Time for a Little Rant

You probably know that I teach part time.  I want to make it quite clear that I do not consider myself a lot more intelligent than my students.  In fact, not a semester goes by that I don't remark to myself that more than a dozen of my students are clearly brighter than I am, and I secretly wonder whether I come up to their expectations of a professor.  I go into a vague diatribe sometimes about how a professor often sees students pass through her hands who seem to be destined for greatness, based on their insight into language, their ability to see through past the surface of a question to its crux.  They look gratified, but unable to quite see the point of the remarks.

The reason I say this at the outset is that I find it necessary, despite my points above, to point out to my students the most obvious things.  They're great at getting at difficult ideas.  But they totally suck at obvious things.

What is it?  Is it poor observation of the people around them?  Is it a lack of reading?  Is it poor listening skills?  Is it their closeted upbringing?  I don't know.  It could be a little of all of these.

One thing I do know is that all of them, most of the time, do not interact with the ideas and the information they're being given while it's being dispensed to them.  There is the occasional question (with its obvious answer), but for the most part, they sit there passively.  When I ask them, out of class, one-on-one, why they don't seem to be really absorbing the material, they quickly protest that, yes, they are!  But a little probing reveals that they'd rather wait until they're home, and have had a chance to look over their notes.  So in class, they're preoccupied with getting the notes down.

Now, I do not hand out class notes.  So they do have to write down a lot.  My suspicion is that they will not read copious duplicated class notes--I certainly didn't, when I was in college.  So, some of them might be reading their notes at home.  But I suspect that the majority of them do not interact with the material in class, and do not interact with the material at home, except perhaps just before an examination.

The exception are the foreign students.  They do listen attentively in class, even if some of them struggle with the language.  And they usually read all their notes at home, and approach me with questions privately, which is unfortunate, because they always ask the good, meaningful questions.  So, if there is one thing I want to pass along to college students: listen to your teachers.  They should know their stuff, and they love it.  How better to learn it?

K.

A Milestone Approaches: Jane

I just learned that I'm a book away from the 1,200^th copy of Jane being downloaded.  Since more copies of Jane are being downloaded than anything else I have written, I assume that most of you have read it.  (For the rest of you: it is the story of a girl who drops out of college with her boyfriend, only to find him discovering that he is gay.  She moves into an apartment in NYC, and takes up glamour photography, with the help of her former boyfriend.  After a while, she, too, realizes that she is attracted to women.)

At this time, I merely want to thank my readers for downloading Jane in such numbers.  If only those 1200 readers would go on to read my other stories!

Anyway, I wish you all a happy spring!  Keep reading, and treat you neighbors and your world with kindness.

Love,

Kay.