#1 - Eating snacks between class = panting through one's nose = very uncomfortable :-)
#2 - One really does get used to heavy backpacks, and forget they are there - that is, until one finally takes it off, and one's back practically requires ice for comfort
#3 - Teachers really like to be funny. Let's just say some succeed better than others and leave it at that.
#4 - Nodding off is called that - surprise! - because it really looks like nodding! 8 o'clock chemistry will do that to some on occasion :-)
#5 - Brisk walks across far distances in short times are made much more enjoyable by the presence of friends :-)
#6 - mp3s are way more useful than I'd have been willing to admit :-)
#7 - Architecture students like me - or something. In the two classes who went around & shared majors, there were at the very least half a dozen of them... these are in 2 classes of 15-20, tops!
#8 - Teachers are really different.
One teacher enters the room smiling. She has us introduce ourselves all around and freely 'wastes' valuable class time so that we can all have nicknames, even her. We spent a good portion of the first two classes creating a 'classroom culture document' portraying our values. Her stated goal is for us to learn and grow the most possible, and she wants to 'create an environment in which we can succeed.' We gather on the floor in a large - um - circle "where everyone can see each other" and we discuss, discuss, discuss ~ so much she hardly even contributes! She apologizes when she must lecture. Oh, and I cannot forget to mention: none of our assignments are "graded" She simply returns one of 5 comments (I do think it is funny that she chose 5, as we have 5 letters in our grading scale :-) ): Excellent, Darn Good, Good, Okay, or Seriously?.
Another teacher enters the room and quite matter-of-factly states: you are here to make good grades so you look good and I look good - "life is competition" (he's almost Darwinian!). His favorite phrase is some statement of responsibility and "you are in college now." That, and he flat-out told us his tests are almost exactly like his pretests: study those and we'll do well.
A third is younger than the others, and perhaps correspondingly wants to be liked. He makes a lot of jokes (some of them crude, though not as bad as some I've heard secondhand), and told us the first day: if we intend to sleep, stay in bed "or the benches in the hallway are much more comfortable than your seat. Anyway, I think we all agree that the creases in your neck after you sleep upright are very unattractive."
:-)
1 comment:
I laughed reading these, for multiple reasons, one of them being that these lessons are familiar to me. =)
#7 is funny--but still pretty amazing. Perhaps architecture is one of those things where you need an honor's for people to notice you in the job world? Ahaha, I find that engineering and computer science students like me; most of the people I've met and become friends with are one of the two. ^_^
Yes they are--I've fortunately had some very good teacher's in my time so far. =)
Is the first teacher mentioned your freshman seminar teacher? Or English?
Ahaha, I think 5 is picked often because it gives a middle ground(i.e. #3)(people tend to avoid things without a middle ground), and it is not too large(most people think 7 is too large, too much complexity) and not to small( most people think 3 is too small, or too few choices).
The "seriously?" is quite amusing and perhaps apropos from what I've heard from other students(either first or second hand). =)
At least you have a reliable measure for your tests(apparently you have some nice pretests =)). =) My computer science course does not even tell us when our tests are! =/
"A third is younger than the others, and perhaps correspondingly wants to be liked." Good observation, perhaps it may be related to what we conversed on earlier(about familial or some other backing to aid creative or more unique paths, whereas without such backing one must attempt to gain support from peers via conformity)?
Now there's a quote(" or the benches in the hallway are much more comfortable than your seat. Anyway, I think we all agree that the creases in your neck after you sleep upright are very unattractive."). =) I've been starting to collect quotes from random people around campus or teachers, especially those that stand out. =) A HOSA(health occupation students of America) representative said while talking to our Human Growth and Development class: "We're also on Facebook. We use social media; we're very hip and with it." Go figure. ^_^
--Josiah C.
Post a Comment