Circling the Drain

Your students are so disrespectful that you walked out of class?!? They say they have nothing to learn from you. Maybe the curriculum is too easy for them. (Would that be the curriculum YOU design and hold me to?) Have you tried SITTING IN A CIRCLE? (Oh, because when I stand in the front of the room, I might seem like a professor that should be respected?) Did you set community standards to follow like I suggested? (Begrudgingly, yes I did.) Oh you did. Hmm.... I'll come by your class; there are lots of different teaching styles you could use. (You're right it must be my approach to teaching and not their attitudes.)

Come on, are you kidding me?

P.S. This is really not helping to bolster my confidence as I apply to PhD programs...teaching abilities, mental stability?!?

Misc.

Is September too early for "holiday weight?"

WTF Moments

1. I spent Saturday night at a party where (1) I was the oldest person, (2) I was asked if I would buy a bra used, (3) an inebriated young woman talked to me about the various uses of POOP, and (4) I was called the matriarch of the party.
Also a law student there felt inclined to tell me that he hates cats once he found out I had one. I replied that I hated lawyers.

2. Today at the grocery I realized Jeff Foxworthy has his own brand of beef jerky.

3. My students had to email me a 300 word "paper" about what their college expectations are. It is worth 10% of their grade and the assignment included 5 questions they could answer. I had one student turn it in late and one not turn it in at all. Come on... this is the EASIEST assignment you will get in college.

Santa's Spa

I went to a spa this past weekend that involved mud baths and a massage. The mud was really more like the bottom of an old lake than something luxurious and my masseuse was an old hippie who was the love child of Santa and Z.Z. Top. But it was still relaxing and I did drink nearly a whole bottle of champagne by myself.

There were also a lot of women that looked like men at the bar my group went to. I haven't decided if it was a post-op tranny tour from SF or just a bunch of middle-aged granola loving locals. When I tell the story to others it will probably be the first of the two.

All in all, a nice break from thinking about the Zapatistas.

Things You Shouldn't Ask Your Professor (Even if they are a grad. assistant)

1. Is this class a study hall?

2. Yo, did we have homework?

3. Are you in a sorority?

4. So you don't want to have the "real" college experience? (Re: answer to question 3)

5. Is this required?

6. Man that article is fucking long. Do we have to read all of it? (P.S. The article was 10 pages).

More to come, I'm sure.

Too Early to be Jaded

It is too early, both in the semester and in my career as a teacher, to be so jaded and pessimistic about the quality of the students, but alas so it is.
Since when is "hella shit" a proper response to the question "what is culture?"?
I am constantly dumb-founded by students' complete lack of understanding of what college is (paying tuition only provides you with an opportunity to EARN a degree not the actual BA) and that success requires work (yes, you really do have not only buy the books, but also READ them).
I am also concerned when I hear some of these same quality students say they are looking forward to a career in government or teaching.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Day one- I'm ready to quit

Oh the Humanity of It All

I had forgotten the pain of the first day of school.

I arrived on campus at 9 so I could find parking before the class I TA for at NOON. After parking in an unpaved lot miles from my building, I lumbered across campus in the heat to the new and "improved" (more expensive) bookstore. This was not before I was stopped by two exchange students in the parking lot asking for my help reading their campus maps and before I traversed the quad, which for the first week of school is filled with sorority and fraternity booths. Sadly, none of the sororities handed me their information. My first year as a grad student I was offered ONE flyer, but this year none. I guess the lack of huge sunglasses, skinny jeans, and a tube top was a tip-off that I wasn't a co-ed.

At the bookstore I was asked to wait in a line in the sun to check my bag. I informed the security guard, who I was older and-let's face it-beefier than, that I wasn't going to the text book area so I didn't need to check my bag. Thank god someone distracted him so I could slip by. I made my purchase of a paperback Spanish/English dictionary and the cashier tried to give me 5 pieces of paper about book returns. Um, it's a dictionary... I pretty much know what I'm getting myself into. Odds are I'm not going to return it.

But class was good. The syllabus didn't seem to stump anyone and I got to drink coffee and catch up on gossip. All in all a successful first day.