You are right Kenneth. Im 100% sure that we will always need educators, however I had the experience that when I professor is not teaching in a way that I can understand, I will stop going to his class and read the book or find the answer by myself. If educators doesn’t take that into account, less students will feel the need of a continuous interaction with them because they will feel that they can find the answer in some place else.Thats why I believe that educators need to update their teaching methods depending on the circumstances.

Great way to find the relation between your field of study and what your are passionate about. While I was doing my master in Puerto Rico there was a student that went through the same situation where he decided to pursue his master degree in structural engineering because he wanted to find useful ways to use bamboo for construction. His family believes that we should find a way to live with the nature without wasting it resources. Long story short, he finished his master and now is currently spreading his knowledge in the island and promoting this type of environmentally friendly construction.

Unfortunately, todays system force us to only think about the grade. Even to get into grad school you need to have a good GPA. I actually wrote a post he I took the Future Professiorate class where I was talking about why does the GPA does not mean much in todays world since you can accept a student with 4.00 GPA and without no idea of what to do. I believe that is not the students fault to think too much about grades, we all know that is what everybody considers to believe that you we worthy of that position.

You are absolutely right! Diversity in a classroom can be beneficial for the professor and the student. I had a similar experience here in Virginia Tech, where I have been expose to different cultures, religions and languages. In my country we don’t have such diversity in college, but in here I feel that due to such interactions I learned so much from everybody else and I feel that already traveled almost the whole world. Considering this diversity in a classroom helped me understand how one thing can have more than one meaning due to the different point of views.

In my country (Puerto Rico) we don’t have such segregation between boys and girls in terms of their academic abilities, at least thats what I experienced. Actually, girls in most of my classes were more knowledgeable, responsible that most of us and also they had the highest grades. I was wondering what makes you say that the skill that you had in fourth grade is not useful? makes me wonder what is your major. The reason why Im asking is because I studied Civil Engineering and now in my PhD I still need such skill that like you I have since I was a little kid.

Thanks for sharing your idea and let me tell you that I agree that the professors should be evaluated, however It seems to me that they will not allow that somebody record them. For example when I did my MSCE, there was this professor that believed that he had the power of evaluating other professors from the Civil Engineering department. He used to attend other professors classes without telling them. Just because of this every professor said that the only way that they should be evaluated was by the student who are learning from them. Another thing is, how often do you think they should be monitored? I have noticed that some professors tend to reduce their level of teaching every year. Somebody that has been teaching for 3 years will not have the same emotion to teach like one that has been teaching for 20 years and is getting tired of it.

You are absolutely right “knowledge is power”, but do you think that you will acquire this power by relying everyday on the available technology? When I read the part where you said that if you wanted to find something you had to go to the library and get the answer from a book, it made me remember my MSCE advisor that always told me that this was the best way to find the answer but I never understood why until I finished my masters. Having this technology will make you find only one thing that is in your mind and leave the rest. For example if you want to know about WWII in a USA history book, you might learn about WWI or Vietnam War just because you are searching the entire book, however if you use the internet you will find the answer for what you are looking for and nothing else. In summary, I’m not a product of the 90s but I would give anything to be one.

I remembered those days when I used to play Halo for xbox almost 24/7. At the point where I started skipping classes during my undergrad just to play with my friends. After I got caught up into the game, I wanted to get better that everybody else therefore I started reading books about how to improve the way I play and of course the tricks to cheat a little bit. All this motivation lead me to learn more about the game, however it didn’t help me being mindful every moment due to the fact that while I was playing I got lost in that digital world. It is a great idea to have “video games for those books” but until what point the learner will understand that not everything is a game.

You said it right! when you get into the habit of studying or seeking knowledge, from that point on it will be easier for every student to pursue what they want. As future professors we need to help creating that habit in students and guide them to the right path of critical thinking to go beyond what is out there.

I agree with Jake, great title! To be honest because of your title thats why I decided to read your blog. I actually felt identify with what you said in the first paragraph because that was the main reason why I decided to read the book Mindfulness Solutions. Im the kind of person that never stop thinking even when Im trying to sleep. I knew that I had to find a way to tell this taughts “get out of my head” and I find that way by being mindful. Im not saying that Im completely mindful but at least Im on the right path to accomplish it.

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