TABLE OF CONTENTS
Check out the latest issue of Adjunct Advocate online.
Wondering what we have in store for you in future issues of the Adjunct Advocate?
The AdjunctNation.com Podcast Interview Series. Check out the latest links.
The AdjunctNation.com Blogs. Check out the reader comment of the week.
Check out our international jobs.
The basic principles of motivation.
Learn how to keep your Web searches private.
Our adjunct resource of the week.
From our "Adjunct Advisor" Message Board.
Good books.
Subscribe to the Adjunct Advocate magazine online.
Manage your subscription to the e-Advocate Newsletter.
ON OUR WEBSITE THIS WEEK
“Taking a Sabbatical South of the Border: An Adjunct Retreats to Mexico" by Roy Freedman
Upon waking up in Guanajuato, Mexico for the very first time, on January 4, 2008, I planned to connect with my chosen Spanish-language academy (my anchor, so to speak, in a foreign land). My second priority was locating a suitable apartment for the next three-and-a-half months (more on that later). My third order of business was to find English teaching work. I knew I would have plenty of spare time, and I always need to feel productive. The extra money would help me breathe easier, as I did not yet know how to gauge my expenses. Finally, teaching would be an excellent opportunity to meet local people. I knew from previous experiences overseas how easy it would be to retreat into speaking English with fellow students studying Spanish, tourists and expatriates, many of them unable to speak much of the local language, and thus avoid the difficulty of communicating in another language.
Sure enough, from my Spanish-language school staff I found out about two private schools hiring native English speakers. From my landlady, a retired dance professor at the University of Guanajuato (20,000 to 30,000 students depending on the source), I got encouragement, an address, and names of people to approach about teaching work. And from Mitch, a friendly and very loquacious Oregonian, who seems to have found the revolving door at the Mexican-American border, a few more teaching contacts. He advised me that December/January and July/August see the highest turnovers of teachers, so I had arrived at a good time for finding work. It was welcome news....
Visit AdjunctNation.com, and read the rest of the piece. Click here. (Fee required.)
COMING IN THE ADJUNCT ADVOCATE MAGAZINE
"A Modest Proposal: Burn the Constitution Day"
by Don Rich
Although it is only early June, with September 17 marking the 221th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution, it is not too soon to plan. With the open, repeated and unpunished breaches in the rule of law by the current administration over the last seven years, including illegal search and seizure, perjury, obstruction of justice, violation of various laws of war that are integrated by Article Six into the Constitution, illegally lying to Congress about the grounds for launching said war, harassment of those objecting to the process, and of course the crime of treason for providing aid and comfort to the enemies of the United States by exposing one of its own spies, it is time to acknowledge that the constitutional order has failed, and begin to mark the transition to dictatorship. With apologies for both the length of the second sentence and any unintentionally omitted crimes, we can proceed to the festivities.
As the Constitution was signed in Philadelphia, and a once great newspaper located in said city allowed the Constitution to be destroyed without a peep, the appropriate venue for the event is obvious.
CHECK OUT THE ADJUNCTNATION.COM PODCAST INTERVIEW SERIES
"Dr Brown's Revolt" – an interview with full-time faculty member Dr. Peter Brown, who has worked tirelessly on behalf of the 8000 part-time faculty employed in the SUNY system.
"SEIU Local 500: Eight Years in the Making" – an interview with Kip Lornell and Libby Smigel, both part-time faculty members at George Washington University. They talk about the long road to the organization and recognition of the 1,200 member part-time faculty union.
"Walking the Picket Line Along the Loyalist Highway" – Dr. Judy Bates, President of the Wilfrid Laurier University Faculty Association, in Ontario, Canada, discusses the circumstances surrounding the first-ever strike of WLU's 366 contract faculty.
"AAUP at a Crossroads: An Interview With AAUP President Cary Nelson, Part 1 of 2" – The first order of business for Dr. Cary Nelson is to get himself re-elected. After that, he intends to lead AAUP straight into the skirmish to organize and represent the nation's 700,000 part-time faculty--one campus at a time.
