I Teach

So twice now I have had fellow graduate students come in and guest lecture. Both times it has gone great. It really works as a pedagogical tool because it gives the class after the guest a point of departure. They seem much more willing to engage a guest critically. They are reluctant to challange me I think in part because I have power over them that these other people don't have. I'm sure part of it too is the tone that I set in the classroom. I probably don't do as good a job as I could fostering an atmosphere where they feel free to challange me about anything anytime. This is really too bad, because I would like for them to do that. It's something I'll have to work on, for now, though, I just want to give a shout out to my buddies for dropping some knowledge on my students.

Also, I have this student who has only been to class twice this semester turn in a paper to me on Tuesday and then come to my office hours before class on Thursday to say, get this, "I really enjoy your class, and I want to do well." What? How could he possibly know what my class is like? He hasn't been there. He said he had been keeping up with the readings and assignments but had just been out of town so he coudn't make it to class. He's a total Ferris Bueller type. But that's just the thing, Ferris Bueller wasn't unsuccessful, and this kid isn't either. I mean, I'm not going to let him turn in all of these papers and make up all those absences, but it was close there for a few minutes. The fact that I even considered it speaks, I think, to his charm and engaging personality. Have you ever been around someone like that? It's spooky to me cause I think this is the first time it's happened to me. It's weird. Anyway, he's going to fail the class. I don't think there is anyway that he can possibly make up all the missed grades and classes. Ultimately, I decided it's not to punish him for turning things in late and having more time to work on them than his peers. No, it's an issue of respect and responsibility. I have a strict attendance policy because I care about what the students have to say to each other. He clearly doesn't respect his classmates enough to listen to their thoughts or share his own with them. I want all of them to view learning as a group activity where they are all responsible to one another and for one another. I don't think I have done a particularly good job of that this semester, but I'm still not willing to just scrap that value altogether. There is also the issue of me. I don't personally want to be grading papers from the second week of class over mid-semester break. Ultimately, he has to respect me, and be resonpsible to me as well as his classmates. So, he fails or he can withdraw. That's that. Right?
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