Ruth and Claire discuss Productivity. Claire shares that choosing a task to be her highlight for that day helps her decide what to focus on. She makes sure things don’t sit on her list of tasks for too long to keep her motivation high. She also shares the effective pomodoro technique. Ruth is using an old fashioned to do list that she can write in calm time for when she is stressed. Claire is working on feeling more positive about tasks she resents. Ruth is working on balancing flexibility and rigidity, when to push through on a task or re-assign to a different time?

Claire mentioned the pomodoro technique: https://francescocirillo.com/pages/pomodoro-technique; Ruth mentioned The Power of Ritual by Casper Ter Kuile: https://www.caspertk.com/#order

Ruth and Claire discuss Homework. Claire finds it works to have consistency in when homework is due and how long it is. She also feels it is important to have the homework be graded as it signals that you think it is important for the students to spend their time on. Ruth has started to write her own problems to work around students using solution manuals. Claire is working on how to grade homework: grade all the problems briefly, a couple in detail, or online homework. Ruth is struggling with giving out solutions to homework as she doesn’t want to make up new ones each year.

Ruth and Claire discuss Advising: meetings with students about their classes for the following semester and beyond. Claire has some topics she makes sure to cover during her advising meetings with all students. Ruth is excited to find out about advisors on campus who can provide better GE advising. Claire is not feeling comfortable when advising about GE classes and plans to leave more of the decisions up to the students in the future. Ruth is trying to find the balance between being realistic and not discouraging when advising students about classes.

Ruth mentions: Interview with Dr Mary James: https://sparqtools.org/blockinggenderbias-stories/help-students-be-what-they-cannot-see-qa-with-mary-james/

Ruth and Claire discuss Virtual Interactions. Claire is making sure to add a touch of personal connection in her virtual interactions. Ruth is making use of exclamation points a lot in emails!! Claire wants to balance efficiency and connection in meetings, she wants to honor people’s time while also feel like there is still chatting. Ruth is trying to work towards being intentional when emailing instead of checking her phone while making kids lunches.

Claire mentions: The Power of a Positive No, by William Ury https://www.williamury.com/books/the-power-of-a-positive-no/

Ruth and Claire discuss attending Conferences. Claire likes scheduling all of her meetings, lunches and dinners before she goes. Ruth is remembering that conferences are energising and inspiring! Claire is working on wrangling her impostor syndrome at conferences. Ruth is working on courage to present her research at a physics conference.

Ruth mentioned: Normal People by Sally Rooney

Claire mentioned the Gordon Research Conference: https://www.grc.org/

Ruth mentioned: National Conferences on Undergraduate Research: https://www.cur.org/what/events/students/ncur/

Claire mentioned CUR dialogues: https://www.cur.org/what/events/conferences/dialogues/past/

Ruth mentioned:AAPT summer meeting https://www.aapt.org/Conferences/SM2020/index.cfm

Ruth and Claire discuss Belonging in the classroom, in the major, and in the discipline. Claire is committed to modeling in her class that everyone can be successful in her class, the only reason you shouldn’t do chemistry is if you don’t want to do chemistry! Ruth is trying to address her own belonging uncertainty. She is also mindful to let students know that they won’t necessarily love every single topic in physics and that is ok. Claire is working on improving her awareness of what will help students feel that they belong. Ruth is working on showing students other aspects of herself so they can know there is more to being a physicist than just doing physics.

Share your experiences with Belonging, potential future topics and celebrity professor suggestions!

Ruth and Claire discuss working with Summer Research Students. Claire is excited about how much students can get done when working full time. Ruth is happy to have taken a break and set a finite working time. Claire is working on how to distribute projects among students. Is it better for students to have ownership of a single project or team up to make progress? Ruth is floundering and desiring a solid plan and goals to work towards. Share your experiences of working with research students in the summer, potential future topics and celebrity professor suggestions!

Ruth and Claire discuss Headspace, specifically staying in a positive headspace. Ruth notices that being in a negative headspace usually signals that she is depleted in some area. Claire finds that focussing on one thing at a time combats feeling overwhelmed, she has set up phone reminders to bring her attention back to this practice. Ruth is working on using compassion to stop her rolling down the hill into doom. Claire is working on keeping herself in the present and letting go of the list of worries.

Share your views on Headspace, potential future topics and celebrity professor suggestions!

Ruth and Claire discuss their feelings about and approach to the Summer. Claire shares that she is intentionally scheduling time to do enjoyable things. Ruth wrote down all of the things she has signed up for so she can realistically map out her summer. Claire is committing to the practice of being intentional with her time and Seizing the Summer! Ruth is working on not feeling overwhelmed.

Share your experiences of the Summer, potential future topics and celebrity professor suggestions!

Ruth mentioned the Elephant in the (Physics) classroom: https://doi.org/10.1119/1.5145520

Claire mentioned the book Atomic Habits by James Clear: https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits

Ruth and Claire discuss updates on their quest to get tenure. Ruth is happy she has declared her intention to go up for tenure, but is a bit scared of the declaration. Claire muses about timing for requesting letters, and is excited about doing the tenure packet in small pieces. Both are glad to have a tenure buddy. Share your experiences on the tenure track, potential future topics and celebrity professor suggestions!