Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Isis eats humble pie



I've had a cold for a week. Sucks, but life goes on. This morning I woke up with no voice. None. Not even pubescent boy squeaks. If I push I can manage a whisper.

No time to arrange help for the 8 and 9 am sections, so I trudge in expecting it to be a fiasco, and having to end class early when I can't cope anymore.

My students were golden. Respectful, quiet so they could hear, explaining things to each other, patient with me and all the accommodations I tried to make on the fly to get me out of talking.

Magic.

I'm sure they'll be back to being little shits next week, but this morning, when I most needed it, they were awesome.

10 comments:

  1. Apropos of nothing, I love love love your avatar.

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  2. If students care, they can do anything. They saw a fellow human being in need, and cared.

    They just don't give a crap about anything intellectual.

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  3. Almost restores your faith in humanity, huh?

    Every few semesters I get a terrible case of laryngitis. For about a week I range from Peter Brady's changing voice to nothing but the occasional, high-pitched muppetlike squeak. And invariably my students are awesome about it. They laugh, but so do I because I DO sound ridiculous, but then they also take responsibility for discussions and class organization, and it almost makes me want to lose my voice more often.

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  4. Almost restores your faith in humanity, huh?

    Every few semesters I get a terrible case of laryngitis. For about a week I range from Peter Brady's changing voice to nothing but the occasional, high-pitched muppetlike squeak. And invariably my students are awesome about it. They laugh, but so do I because I DO sound ridiculous, but then they also take responsibility for discussions and class organization, and it almost makes me want to lose my voice more often.

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  5. This has been my experience also. If I were more clever, I would fake it just to have a nice quiet lecture.

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  6. I am amazed. My experience is that students are more like wolves, which become aggressive whenever they smell fear or weakness, or like sharks, which go into a frenzy when they smell blood in the water.

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  7. Your charm so strongly works 'em
    That if you now beheld them, your affections
    Would become tender

    - Ariel

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  8. I have found this to be a pretty steady reaction. And, don't tell anyone, this is the tactic I use when subbing.

    I sub from time to time, because it's amazing money if you find the right institution ($140/day? YES PLEASE). But the kids see a sub and they see weakness.

    So I give a short whistle, make a motion for them to quiet down and say very quietly "I apologize for my voice, but [name of teacher] has some very important work for you to do today. Can someone help...?"

    They are immediately quiet and respectful. When I try to act like a power monster, a big disciplinarian, that's when they start acting out.

    So strange, kids.

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