My best wishes for your holidays. Thanks to those who read the blog faithfully as well as those who read it intermittently. I enjoy meeting you on my travels and hearing about a blog post that you’ve read and appreciated. I work hard to make them useful—hoping to enlarge your understanding, challenge your thinking, and [...]
Posts Tagged ‘personal reflections’
Sacrifices to Attend College
Posted Tuesday, September 28th, 2010 by Maryellen WeimerI’m cleaning out my Dad’s apartment and found a letter from the President of Washington State University addressed to my grandfather. The letter tells him that his daughter Barbara (my much loved aunt) has made the All-College Honor Roll for the sixth time and that no student does this without being “thoughtful” and “earnest minded.”
Stories
Posted Thursday, August 19th, 2010 by Maryellen WeimerDad died on July 31. He was 98 and it was time, although I don’t think that makes the empty feeling any smaller.
Dad was very religious, attending the same small Bible church for 65 years, and he preached there regularly until just a couple of years ago. The elder who delivered the message at Dad’s [...]
Learning can be Frustrating
Posted Tuesday, July 13th, 2010 by Maryellen WeimerIt’s good to remember how frustrating learning can be. It’s even better when you experience the frustration firsthand.
Unlearning
Posted Thursday, July 1st, 2010 by Maryellen WeimerThe capacity to learn and to use what we’ve learned is one of those things that makes life worth living. When the mind delivers what we need or helps us understand something new, we take it for granted, unable to imagine its absence. Like so much else in life, learning is a gift to be used and enjoyed. But it is also one of those gifts that sometimes wears out.
Holiday Best Wishes
Posted Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009 by Maryellen WeimerHere are my best wishes for your holiday season. May there be peace, joy, giving, and thankfulness as you celebrate with family and friends.
We’re having a quiet, white Christmas at our farm in Pennsylvania. I’m giving the birds extra seed and the neighbors the Christmas cookies my Mom used to make.
Thanks for reading this blog. [...]
Oh Those Students. . .
Posted Thursday, December 17th, 2009 by Maryellen WeimerEven with the holidays upon us, it’s hard not to think about those students who did poorly in our courses this semester.
Some of them just didn’t make the effort. They tend to be the ones who don’t really know why they’re in college or what they want to do with their lives. At this moment, it’s the social life — meeting new people, the parties, games, and the myriad of “fun” things college kids can find to do.
‘A Teaching Life’
Posted Friday, December 4th, 2009 by Maryellen WeimerOn a fairly regular basis, I reread what may well be my all time favorite essay on teaching—Christa L. Walck’s “A Teaching Life.” Walck’s essay draws heavily from one of my favorite books, Annie Dillard’s The Writing Life, in which Dillard describes how writing creates her life. Walck wonders if teaching does the same for [...]
Thankful for Pedagogical Colleagues
Posted Tuesday, November 24th, 2009 by Maryellen WeimerIt’s the week for being thankful, and I’m thinking gratefully about my pedagogical colleagues—those faculty friends and compatriots with whom I can talk teaching.
I have colleagues who indulged my need to blow off steam—some student behavior is nothing short of outrageous; some department policies are nothing short of senseless; some department heads nothing other than [...]
A Long Life of Learning
Posted Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 by Maryellen WeimerMy much-loved Aunt Barbara died last week, 10 days past her 100th birthday. It was time—her mind had left her several years ago.
Barbara loved learning and that love filled her final decades with richness and reward. She matched her broad and eclectic interests with a fierce commitment to mastering new ideas and skills. At 94, when she could barely operate her TV remote and was just about to move into assisted living, she begged me to help her pick out a computer.
