Please Wait while Chivalry is Being Resuscitated
It's been a while since I actually sat down to write about what just happened during the day. A lot of times, I've come across students who had given me such a shock that my phlegmatic nature could not at all keep up with how to react. Worse, the thought of "what should I have done?" lingers on long-after the incident.
Well, today was one of those days... (Sometimes I wonder if I've reached that point where I've become too nit-picky and forgotten to have a good laugh at these weird occurrences.)
The setting was a class reporting. It's been a long hour and a half, and really it's just one more group that's about to report before the day's done.
It's going well. One reporter seems to be doing most of the talking, and this is strange because there are four of them in front and she's speaking two-thirds of the time. The group mates are supportive, at least; maybe they'll say something once she's expressed all her thoughts (and feelings) about the report.
Wait, what's this... one of them is chewing gum! This is strange, since when is chewing gum in class all right with the teacher? Maybe I should call this student's attention... but maybe that's unnecessary, I'll just stare and see if this catches his attention.
Oh, good, it seems that his group mate has called his attention discreetly. She offers him tissue paper, holding it with both hands. He's getting the gum from his mouth and-- what's this-- he's placing it into her hands with the tissue.
Am I seeing this correctly?
She's crumpling the tissue and walking over to the waste bin to throw the gum.
It's his turn to read three sentences of the powerpoint presentation.
And he finishes reading. Without much thought or anything to contribute from what was otherwise self-understandable.
I am in shock. Tell me what I just saw in front of class? I'm not sure how to react to this, I can't believe that such an attitude exists at this level of the academe. What am I doing in the same room with these people?
Oh, right, I'm teaching them.
And I just missed that teaching moment. Because, as usual, I calm down and let things happen as they should. They file out of class (in relief, I think) and I'm going to see them in a couple of days. It would be too late to call their attention then.
And I'm blogging this because... yes, I still haven't moved on from what I witnessed.
Well, today was one of those days... (Sometimes I wonder if I've reached that point where I've become too nit-picky and forgotten to have a good laugh at these weird occurrences.)
The setting was a class reporting. It's been a long hour and a half, and really it's just one more group that's about to report before the day's done.
It's going well. One reporter seems to be doing most of the talking, and this is strange because there are four of them in front and she's speaking two-thirds of the time. The group mates are supportive, at least; maybe they'll say something once she's expressed all her thoughts (and feelings) about the report.
Wait, what's this... one of them is chewing gum! This is strange, since when is chewing gum in class all right with the teacher? Maybe I should call this student's attention... but maybe that's unnecessary, I'll just stare and see if this catches his attention.
Oh, good, it seems that his group mate has called his attention discreetly. She offers him tissue paper, holding it with both hands. He's getting the gum from his mouth and-- what's this-- he's placing it into her hands with the tissue.
Am I seeing this correctly?
She's crumpling the tissue and walking over to the waste bin to throw the gum.
It's his turn to read three sentences of the powerpoint presentation.
And he finishes reading. Without much thought or anything to contribute from what was otherwise self-understandable.
I am in shock. Tell me what I just saw in front of class? I'm not sure how to react to this, I can't believe that such an attitude exists at this level of the academe. What am I doing in the same room with these people?
Oh, right, I'm teaching them.
And I just missed that teaching moment. Because, as usual, I calm down and let things happen as they should. They file out of class (in relief, I think) and I'm going to see them in a couple of days. It would be too late to call their attention then.
And I'm blogging this because... yes, I still haven't moved on from what I witnessed.