Get off my back, dear daughter
My daughter Kalypso, spending the summer in Omaha, just emailed me and let me know that I haven't blogged for some time now. This is apparently in response to my pointing out that her blog has not been a center of much activity as of late. Well, here are my thoughts about teaching at the moment: I'm tired. I get up at 4 AM to do archaeology, it is windy, hot, and there is a whole bunch of paperwork to do in my position as square supervisor on an archaeological dig. Tomorrow we fine grid a floor for flotation samples, and I'll need to get caught up on some closed loci. What does this have to do with teaching? It makes me miss the classroom I guess. Was that enough Kalypso?
A personal journal about teaching the Bible and ancient Near Eastern history/theology/religion/archaeology to university students in New Orleans, and whatever else happens to be on my mind.
Pages
▼
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Thursday, June 10, 2004
Jerusalem and the Albright Institute of Archaeological Research
I arrived in Israel on Wednesday, slept quite a bit, and now it is Thursday night. I've been able to use the library here to put my hands on a few articles I've needed. I also spent the day tracking down an Egyptian visa, as I'll be visiting Egypt in late July. I miss having a good library in New Orleans. Tomorrow I need to finish getting some electronic things and finish up some research, and then Saturday morning I'll head to Kibbutz Galon where the dig is headquartered. It is depressing to be at the Albright where so many of my friends are here, just completing or recently completed their PhDs, and do not have jobs. They are living year to year with various fellowships. That life is hard, as I know from experience. It is good to be back in Jerusalem. It feels like home. I am looking forward to getting back into the field.
I arrived in Israel on Wednesday, slept quite a bit, and now it is Thursday night. I've been able to use the library here to put my hands on a few articles I've needed. I also spent the day tracking down an Egyptian visa, as I'll be visiting Egypt in late July. I miss having a good library in New Orleans. Tomorrow I need to finish getting some electronic things and finish up some research, and then Saturday morning I'll head to Kibbutz Galon where the dig is headquartered. It is depressing to be at the Albright where so many of my friends are here, just completing or recently completed their PhDs, and do not have jobs. They are living year to year with various fellowships. That life is hard, as I know from experience. It is good to be back in Jerusalem. It feels like home. I am looking forward to getting back into the field.
Friday, June 04, 2004
WABASH
I'm in Crawfordsville Indiana for a weeklong seminar/workshop for junior faculty who teach religion. It is being run by the Wabash Center, and thus far into it (about half way) it has been very productive. We've explored vocation and I've received many good ideas about how to be a better and more effective teacher. The staff is great, but I think the best part of the workshop has been sharing stories with other people in similar situations. Also there is a huge range of differences at different schools. Some teach a load of 2/3 and get the third year off (paid) to do research. I on the other hand, teach 4/4 and get no time off. That was sort of depressing. But going over university mission statements, I think the mission of Xavier fits me better than any other mission statement I heard today. I've been trying to read in my offtime several articles and books that deal with effectively using technology to teach. I've also been pretty tired, especially today. I'm sleeping more than at home. I think that I was just overly tired with the end of semester stuff and tying up lose ends before this workshop and digging at Zeitah this summer. I miss my children and wife. Kalypso luckily is at an age where she can email me. That is always a highlight of my day, reading her emails.
I'm in Crawfordsville Indiana for a weeklong seminar/workshop for junior faculty who teach religion. It is being run by the Wabash Center, and thus far into it (about half way) it has been very productive. We've explored vocation and I've received many good ideas about how to be a better and more effective teacher. The staff is great, but I think the best part of the workshop has been sharing stories with other people in similar situations. Also there is a huge range of differences at different schools. Some teach a load of 2/3 and get the third year off (paid) to do research. I on the other hand, teach 4/4 and get no time off. That was sort of depressing. But going over university mission statements, I think the mission of Xavier fits me better than any other mission statement I heard today. I've been trying to read in my offtime several articles and books that deal with effectively using technology to teach. I've also been pretty tired, especially today. I'm sleeping more than at home. I think that I was just overly tired with the end of semester stuff and tying up lose ends before this workshop and digging at Zeitah this summer. I miss my children and wife. Kalypso luckily is at an age where she can email me. That is always a highlight of my day, reading her emails.