sue wrote:
>Most of us in academia would like students to leave the class with more
>than they came in with. A critical/analytical view can serve them well
>throughout their lives. They ARE in college, not a reading circle. They
>can have fun while they're learning (I don't know any good teacher who
>wouldn't rather have fun with the class)--but it does take work--and so
>there will always be some grumbles! Until students learn that expanding
>their minds CAN be fun, I also wonder what they're doing in college other
>than marking time--or avoiding the world of work. Let's hope the
>revelation hits them soon so that the time in higher education isn't mostly
>wasted.
yes. exactly so. i suppose i should have hit the smile and joke key on my
machine, because i obviously didn't make myself clear. you, perhaps of all
those on this list, (because we know eachother), know that i teach a class
that is fun, that doesn't rely on a "lecture" pedagogy, and that i also am
an undergrad advisor because i think my role (as all teachers) is to help
students STAY IN THE CLASSROOM FOR LIFE. this means i do have to be an
entertainer, i have to find books that are intellectually provoking (ie,
FUN) and that i have to MOTIVATE rather than teach. i also know, as do all
of us i'm sure, that many students feel that FUN = NO WORK. i am showing
them that this is not the case. 95% find out that critique is work and it
is fun. 5%, perhaps, aren't at that stage of life. (stage, maturity,
want... i don't know what it is.)
-lissa
if you're wearing pants, thank my great great great grandmother.
elisabeth bloomer
instructor, english
virginia tech
ebloomer@vt.edu
540.231.2445
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