Author Archives: Julie Dodd
A student goes with each syllabus
Fall semester began at UF on Monday with a large measure of excitement and high hopes and at least a pinch of anxiety and confusion. Even though I’ve taught Writing for Mass Communication (MMC 2100) for years, every semester I review the syllabus from the previous semester and consider how to make the course more […]
The Revenge of the Shopping Carts As Fay blew through Gainesville, we got lots of rain and gusty wind but not enough to create a safety threat. Quite a few of us took to the roads on errands. I wound up in the parking lot of a shopping center. Not as many cars as on a typical day but still quite a few cars. As I was driving down an aisle in quest of a parking space, suddenly a shopping cart sailed by — appearing to be rushing to escape the parking lot. As I stopped my car, gusts of wind-driven rain awakened another stationary cart, which zoomed about 20 yards and crashed into an unsuspecting parked car. The wind gusted again, and the cart zipped off and rammed into another car. I was envisioning the squirrels in the Geico commercials sitting in a tree driving the carts by remote control. So even if cars weren’t damaged by falling limbs or floods, they could be the victims of The Revenge of the Shopping Carts. [Photo from www.cityfood.com, as I didn’t have my camera with me to capture the scene. In Gainesville, less fog, fewer carts, more cars and gusting rain.]
The Revenge of the Shopping Carts As Fay blew through Gainesville, we got lots of rain and gusty wind but not enough to create a safety threat. Quite a few of us took to the roads on errands. I wound up in the parking lot of a shopping center. Not as many cars as on […]
Fay hits Gainesville The current center location on the map is almost exactly at Gainesville. Fortunately, Fay was just heavy rain and strong winds. The storm started yesterday afternoon, and officials announced that UF and the public schools would be closed today. A storm day! Growing up in East Tennessee, we had snow several times every winter. When snow was forecast, we students would eagerly await the word on whether we’d have a snow day. My mom would call these snow days “found time.” Dad was an elementary school principal, so he still had to get to school at some point during the day. Mom was a teacher, and I was in school, so we both had “found time.” With UF starting on Monday, I have plenty to keep me busy during this “found time” today. Too stormy to go into the yard to collect fallen branches.
Fay hits Gainesville The current center location on the map is almost exactly at Gainesville. Fortunately, Fay was just heavy rain and strong winds. The storm started yesterday afternoon, and officials announced that UF and the public schools would be closed today. A storm day! Growing up in East Tennessee, we had snow several times […]
Team meeting to prepare for the start of classes
One of my favorite part of teaching at UF is working with teaching assistants. MMC 2100 has 260 students that break into 13 labs. Seven teaching assistants and one adjunct will be teaching with me — five of whom are new to teaching. We met yesterday to get ready for the start of classes on […]
Parking spaces available — but not for long
When I met with the 450 UF teaching assistants, I offered teaching strategies and advice. One of my pieces of advice was to be sure to have a transportation plan for next week when classes start. On a campus with 51,000 students, more than 5,000 faculty and administrative staff and maintanence staff, the competition is […]
Starting off the new school year
Tomorrow is a big day for education in Gainesville. The public schools have their first day of classes. At UF, not only are faculty holding meetings but the Graduate School is holding a two-day orientation for new graduate students. I’ve been in communication with the six new teaching assistants who will be teaching with me, […]
Standing Up for Journalists
At least once a week, I receive an e-mail or hear in the news that a newspaper is downsizing or reorganizing and media employees are losing their jobs. Some receive buy-outs. Some receive farewell parties. Some receive the treatment usually reserved for employees who are fired for unethical conduct — they are told they are […]
Newspapers as a great learning experience for students
I became a believer in the value of NIE my first year as a high school teacher — and not because of my newspaper advising. I was assigned a sophomore English class that would now be termed an “at risk” class. All of the 35 students on the class roster — except for two — […]
Changes for Newspaper Association of America Foundation mean changes for journalism education
We introduced ourselves. Most of the group were Newspaper in Education specialists from papers from Arizona to South Carolina. Members of the Newspaper Association of America Foundation staff represented diversity, circulation, communication and educational outreach. Several of the group worked with Youth Editors publications. Three of us represented scholastic journalism — Logan Aimone from the […]
Julie Dodd 