Post a picture!

Have any pictures of yourself doing crazy things? Visiting exotic places? Meeting famous people? Anything else? Share them with us! To get a picture posted, email it to kevin.mour@aggiemail.usu.edu.

Um, I was just wondering...

Have you ever run into a sticky situation and not known how to handle it? Curious about what you should do about a difficult student? Unsure about how to best work with your professor? Ask a question on the blog and get advice from fellow RA's. Remember, when discussing problems with students, don't use their real name.

A funny thing happened...

Have a funny or wacky RA conference experience? Let us know about it! We're all in the same boat, and it can be comforting to know that other people have similar experiences to our own. Post them in comments under this post, or email it to me at kevin.mour@aggiemail.usu.edu and I will put it in as a post of its own.
As a rule of thumb, don't use real names of students. The idea isn't to embarrass people, just to share experiences.

What would you do?

Scenario:
Larry shows up late to the conference. He seems rushed and a little irritated. He doesn't sit down. You smile and say, "Hey, my name is (fill in the blank). I'm glad you could make it. Should we get--" He cuts you off.
"I don't have a lot of time," he says, still standing. "Will you just tell me what I need to do so I can go?"

Pick one of the following responses:

1) "No, I won't. This conference will take a half hour. If you don't like it, feel free to leave; however, I will tell your professor that you didn't stay for the required amount of time."
2) "Oh, I'm sorry. I wish you had planned a little more effectively, and this problem could have been avoided."
3) "Well, if you'd like to take a seat, we can talk a little bit about your paper and see if we can't get you out of here quickly."

Comment and let us know how you would react.

Welcome USU Rhetoric Associates!!!

Hey, all! This blog is intended for USU rhetoric associates. I want to make this blog an A-Z reference guide for RA's; however, I'm going to need your help by way of feedback and ideas about material to post and ideas to present. I want this to be a blog where RA's can go to ask questions, share stories, give advice, and just let off a little steam. I'm no expert at blogging, but I think that this could be beneficial for the RA's. Please comment to let me know what you would want out of a blog like this. The format is really flexible, so be creative and let me know what you think. Thanks for your time!