CHECK OUT THE ADJUNCTNATION.COM BLOGS
Here is the comment of the week:
by: Anonymous
Adjuncts save your money! As the saying goes: It it looks like a duck and walks like a duck it is a duck. This looks like and walks like a get rich scheme for the founders of the Society of Certified Adjunct Faculty Educators. I'm sure at one time or another Adjuncts have thought there might be one or two areas in their teaching methods that could use some polish. But instead of paying $395.00 for a certification program I believe most Adjuncts search out what they need to improve your teaching methods. The Internet has many free or low cost resources, libraries have a wealth of free information....
Read the original blog entry: "SoCafe's Business Model SoSucks" To comment and join in on the conversation, click here.
TEACHING TIP
Basic principles of motivation exist that are applicable to learning in any situation.To have a look at the general principles of motivation, click here to read more.
HANG 10 ON THE WEB
Wondering how to keep your web searches private? Check out this article published in Computer World about safe web searching.
ADJUNCT RESOURCE OF THE WEEK
Academic Associations we love: The American Association of University Women is open to both women and men who hold an associate's or equivalent, bachelor's, or higher degree from a regionally accredited college or university. To check out the association, click here.
To suggest a resource you love, click here.
ADJUNCTNATION JOBS: To view the jobs, follow the links.
Hot Jobs! International Jobs. Check out these (and all of the) jobs on our site. It's the largest collection of jobs for part-time, adjunct, full-time temporary, and visiting jobs online:
Part-time (50%) Lecturer in Architecture, Newcastle University, UK.
George Eastman Visiting Professorship, Oxford University, UK.
Instructors, Zayed University, United Arab Emirates.
Part-Time German Lecturer, International Study Centre at Herstmonceux Castle, UK.
Junior Lecturer/Researcher in British History and Society, MHumboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany.
FROM THE MESSAGE BOARDS: ADJUNCT ADVISOR
You've misplaced your room key, and the department chair is holding your paycheck hostage until the key is returned. What should you do? Ask the Adjunct Advisor.
I Got Fired. Did I Deserve It?
I would appreciate an objective perspective of my experience: I taught one and sometimes two evening classes at a JC for some four years with good student reviews and excellent relations with the staff of the satellite campus where I worked. I teach elementary school full time during the day. Then one semester I taught one evening class and took on my first online class for the college and promised to develop another course in a similar subject. Very strangely, many, many unforeseeable things happened that completely zapped much of my time and energy—I won't list them here, but I was able to carry on with the live class as usual, yet the online class was a near disaster (much due to my high-speed connection in my rural area suddenly becoming mostly low-speed). Things got way behind, and several of these students filed complaints by mid-semester. I don't really blame them. However, class instruction came together the latter part of the semester; I worked with everyone individually on their research papers, and the students who came to the final exam (held live) seemed fine with the class, some shook my hand, and I think they left with a good grasp of the subject.
I couldn't develop the new online course, because my full-time day school got cited as "needs improvement" which resulted in very taxing demands on the faculty involving long after-hour and weekend work.
I wasn't surprised that the online department didn't book me the next semester, but the somewhat new chair on the main campus—who never once came to any of my classes—sent me a letter five days before the new semester began saying I am not to return to my live class.
I made a list of many campus activities I had worked as a volunteer for over the years and some very unique teaching activities I did with my mostly at-risk college students and showed this to the dean for faculty. She seemed bothered by what the chair did, though I still haven't heard from anyone. Other faculty I know have been dismissed even more curtly (by other department chairs), one with not even a notice of any kind. I will therefore shop for a new college (when my elementary school demands lessen!), but I think I was treated unfairly, do you? Or perhaps my ego is so bruised I can't see that a teacher who frankly did poorly in one course and blew the promise to develop another course should be removed from the faculty.
Your two cents?
Thanks.
To read the AdjunctNation.com Advisor's advice, click here.
GOOD BOOKS....
Reclaiming the Ivory Tower: Organizing Adjuncts to Change Higher, by Joe Berry
$17 per copy. Available here.
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