4.04.2011

My Puppet Said To Erase


There was a kind of an essay here. The author has removed it because she wanted to write something else here instead. It will appear at some point. Posts must be allowed to change, like teenagers.

1 comment:

JT said...

SKS. what a fiery post! no, i don't think you will get fired. the worst part of what you refer to is that almost everyone involved (admin, students, support staff) agrees that there is something seriously broken about college education, especially when it comes to the training, support, and compensations of instructors.

a few logistical things that i'm sure you've heard a bunch of times-- why NOT limit your student e-mails? I think it's perfectly fine to set clear, strict boundaries on student/teacher communication if you feel it would be beneficial to you. Also, regarding writing down assignments, I'm not sure it's fair to call this secretarial. Students asking for the exact language and asking for help getting organized is, to me, a good thing. There are certainly students who are being lazy, but there may other students who struggle to grasp the concept of an assignment unless they see it written down.

On the whole, I feel your very real pain (?)-- I love teaching, but it is a lot of work, especially if you want to do it well. 80-100 students in one semester is not conducive to that. All research (blahblahdlkjad) shows that the greatest indicator of student learning (amongst all age groups) is student-teacher relationship, meaning that the "closer" "more amicable" students and teachers feel toward each other, the more likely students will learn. So.... with that in mind, instructors are not set up for success with the current system. They are set up for students who feel little enthusiasm for the subject, who feel like a name on a list-- part of the reason our students don't push themselves as hard is because we, as instructors, can't really handle that and what it entails (given the caseload, pay, time etc.) sad.