Tales from the Classroom VII: Teachers are People, Too
Posted on November 23, 2003 @ 6:40 am
Much like my parents, I’ve spent my entire life showing up for everything–appointments, meetings, parties–ten minutes early, and my classes are no exception. Unfortunately, a person can only spend so long writing a lecture outline on the chalkboard and mindlessly shuffling through papers before class starts. Sooner or later, I have no choice but to engage my students in casual conversation while we’re waiting for class to begin–that is, unless I just want to stand there behind the lectern and stare off into space vacantly (the merits of which are perhaps underrated).
As an instructor, however, striking up a conversation with the class isn’t quite as easy as it sounds. After all, many of the students–especially the freshmen–haven’t come to the realization yet that I’m a real, live human being with a wide range of interests and not just that guy who grades their exams and seems really interested in politics for some reason. That being said, I’ve tried chatting about current events with my students on occasion (”How about that kooky California recall, huh?”), but they tend to interpret such discussions as sly attempts on my part to sneak a few extra unwanted minutes of political science into their days and, in turn, don’t appreciate it one bit.
On the other hand, idle chitchat doesn’t seem to work all that well either. When I ask my students if they’ve seen Matrix Revolutions yet or if they’re planning to go to the big game over the weekend, I can’t help but feel that I’m coming off a bit like Dr. Evil in Austin Powers. “I’m with it. I’m hip.” <insert creepy, robotic Macarena>
In a way, it’s similar to when I bump into my students in public. When they see me outside of the classroom, their first reaction is usually surprise (”What are you doing at Old Navy?!?”), closely followed by fear, as if I’ve made a point to come to Chili’s during their shift to talk to them about their performance on the most recent exam and not for the chicken soft tacos. Eventually, however, they settle on a sense of novelty as they begin to feel like they’ve not only unraveled a bit of the conundrum that is their Intro to American Politics instructor (”Aha…so he likes performance fleeces/chicken soft tacos.”), but also discovered my deepest, darkest secret.
As it turns out, when I’m not teaching, I sometimes wear–brace yourselves–jeans and a t-shirt. Scandalous, I know.
Posted by Jess | Filed Under Tales from the Classroom |
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Perhaps if you wore jeans and a t-shirt to class, they would like to talk to you more; I remember my favorite instructor, Dr.Hooke, was pretty casual in his dress, which included his shirt always being untucked on the right from leaned up to write on the board. But then, I’ve liked most of my teachers, and liked talking to them outside of class… maybe today’s generation are just jerks. Or antisocial. Or both.
My couture (heh) usually gets more and more casual as the semester progresses. I usually try to start out dressed up a bit, though since I look so darn young and a shirt and tie supposedly creates at least the illusion of authority (or so my professors tell me).
That being said, I’m thinking about busting out my beloved Phoenix Coyotes jersey before the semester is over.
I see you also have a penchant for less-than-popular sport jerseys. I have a england nation team soccor jersey and another from the club, Arsenel. Though, it should be stated, I only have the latter because of the huge “SEGA” logo on the chest.