Tuesday, March 5, 2013

A Very Easy Quiz From the Tuba Playing Prof.

Which quotation is from a student twenty years ago and which one from last week?

  • “Are you sure that’s right? You do it the other way, because [after a long pause] but I’m sitting here in remedial English, so…. [after a long pause] go ahead, sir; sorry to interrupt.”
  • “I don’t care for your blind-grading policy. I like my professors to tell me what’s wrong in my drafts so I can earn the grades I deserve.”

11 comments:

  1. You forgot to add the stage direction for the last one: "STUDENT storms out of class in the middle of lecture."

    ReplyDelete
  2. Where's the third quote that goes like this:

    "I'm not coming to class today because I have a boo boo on my toe. Or my mother does. Can you send me the assignment, and all lecture notes, and the email address of the fat kid who sits behind me?"

    ReplyDelete
  3. They're actually not very different in tone - in the first one, the kid starts off asking a stupid question, but realizes mid-outburst it was a stupid question, and then backtracks and apologizes for having interrupted to ask a stupid question (if the apology was sincere); I don't see the self-realization, backtracking, and apology these days...

    ReplyDelete
  4. I first heard comments similar to the second one when I was a TA more than 30 years ago.

    ReplyDelete
  5. It's appropriate to contact the moderator if we have a typo in a posting's title. It's not appropriate to call us assholes or suggest we're "asleep at the wheel."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. But if you don't stay on top of things and correct our every typo, immediately, how can we earn the kudos we deserve?

      Delete
  6. The second one sounds a bit too familiar (though I, blessedly, only hear it every few semesters. There are some advantages to working at a school that is only moderately selective, with students who don't consider themselves to be among the "elite"). I'm all for the importance of writing as a process, and allowing/requiring students to revise, and all that good stuff that is well-established composition-pedagogy orthodoxy. But, in the wrong hands (student, parent, or, sometimes, teacher/administrator), it can devolve into the expectation that the teacher's job is to find/point out all the "errors," so the student can get the A that indicates "success" in the assignment.

    I suspect we may need to move back to at least a few fairly-high-stakes assignments which students are required to complete entirely on their own (which may well mean in a supervised setting, which isn't my favorite writing environment, either, and won't produce the highest-quality work, but we could at least see if they're able to put a sentence, paragraph, citation, etc. together without outside help). I sometimes think that we'd be better off if we were working *with* students to prepare for some sort of independently-graded exit exam, rather than trying to serve as both coaches and final evaluators. It would have to be a good test, though, and few of the tests used these days are good (partly because creating and grading good tests is expensive).

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi there!

    I'm a Casting Director in LA currently working on "King of the Nerds 2" on TBS! We want to spread the word about this exciting show! We are searching nationwide for passionate and competitive men and women who are the best of the best in academics, fandoms, robotics, cos-play, mathematics, computer science, sci-fi, etc! It's time to celebrate, embrace, re-invent and re-define what it is to be a NERD!

    It would be amazing if you would forward the show flier to your friends, colleagues and associates (post on your Facebook page, twitter, message boards, etc)! See show flier below. Do you know anyone that would be good for this?

    We are looking to get video submissions in ASAP!

    Please contact me asap for more details!

    All the best,
    Caroline Johnson-Stephens
    Casting Director

    carolinekotncasting@gmail.com


    ***Show Flier***
    From the producers of MYTHBUSTERS and SURVIVOR comes a returning competition based show embracing and celebrating both passionate and intellectually savvy guys and girls 18-30+ years old. Showcase your skills by competing on topics you already know for the chance to win $100,000!

    Are you passionate about MATHEMATICS, PHYSICS, SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY, ETC? Are you a super fan of STAR WARS, STAR TREK, GAME OF THRONES or BATTLESTAR GALACTICA? Do you build ROBOTS, collect COMICS or write APPS and PROGRAMS as a hobby? Do you consider yourself a MAKER or DIY person? Do you love anything SCI-FI? Are you ARDUINO proficient?
    Do you know at least 100 digits of PI? Is your IQ at least two standard deviation above the mean?

    If you are a passionate person who is intellectually driven, then get ready to compete against other NERDS in a competition show that will showcase your smarts and inner geek!

    To Apply: Email Caroline at carolinekotncasting@gmail.com

    We film July 12th- August 8th in Los Angeles. TBS King of the Nerds is hosted by Robert Carradine & Bobby Armstrong from Revenge of the Nerds. It airs 10/9 CST. Last season celebrity guests included George Takei, Kevin Smith and cosplay artist Yaya Han, amongst many others. Re-Define what it is to be a nerd!

    Send us your name, age, photo, contact info & brief bio on your academic achievements and hobbies!!

    Requirements: Must be intellectual. Must be passionate. Must be ready to win big $$
    Must be at least 18 years of age

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi there!

    I'm a Casting Director in LA currently working on "King of the Nerds 2" on TBS! We want to spread the word about this exciting show! We are searching nationwide for passionate and competitive men and women who are the best of the best in academics, fandoms, robotics, cos-play, mathematics, computer science, sci-fi, etc! It's time to celebrate, embrace, re-invent and re-define what it is to be a NERD!

    It would be amazing if you would forward the show flier to your friends, colleagues and associates (post on your Facebook page, twitter, message boards, etc)! See show flier below. Do you know anyone that would be good for this?

    We are looking to get video submissions in ASAP!

    Please contact me asap for more details!

    All the best,
    Caroline Johnson-Stephens
    Casting Director

    carolinekotncasting@gmail.com


    ***Show Flier***
    From the producers of MYTHBUSTERS and SURVIVOR comes a returning competition based show embracing and celebrating both passionate and intellectually savvy guys and girls 18-30+ years old. Showcase your skills by competing on topics you already know for the chance to win $100,000!

    Are you passionate about MATHEMATICS, PHYSICS, SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY, ETC? Are you a super fan of STAR WARS, STAR TREK, GAME OF THRONES or BATTLESTAR GALACTICA? Do you build ROBOTS, collect COMICS or write APPS and PROGRAMS as a hobby? Do you consider yourself a MAKER or DIY person? Do you love anything SCI-FI? Are you ARDUINO proficient?
    Do you know at least 100 digits of PI? Is your IQ at least two standard deviation above the mean?

    If you are a passionate person who is intellectually driven, then get ready to compete against other NERDS in a competition show that will showcase your smarts and inner geek!

    To Apply: Email Caroline at carolinekotncasting@gmail.com

    We film July 12th- August 8th in Los Angeles. TBS King of the Nerds is hosted by Robert Carradine & Bobby Armstrong from Revenge of the Nerds. It airs 10/9 CST. Last season celebrity guests included George Takei, Kevin Smith and cosplay artist Yaya Han, amongst many others. Re-Define what it is to be a nerd!

    Send us your name, age, photo, contact info & brief bio on your academic achievements and hobbies!!

    Requirements: Must be intellectual. Must be passionate. Must be ready to win big $$
    Must be at least 18 years of age

    ReplyDelete

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