I hate to dwell on a subject like this for too long, but since I haven't blogged in a while and I'm sitting in class "learning" about water...why not share this misery with the world?
Since we are in a geology lab for class, the desks are lab desks that are arranged in a large "E" shape. From where Dr. Shem normally stands at the computer stand/podium, 7 of the 13 students sit with their backs to him. At least three or four look like they are about to fall asleep. In fact he just asked two of them if they wanted to listen to him or sleep. I'll wager that they wanted to answer, "Sleep."
We have a football player who pays attention roughly half the time. There are four students across the room who are multitasking, working on other homework or projects while half-paying attention.
There are two of us with laptops, and we're both half-paying attention, too.
I know it sounds bad.
But if you were required to take a course that covered basic high-school-level science with a few "collegiate" concepts (primarily mathematic, how novel a concept!) thrown in, and the professor was neither well organized nor good at holding students' attention, don't you think you might not like the class?
We've reached the point in the class where I've now realized that he has nothing to add to the knowledge base of this subject over the text book. I could really just read the textbook before the test and be fine in this class. If you throw in my existing knowledge of the subject matter from previous classes (high school biology, Geology 111 and 113, and Intro to Meteorology) I could teach myself physical geography...
I have a feeling that Dr. Shem might not fair to well on the course evaluations at the end of the semester.
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6 comments:
Just be sure you continue to show up for class...that's probably half the grade right there.
Actually, no. He stopped taking attendance.
I'm hoping he doesn't read your blog.
Russell, those were my exact thoughts!
tisk, tisk...I encourage you to stay with him. Teaching is freaking HARD! And for a few reasons...1) people have different needs at different stages in life (i.e., not everyone paid as much attention or "got it" like you did), 2)it is a continually developing skill, extending to even the most experienced teacher, to keep a classroom engaged (because of reason #1), 3) it's even harder to seem like the only one interested in a subject and bring people to your level of interest; sometimes it calls for dry or insultingly boring topics within the subject.
I'm certainly not trying to shame you; I just want to encourage you to stay with it and to pour you passion for physical geography into even the dry and insanely boring portions of it.
I'm in University Chorale here (NOT a Daniel Bara ensemble...far from it) and I don't agree with choral tone, rehearsal technique, gestural guidance, diagnosis given to the group, and prescription for correction of certain problems. But in order for me to stay sane in those situations, I have to constantly tell myself "...this is the way to NOT do things," or "I wonder if an alternative approach would be better..like the approach I'm thinking of..." And then I'll go journal about these situations in hopes my current thoughts will pay future dividends. I encourage you to find something that will keep you sane. School is hard...even in it's easiest moments.
Thanks, all for your comments, especially Blair.
I, too have to constantly tell myself "...this is the way to NOT do things." I spend a few minutes every class thinking of ways that I would do things differently, so in that way it's positive for me to start thinking of how I want to teach at the collegiate level.
Now, to reassure the parental audience, I won't stop going to class or anything. Despite not wanting to be a know it all, I have to answer a lot of Dr. Shem's question because no one else in the class will... For that reason alone I will go to be one dependable (if not 75 percent bored) student.
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