The Minimal Pair: Episode 008  Show Notes: The Minimal Pair Title: The Little Episode That CouldEpisode no: 008Date: Recorded on 5/8/14 Introduction: So, it’s finals time…how are you holding up? Topics in Language LearningStudents’ perception of their own performance: Students who think they are doing fine/don’t seem worried, but are failingStudents who are doing fine, but constantly worry about their gradesStudents who wait until the very end of the semester to ask what they can do about their gradeStudents who didn’t do the original work, but want extra creditStudents reactions to final grades [17:04] MethodologyHow to deal with a test/writing prompt that doesn’t go as planned…The test takes longer than anticipatedGive them extra time?But what if another class is coming in…?The test results were lower than expected: was it too challenging? How to decide:Look at scores overall: did everyone do poorly?Look at individual scores: did anyone do drastically worse than they did on previous tests?Adjusting scores for tests that were deemed disastrousAvoiding the same mistakes in the future/gauging the length of time and level of difficulty of future tests [32:27] Adjunct AnticsCareer Adjunct?Being an adjunct wasn’t meant to be a career, yet that’s what it is for many peopleFeeling like a second-class citizenUnions: the solution? Or part of the problem? SHOUT OUTS: Dan Clark, thanks for listening and giving us positive feedback on the quality of our recording—it means a lot, coming from a fellow pod-caster (First World Podcast). Also, I have a HUGE shout out to Stephanie, for figuring out our microphone problem so that we could record tonight, against all odds. This truly was the “little episode that could.”