Great post! I really enjoyed your last bit about where your teaching style currently rests. To some extent I think we all feel like actors when we get in front of a room full of people (hello imposter syndrome!) and maybe that level of nervousness is okay because it keeps us on our toes and helps us find new methods to connect with our students through teaching. Again, great post! I think many can relate!
Author: Anonymous
Comment on FedEx Day – A Real Pink Time Experience by Anonymous
Thank you so much for bringing this example. It actually gave me inspiration to be more creative about the way I establish relationship with my students. I can picture the faces of the students who are surprised to hear that they can do anything during the Pink Day. I sometimes feel that the students are so much muted that it is hard to imagine such freedom. So, I believe such creative and liberating approach may help them to dare to step outside their thinking box, which is shaped by their experience as a student.
Comment on A Response to Alfie Kohn by Anonymous
Your idea of students assessing themselves interests me. In humanities classes, it’s particularly difficult to feel like an objective administration of grades is possible, especially if student’s grades are based on papers. Ultimately, what’s most important is how students feel about their own work.
Comment on A Critical Response to Langer, :D by Anonymous
“Galen, oh Galen, that’s just some people talkin’…”
Might it not be a good thing to draw our attention, that is, to make us mindful of infant learning, perhaps the most rapacious kind of learning? And had not LRRR learned more rapaciously, would she not then have been more suspicious of the wolve’s rapey tactics? Hmmm…
Comment on Is Engineering Curriculum in U.S. Universities Dead? by Anonymous
I remember hearing a friend tell me “Khaled, before going off to college, you used to be so creative”. I know the sentiment all too well Craig; I too felt that creativity was suppressed in lieu of thoroughness of education, especially in engineering. Much like you, I sought out my own avenues, both in my endeavors academically, but also in my personal life as well (WHAT?!!?!?!, I know it feels dirty just saying it). Perhaps the engineers of the future are the ones who can both know the material needed while being creative enough to think past the barriers and innovate the solutions needed to solve the problems of the 21st century and beyond.
Comment on A Critical Response to Michael Wesch by Anonymous
I think the juxtaposition that Wesch put in his video is a way of explicitly identify the difference of students’ enthusiasm on different stuffs. I agree with you point that “School is hard work, American Idol is what we do after the work.” However, higher education isn’t just about hard work that deserves no enthusiasm. When we pursue higher education from primary school to graduate school, we are enthusiastic on what we are learning, working, and researching. Otherwise, why should we spend time on that. Enthusiasm is an important component in our learning path, as in my understanding.
