Category Archives: Being a teacher

Can students record me in class?

Posted on March 16, 2017 by

Turns out in many states there is only a “single party consent” needed to record a conversation, and so students could record me in class.  They are limited in what they can do, since the cannot “sell” my intellectual property. … Continue reading →

Posted in Being a teacher, Santa Clara University, United States

Salient stories like these from the University of Oregon are worrisome to all faculty, whose job is “speech”

Posted on December 27, 2016 by

As a university professor, I know that much of my job involves engaging in speech.  I do that “live” in front of students, I do it on Youtube recordings, I do it on a blog, I do it in academic … Continue reading →

Posted in Being a teacher, Santa Clara University, United States

How did I come to read about Argalus and Parthenia?

Posted on November 29, 2016 by

Because I am reading Baroque Times in Old Mexico, and Argalus and Parthenia is one of those poems that people read back in the 1600s!  And I wondered what it was about.  And then I learn that Francis Quarles is … Continue reading →

Posted in Being a teacher, Book and film reviews

None has or None have? Is there any grammar question more important than this? Maybe the Oxford comma?

Posted on August 12, 2015 by

Usage Note: It is widely asserted that none is equivalent to no one, and hence requires a singular verb and singular pronoun: None of the prisoners was given his soup. It is true that none is etymologically derived from the … Continue reading →

Posted in Being a teacher

Grammar Girl : “On Accident” versus “by Accident”

Posted on April 27, 2015 by

I still cringe when my children say “on accident” but I do not correct them… Barratt’s study is dead on, is my personal experience. According to Barratt’s study, use of the two different versions appears to be distributed by age. … Continue reading →

Posted in Being a teacher

Reality check… mentioned this song in class today in discussion of racial discrimination in Boston mortgage market…

Posted on March 13, 2015 by

This little song that I’m singin’ about, People, you all know that it’s true, If you’re black and gotta work for livin’, Now, this is what they will say to you, They says: “If you was white, You’s alright, If … Continue reading →

Posted in Being a teacher

Philosophizing about something called “Moral Facts”

Posted on March 3, 2015 by

I know philosophers get very exercised about this, but I just can’t see it being more than the old adage: the hobgoblin of little minds is consistency. Indeed, in the world beyond grade school, where adults must exercise their moral … Continue reading →

Posted in Being a teacher