My Blog
Podcast Pilgrimage
If you're my age, you'll remember a hilarious commercial for Alka Seltzer where a man is being told, Try it, you'll like it," repeatedly, until he does. His response after tasting the food is, "I thought I was gonna die." Try it! Well, a year or so ago, my friend told...
Teaching Tales: My Amazing Students
A Variety of Students On the first day of the fall cell biology class at NVCC, my attention was drawn to a bright-eyed, attractive Persian student, Neshat. Seated in the front of the class, she nodded in comprehension when a concept registered, smiled at my jokes, and...
Teaching Tales: Collegial Advice
It was my second semester at NVCC, and I’d been assigned Bio 102. Full of enthusiasm, I wanted to be the best college professor I could be. I pored over the course objectives for Bio 102 and the list of chapters to be covered: zoology, botany, and ecology. “Wow,...
Fleeting Pleasures
Currently, I spend a lot of time gazing at trees. If I could suck the beauty of the leaves deep into my soul, I would. Instead, I take photos in a vain attempt to capture what I’m seeing. The pictures are nice, but they’re not the same. I also spend time listening to...
Teaching Tales: Disabled or Entitled?
After my first lecture of the semester, two young men approached me. Claus was chunky with an arrogant tilt to his chin; Andrew was dark-haired, diffident, and shy— but they had the same story. “Dr Crocker, I have a learning disability. The disability office told me to...
Teaching Tales: Sex and More
It was time to tackle the reproductive system—including sex. The textbook started with external anatomy, but I suspected the students would know this. I elected to avoid the guffaws that would accompany the labeling of a penis on the screen. Instead, starting with the...