are indeed healthier. Recognizing that I will be teaching three to four nights a week, I need quick meals that can be easily reheated. So that means I will need to cook enough food on the weekends to package up into simple meals for those working nights.  

So with that in mind, I'm going to work better because I'm going to plan better. That made me realize I need to delay opening my store a little bit longer so I can clarify the purpose, goals and action steps needed to make the store a success. 

Oh yeah...the store is called My Other Vice. It's closed for the holidays for now. I hope you will visit once it's opened. 

Meanwhile, I wish you all the best of the New Year--Peace, Prosperity, and Hope. 



 

Been Gone, Gone, Gone

Wow! Has it been since July when I last blogged?!?!?! No wonder I've gone through withdrawals that included severe cramping, profuse sweats, writer's block, and a crashed hard drive! This return feels like heaven...both soothing and head rushing ecstasy. There's so much I want to share--I don't know where to begin.

Where have I been? Between teaching summer college-level classes, the ferals, the indoor former ferals, the garden (reaches for a hankie), chile-roasting season, the local Farmers' Market, teaching a heavy fall semester, and opening an Etsy store, I've been here. I've been right here at my computer (until the hard drive said bye-bye). I have developed a hate-love-hate relationship with my computer that borders on being toxic. It was so bad that if the holidays had not come around when they did, I was going to need critical intervention. 

When my hard drive died two weeks before finals, my husband--the computer geek/guru--did his best to rescue all my files, especially those that contained student work and gradebooks. He was not able to rescue my picture files. *sighs* Among the picture files were my son's family portraits that we took this summer, pictures of the cats, and pictures of my garden (reaches for the hankie again). I also took pictures for recipes I wanted to share and my girlfriend's granddaughter whom she shares willingly with me. I also had pictures of my beadings, beads trades, and those cute Kodak moments. *sighs again* I learned I better burn my photographs to CD for now on or lose them all over again when this current hard drive dies. Because with my luck, it's sure to die again. And it will die either in the middle of a project or near the end of the semester. 

Just for the record, I HATE Windows 7 and Office 2010. 

Next semester's teaching schedule should a bit lighter...I'm only teaching stats classes for both universities! While I miss my Social Welfare class, it's going to be fun to teach only stats. I won't have to divide my brain between the different types of classes. While I have to revamp some of my assignments and PowerPoint presentations, these are to either clarify where students had trouble last semester or to reduce cheating. Ok--I said teaching statistics is fun.  That makes me officially a NERD, according to my son.  

I'm also excited because I'm on School of Education's Assessment Team for reaccreditation, both locally and federally. While this is voluntary on my part, it's also building career skills while using my current skills. I like being a part of change and being part of the development of positive change within a system. The school is moving to a new direction that will produce better teachers and educators for our state. With our nation's current education crisis, this new and vibrant direction is vital and crucial. 

This new year should bring exciting possibilities. I'm looking forward to developing my garden. Last year's garden taught me I can't be so in love with it, that I don't work it to it's full potential. We ate well off the garden but I did not have enough produce (because we were eating it!) to keep us through the winter. So my goal this year is to plant more and often, and to learn how to can. Freezing is great but there's only so much freezer space and most of that is devoted to green chile. So I'm going to learn how to can various produce. 



Anyways--I wanted you to know that I have not forgotten any of you. I have read your blogs, but I didn't comment because of time constraints.  You have not been far from my thoughts.  I learned some valuable lessons in the past six months--that when I take on too much, I start having to let go of the things I love the most. With this new year (and new possibilities as well as opportunities) I'm organizing my time and managing my life better.  I may not be on here as often once the semester starts, but I'll be here more than I have been in the past six weeks. 

I wish you all the best blessing that the New Year has to offer: Hope, Peace, and Love. 

Cathryn