Economics for Teachers: Musings about Teaching Economics

Whenever I have large stacks of grading, I find that I can power through for a while but the closer I get to being done, the harder it is to force myself to get the last few papers done. This is true even if I take a big break - for example, I finished grading all but five papers yesterday morning and then I started working on something else, figuring I would start fresh this morning and just finish them off. I did manage to grade a couple this morning but it's now six hours later and I just can't seem to find the mental wherewithal to do the others. I have, however, vacuumed my living room, worked a bit on another project, and done some prepping for next week's classes (and now I'm writing this...). For some reason, I just can't seem to get my brain to focus so I can grade those last few papers, even though I know that it's not going to take all that long and if I can just do it, I will feel incredibly happy to be done with the whole stack. Is it just me, or do

I feel like I've been grading for weeks. I teach the writing class in the spring and I always know that I have to mentally prepare for all the grading. Although the class is 'only' thirty students, I've still broken up the assignments so half the class submits something at a time. The benefit to that is I only have to grade fifteen papers at a time but between first drafts (which need to be turned around in two days) and final drafts a week later, one assignment means three consecutive weeks where I constantly have something to grade. And then my data class had a midterm in the middle of that, and are about to turn in their mid-semester papers today. So I guess it isn't just 'feels like' - I have been grading for weeks! I'm not sure I know any teachers, at any level, who will say grading is their favorite part of the job, but we slog through, knowing that it's a necessary part of the job. But this Savage Minds post from Matt Thompson struck a ch

I hope Gail and KimMarie don't hate me for using this picture but they should be very proud of the work they did putting together the International Handbook on Teaching and Learning Economics  (disclosure: I worked with Gail and Steve Buckles on the chapter on large-enrollment courses). The book is a bit pricey for most people to keep on their personal shelves but you should definitely bug your library to make sure they have a copy! Speaking of Gail and KimMarie, they and Tisha Emerson are  co-organizing economic education sessions focused on innovative teaching practices at the 2012 Southern Economic Association (SEA) meetings. The Southerns will be November 16-18 (Friday-Sunday) in New Orleans, LA.  "Each session will be organized as a panel where each presenter will discuss innovative teaching practices they have employed.  More specifically, each panel session will have 5 – 6 presenters offering a 10-15 minute presentation of a new teaching technique or idea.  To accompa