tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post456468198819953750..comments2023-10-29T06:41:23.910-07:00Comments on Halfway There: Conversations during an office hourZenohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09058127284297728552noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-63527325266236341202008-08-23T14:43:00.000-07:002008-08-23T14:43:00.000-07:00Ouch, indeed ... 'anterior' seems to be inextricab...Ouch, indeed ... 'anterior' seems to be inextricably linked to 'anti' and 'antipode' in my mind ... ah well.<BR/><BR/><BR/>Never all the classes. Once I'd learnt to read I never paid attention to the humanities again - at least not until way into my uni 'career'. I guess I hit the wall much earlier, but I didn't slow down long enough to realise until my dissertation was way overdue.<BR/><BR/>Ah well. Some people are born mediocre, some attain mediocrity and some have mediocrity thrust upon then. I guess I fall somewhere in the middle.Jens Knudsen (Sili)https://www.blogger.com/profile/14078875730565068352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-7524950978799147322008-08-20T11:01:00.000-07:002008-08-20T11:01:00.000-07:00Your "anterior", Sili? Ouch!Like you, I cruised al...Your "anterior", Sili? Ouch!<BR/><BR/>Like you, I cruised along for a good while. Then I hit the wall (<I>hard</I>) my junior year. And no study skills! It was an unpleasantly life-changing event. I've been cheerfully mediocre ever since. Quite a come-down for the guy used to being the "smart kid" in all of his classes.Zenohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09058127284297728552noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-6967164910224270482008-08-20T10:34:00.000-07:002008-08-20T10:34:00.000-07:00"He was certainly not, however, willing to work"So..."He was certainly not, however, willing to work"<BR/><BR/>Sounds like me. "Gifted" is a bit much, but some talent I must have had. Too much to ever actually work hard at anything, certainly.<BR/><BR/>Well - <I>that</I> came back to bite my anterior, yes sirree, yes it did.Jens Knudsen (Sili)https://www.blogger.com/profile/14078875730565068352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-53767817456054943522008-08-18T17:51:00.000-07:002008-08-18T17:51:00.000-07:00In reference to showing irritation: I recently fou...In reference to showing irritation: I recently found out that my face turns bright red when a student says something that frustrates me in class. I thought I was hiding it so well. <BR/><BR/>Unapologetic: I agree with your sentimental rhetoric about students. In fact, I think I could probably out-sap you. Never fear, I will refrain for fear of inducing great waves of nausea.Lieslhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09387096391972174245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-5243901821635096562008-08-16T20:54:00.000-07:002008-08-16T20:54:00.000-07:00Karen,I got a degree in geology. Now I teach math....Karen,<BR/><BR/>I got a degree in geology. Now I teach math...<BR/><BR/>Zeno,<BR/><BR/>I've run into variants of some of your office stories, but I almost choked on dinner and whatever.<BR/><BR/>JonathanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-37468999369495635452008-08-12T21:19:00.000-07:002008-08-12T21:19:00.000-07:00In the case of the whiny student in question, he w...<I>In the case of the whiny student in question, he was determined to get into a highly competitive engineering program at a university he had chosen as his transfer school. He was certain that he needed a 4.0 GPA in his science and math classes to be admitted. Maybe he was right; maybe he was wrong. He was certainly not, however, willing to work to achieve his goal.</I><BR/><BR/>Then you did Whiny Student a sterling service, did you not? After all, if he couldn't compete enthusiastically in his lower-division classes, he would've been toast in Highly Competitive Engineering Program. I speak as a former engineer; even a <B>normal</B> engineering program is a lot of work.<BR/><BR/>(Unapologetic, if you're wondering why a former engineer is studying geology, let's just say I took a couple of decades' worth of detour before figuring out what I really want to do when I grow up.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-82275863575494006822008-08-12T07:01:00.000-07:002008-08-12T07:01:00.000-07:00Unapologetic: Exactly right. Group 1 provides fodd...<B>Unapologetic:</B> Exactly right. Group 1 provides fodder for story-telling, however hopeless they may otherwise be. Group 2 makes life as a teacher worth living. Group 3, however, is the bulk of our workaday world.<BR/><BR/><B>William:</B> In the case of the whiny student in question, he was determined to get into a highly competitive engineering program at a university he had chosen as his transfer school. He was certain that he needed a 4.0 GPA in his science and math classes to be admitted. Maybe he was right; maybe he was wrong. He was certainly not, however, willing to work to achieve his goal.Zenohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09058127284297728552noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-75512504399133953352008-08-12T04:47:00.000-07:002008-08-12T04:47:00.000-07:00Okay, exaggerated for rhetoric and sentiment. Hey...Okay, exaggerated for rhetoric and sentiment. Hey, I was raised on '80s sitcoms and their broad, schmaltzy brush-strokes. But the truth (as always) lies somewhere in between. There are problem cases, and these make for the best stories.