Academic New Year 2011

For the last couple of years, I've posted academic new year's resolutions here. I like that tradition. I'm going to start with this years, but also post from the previous two years. The trends are often a little disconcerting because it seems I'm constantly fighting the same battles with myself.

[Coming back to this post January of 2012, preparing for the spring term. Let's see how I did.]

• I dropped a bunch of weight, then gained it back. I'd like to drop it again. So I need to bring salads for lunch, drink more water, try to avoid Chik-Fil-A on campus. [Took off 10 pounds, then gained back 2. I seem to be yo-yoing around that 8 lb. I'd like to lose quite a bit more. I did a crap job bringing salads and not eating on campus. I'm trying to recommit myself to that this semester.]
• I'd also like to join Curves or some gym (curves is near my house). I want to make sure I'm doing some sort of exercise at least 3 times a week. [I tried Curves and it sucked. But I joined water aerobics and really liked that. It's a semester thing, though, so there weren't any sessions during the break. They start again next week and I'm planning to go on Wednesday. I go 1-2 times a week, but would like to try to to 2-3 times this semester when possible.]
• Re-instate Friday work dates where we work on research and not teaching [this was mostly just complaining with Kara, but sometimes working. And decompressing with a good friend is important, too.]
• Fall is going to be madness with all of the GTA advising, so I need to make sure I don't let that get out of control. That's a fuzzy goal and I'm not sure how to enact it, but I need to at least keep it in mind. [It wasn't out of control, but it was close]
• Send out the Embodied Writing article to College English [Did this. It promptly got rejected. Ah well. I'm going to revise it and send it elsewhere.]
• Keep up with the 3 ring binder organizational plan. Stay more organized in general. [Eh. Did okay on this. I stayed pretty organized with 805, which is good. Everything else is still a bit messy.]
• Make sure I have dinner with Beej at least one night a week, especially as he's now working midnight shift and we rarely see each other. [Ah, he's now on days. We see each other more now, which is lovely. I still need to make an effort this term to have dinner once a week as a few nights I'll be at water aerobics until 8.]
• I'd like to start working on the Embodied Assessment article i have in mind, but fall might not be the time for it. It might have to wait until spring. [Yep, haven't started that. Haven't even revised the embodied rhetoric one. So I need to revise, re-send, then get moving on this next article.]
• Clearly articulate my research plan for the next 2-3 years. [Hmm. Haven't really done this. I kind of did, but it's still a little fuzzy.]
• I HAVE to be better at keeping in touch with people. I've been telling Mike I'd call for, like, a year. I talk to Tim probably three times a year. I rarely call my mom, sister, brother, or dad anymore. This is unacceptable. I write my dad letters relatively often, but should call more. [I did finally call Mike, but I'm not calling family enough. It's on my list for this term, too.]
• This is a strange thing, but I realize that I have a lot of old family pictures. This year, I'd like to find a place for them in my home. [Didn't do that at all.]
• I imagine there's more. I'll come back to update. [Nor did I update this post until now]

Here are my resolutions from the last two years, with some commentary on how I did on last year's.
From last year:

Overall I can see that I'm making some progress in most of the areas from 2009-2010. I'm happy about that. So here are my 2010-2011 Academic New Year's Resolutions:

• Continue to bring lunch, reduce expensive coffee, drink more water, eat less fried food, and eat more salads. Start walking when the weather cools a bit. [I actually did a really good job of this until it got cold]
• Keep the binder organizational strategy going. That seems promising. [I did okay with this.]
• Keep up the Friday work meetings at Radina's. We're not "allowed" to do teaching related work there. It's research work only. Even if I'm only there for 2 hours, it's 2 more hours than I was doing last year on a Friday. [this fell apart after fall]
• Try to keep that teaching in check. Right now it's going okay, but I don't yet have papers to grade, etc. I'd like to get ahead of the curve THIS WEEKEND, actually. I'm teaching 3 new classes and doing an independent study this semester, so I need realistic expectations for teaching, as much as I love that part of my job. [I did alright with this]
• Concrete research goals: 1. (Hopefully) revise the book chapter for the edited collection. I say hopefully because it needs to be (at least tentatively) accepted. But at least I got a chapter in by the deadline. 2. Finish and submit the Textbook Argument article. I have about 1/3 of a draft and a clear direction right now. 3. Write embodied / assessment article and send to Pedagogy. I'd like to get those three things done this semester. [Book chapter was accepted and should be out in October. I FINALLY completed the Textbook Argument article, submitted it to CCC, and it was (drum roll) accepted! Should be out in December. I've not yet done the embodied assessment article, but am working on the embodied writing article instead. I should have that out within the month.]
• General writing rules: Working toward 200 rule (200 new words a day), but I'm not always going to do that. It works out to 1400 words a week, so it'd be nice if I could imagine that as a goal and get there however I get there. [These gimicks never work for me. I just need to keep writing.]
• Call my friends and family more often. I haven't talked to my dad in a month. [I actually got WORSE at this.]
• Check facebook less often. (I've already deleted lots of the "games" that I used to play on fb. I can't give up Scrabble with my cousins, though. I just can't.)
• Remind myself that I love living in KS, I want to keep this job, and that this job is more important than watching t.v. or reading a fun book. I need balance, yes, but the scales need to tip in favor of work right now. 
• Try to have dinner with Beej at least one night a week. 

From two years ago:
Personal(ish)

• Bring my lunch at least two days a week. This is a common resolution for me, and I'm not particularly good at it, but I'm working on it.
• Buy super-good but super-pricey coffee at Caribou no more than 3 times a week. Right now I do it at least 5 days a week. I have a little coffee maker in my office and need to use that more often. The trip to Caribou, though, is often more about a quick break, a quick walk, and a quick moment with a few friends. So if I'm heading over, I should get cheaper tea or cheaper coffee as opposed to my beloved vanilla white chocolate mocha or caramel high rise. *sigh* 
• To stick to more of a schedule, even though I'm only teaching two days a week. 
• To try to eat better, to eat more salad, to less fried food, drink more water & less soda. 

Teaching

• In some ways, this seems counterintuitive in a section on teaching, but I need more balance in my life. One of the ways I need to achieve that is to streamline my teaching practices. Last year, teaching took over. And it needed to. New job, new program, new curriculum, new classes. But this year, especially this first semester, I'm more familiar with these courses and I need to do a better job putting up some teaching boundaries. Teaching is like goldfish -- it'll grow to the take you put it in. I need to keep this tank just a little bit smaller. Do more with less. Reign in my comments. Teach smart(er). 
• Try to stay a little more ahead of the curve than I was last year. I think I can do that this year. But I feel better, more centered, when I can see at least two weeks ahead. Last year I was so frazzled so much of the time that it was hard for me to do. I'm going to try to better this year.
• Organization, organization, organization. This is a constant goal, constant refrain for me. 

Professional/Research

• Again, organization, organization, organization.
• More specifically, that idea of keeping my teaching in check so that I can do more research and writing.
• And even MORE specifically, this term I want to finish my article draft on argument and textbooks.
• To that end, I want to make sure I write at least 15 minutes a day. This is advice from Anne from a book about getting your journal article written in 12 weeks. It's good advice. 
• I also want to figure out a new research project. I have about four ideas for KSU centered research and a few more text-based ideas I want to get to. 
• Also, actually get that writing "group" going with Kara. 

Overall Trends

Balance, balance, balance
Organization, organization, organization