classroom

By Kat Kiefer-Newman Recently, I was at a fellow adjunct's house relaxing, enjoying a glass of something sweet, and talking about dining with several other colleagues. Without any warning one of my nasty little secrets came out: I am a…

By Kat Kiefer-Newman Spring seems to finally be here. I know because over on my Facebook page people have been posting for a couple of weeks now warmer temperatures, pictures of their gardens bursting with color, and recipes for homemade…

By Kat Kiefer-Newman From their laptops, their Blackberries, their iPhones, and now their iPads they Tweet. They Tweet in the library, the parking lot, walking along the pathways, in the dining hall. They Tweet because they can. And I am…

By Kat Kiefer-Newman I'm no Cupid. There are some things I am very good at, but I am seriously no Cupid. Nor am I a Yenta, a Mi-Ai, a Sensale, a Casamentera, a marriage broker, The Old Man Under the Moon, or The Millionaire Matchmaker.…

By Kat Kiefer-Newman I've been sick. Very, very sick. We all get sick, I know. This Fall semester, though, the weather seems especially chaotic, and my students have been particularly sniffley (that's when they even come to class). The…

By Kat Kiefer-Newman I was late. It almost never happens, but this semester I have an eight o'clock class and it's sometimes difficult to get ready and out of the house in time.  I'm waking up at five a.m. every morning, but waking up…

By Kat Kiefer-Newman Do you remember writing those horrible gradeschool essays "What I did for my summer vacation"? I always hated those because we rarely did anything at all. I would sit and listen, hours and hours, it seemed, while my…

Last semester I walked into a class that I had been petitioning to teach since I began at this particular school. It is a class on the dark and brooding subject of death. When I first talked with the department chair about this class, and…

Last semester I walked into a class that I had been petitioning to teach since I began at this particular school. It is a class on the dark and brooding subject of death. When I first talked with the department chair about this class, and…

There are days when I wonder why I even got out of bed. In teaching, these days can sneak up on you when you aren't ready for them. For me, they are especially acute when I've taken extra time with a lecture or assignment and the fanfare…