<BR/><BR/>There are also the ones where you feel like you really managed to connect and they really did take something away from it. They don't make for such entertaining stories, but they're the ones that really keep you going. And that handful every semester that declare a math major, or even a minor, after my class...<BR/><BR/>But then there are the vast majority of simply nondescript faces going through the motions. They really don't make for good stories because they're all the same. They do the work, but they never seem to get excited about it. They learn (to what extent they do) because it's their job, and not because they ever get a sense that <I>this is something worth knowing</I>.<BR/><BR/>The first group is what you usually write about. The second is the counterpoint I'm indicating. The last is the one nobody likes talking about. If anything breaks me, it'll be them, and not the "problem cases".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-21421883245528685212008-08-12T00:02:00.000-07:002008-08-12T00:02:00.000-07:00How can a B be such a dire threat?How can a B be such a dire threat?Williamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02052684196866992031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-39366593914897371582008-08-11T22:37:00.000-07:002008-08-11T22:37:00.000-07:00That's a sweet and tender (or perhaps saccharine a...That's a sweet and tender (or perhaps saccharine and soppy) sentiment you express, Unapologetic, but it's not always true. Yes, teaching is a great job and I'm highly devoted to it, but ...<BR/><BR/>The first story is one of mine, and the truth is that I couldn't stand the whiny little bastard who pissed and moaned about how he had to have an A after he idled about all term. He was both gifted and lazy, and figured the former entirely excused the latter. Frankly, I wanted to flunk him. I hope he never knew how much he irritated me, because it would have been unprofessional to let that irritation show.Zenohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09058127284297728552noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-23851097634700115252008-08-11T22:18:00.000-07:002008-08-11T22:18:00.000-07:00Ah. I suppose I can imagine being a geologist wit...Ah. I suppose I can imagine being a geologist without teaching.<BR/><BR/>Still, something I think Zeno might have left out is the sense of misty-eyed, "when it comes down to it I love the screwey little bastards". It's annoying as hell, and downright bizarre at times, but we'll fight tooth and nail to keep doing it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-45093532190106591092008-08-11T18:07:00.000-07:002008-08-11T18:07:00.000-07:00Zeno's right... though his statement presumes that...Zeno's right... though his statement presumes that I plan to grow up.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-52113305749468221792008-08-11T17:10:00.000-07:002008-08-11T17:10:00.000-07:00If I recall correctly, Unapologetic, Karen mention...If I recall correctly, Unapologetic, Karen mentioned in an earlier comment that she's studying geology and hopes to be a geologist when she grows up.Zenohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09058127284297728552noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-26720317525179756572008-08-11T15:58:00.000-07:002008-08-11T15:58:00.000-07:00Karen, what are you studying? If mathematics, wha...Karen, what are you studying? If mathematics, what do you expect to do with a graduate degree other than teach?<BR/><BR/>Not being snide here, actually curious.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-67449133253132515692008-08-11T13:46:00.000-07:002008-08-11T13:46:00.000-07:00I'm SOOOO glad I don't teach for a living. My the...I'm SOOOO glad I don't teach for a living. My thesis advisor appears to have both Algebra Student and Calculus Student in his upper-division GE class, and tells these kinds of stories at lunch. My fellow grad students who've actually taught labs (I escaped that fate) are never surprised.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-25031746922813881532008-08-11T12:00:00.000-07:002008-08-11T12:00:00.000-07:00My Captcha happens to be "rrhol" - I have a dirty ...My Captcha happens to be "rrhol" - I have a dirty mind.<BR/><BR/>How was the Stats student doing in class? I think we need to know as much to judge why that particular subject was breached (broach?).Jens Knudsen (Sili)https://www.blogger.com/profile/14078875730565068352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-4552968423675070112008-08-11T06:25:00.000-07:002008-08-11T06:25:00.000-07:00My students are so lame...these kinds of conversat...My students are so lame...these kinds of conversations never happen to me.Shygetzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12587529149916263563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15868947.post-48390263993900530402008-08-10T23:58:00.000-07:002008-08-10T23:58:00.000-07:00"Surreal" sounds like an understatement! :)"Surreal" sounds like an understatement! :)Yoohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08964658430856685576noreply@blogger.com