Let me go on record as saying that this was one of the best semesters of teaching I've ever had.
My students were interested and, for the most part, engaged. They were capable, intelligent, and they asked questions.
That wouldn't have seemed so appallingly wonderful to me five years ago, but good Christ on a pogo-stick, question-askers are a rare breed indeed. And I'm not even talking about deeply reflective, probing queries about the nature of the universe (though they had a few of those).
I'm talking about simply having the presence of mind to ask for clarification when they didn't understand something.
It was amazing.
We read Cicero. We talked about Issues of the Day. We talked about college and good reasons for attending - as well as good reasons not to.
We learned things. We had discussions. Students did not always agree, and they learned that that was okay. I didn't always have the answers to big questions, and that was okay, too.
After almost six years, it felt like I was finally teaching college students.
3 comments:
High five, Hark! Sounds like it was an excellent term...due, of course, to your excellent facilitation of the class. Woot!
Just having a little engagement on the part of the students makes a monumental difference. I'm glad you've had a great semester. It gives one hope that there are more to come!
Hope all's well with the job search. Not sure if you read some of my musings about our hire that we made this week, but it was quite a process.
Ink - Ha! I wish I could take credit...
Fie! - Your writings have definitely been illuminating. I'd have been a bit put off by some of that shit, too.
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