Office Hours - Monday

[wandering_stone]

After revising her syllabus, Jones was spending the day at her computer going over the simulations for class for the next few weeks.

She was also listening to the podcast of the last few days and occasionally making notes of news items that caught her interest.

And also wondering why she was now part of some weird squirrel drinking game.

[Open!]

Comments

[age_of_the_geek]

Hardison was trying very hard to come up with a reason why he was here. One other than 'my scary teaching buddy told me to and I don't want to end up robot-food.' He hadn't gotten very far with it, mostly because he kept getting caught up on the concept of robot-food.

But he was tapping lightly on Jones' office door, hoping that maybe she wouldn't hear and he could scurry away. Manfully.

[wandering_stone]

Silly Hardison.

Robots don't eat humans.

"Mr. Hardison," Jones said looking up briefly from her monitor. "Please come in. Did you bring your syllabus?"

[age_of_the_geek]

"Uhhh, yeah," he said, scrapping that possibility and coming inside. "Uhh, it's a little rough," he added, handing it over. "I thought it might be good to leave a few classes open, in case they do somethin' I don't expect."

[wandering_stone]

"I see," Jones said reviewing the syllabus. "So instead of planning to teach them skills you are just going to throw them into different scenarios and hope they survive. The equivalent of throwing a child into the water and hoping they swim."

[age_of_the_geek]

"Naw, it ain't like that," Hardison said. "The situation changes each week based on what they do the week before. They need to learn to work together, need to learn to prioritize, that kinda thing. It ain't really the kinda thing you teach."

[wandering_stone]

"So then your position should be superfluous," Jones said flatly. "Mr. Hardison if you wish your students to work together, I suggest after your initial lesson to provide team building exercises to your students as well as an exercise to prioritize to facilitate the scenarios you wish to inflict on them. Otherwise I find your syllabus somewhat adequate for a first time teacher."

[age_of_the_geek]

"What?" Hardison sputtered. "My position? Superfluous? Woman, you got any idea what it is that I'm doin' here? Do you know how to run real-time simulations that expand over the week based on basic input an' commands? I'm sorry, but can you write logarithmic equations that factor into every decision over the course of entire weeks? Man, this could go anywhere from Lord of the Flies to goddamn Utopia an' I gotta not only plan for that, but program for it--an' you're tryna tell me I'm superfluous?!"

He snatched up his syllabus and and sat back. "Might wanna check your programmin' for some div-zee errors goin' on, cause you out your damn mind."

[wandering_stone]

"I'm sure your simulation will be sufficient based on your programming skills," Jones replied evenly as if her sanity wasn't called into question. "However I believe some basic team exercises for your students would be of some benefit. Unless you wish your simulation to involve a severed pig head that talks and everything going down in flames."

[age_of_the_geek]

"Bet that'll teach them kids about the value of teamwork a lot faster than any kinda trust fall ever could," Hardison snapped. "These kids are gonna need to learn the value of workin' together, of pullin' their own weight, an' of swallowin' their pride for the good of the group--as well as when to stand up an' say somethin', too. This whole class is a team buildin' exercise!"

Hardison huffed, and crossed his arms over his chest. "An' don't even quote that book like it's some kinda inevitability. It focused on the tiny subset of the population, buncha young, privileged, white males from an industrialized nation that rewarded certain kinds of mindsets an' behaviors from childhood up. It's fiction, not fact. An' even if that's what happens, then the sim burns an' we start again. An' they learn somethin'."