tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post5978762738940502688..comments2023-10-15T04:23:50.187-04:00Comments on College Misery: An Early Thirsty From Cal.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-14952788133689296042016-07-15T00:26:40.591-04:002016-07-15T00:26:40.591-04:00Politics isn't religion, but I find that whene...Politics isn't religion, but I find that whenever a student in one of my science classes asks to know my religion (which often takes the form of an aggressive demand of "YOU AN ATHEIST?"), a good reply is, "I'd prefer to keep you guessing." I don't think they have any business asking, anyway: back where I come from, we have this thing called freedom of religion.Froderick Frankenstien from Fresnohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11653942918068535424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-58833704241573374082016-07-13T21:15:08.849-04:002016-07-13T21:15:08.849-04:00I just picked up a book called The Political Class...I just picked up a book called The Political Classroom: Evidence and Ethics in Democratic Education (and no, I'm not the author, nor would I begrudge anyone plugging their own book here if it were germane to the discussion.) It's given me a lot to think about along just these lines. The research is on high school classrooms (plenty of analogy to what we do, imo) explicitly teaching Curly Charlannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-55701338270078591182016-07-13T12:58:05.519-04:002016-07-13T12:58:05.519-04:00If a fight breaks out, call security. Even the wor...If a fight breaks out, call security. Even the worst college students are old enough to know that fisticuffs are not allowed in the classroom. Have the number on speed-dial on your cell phone.<br /><br />If anyone pulls a gun, RUN. My students are much more likely to shoot over grades than over any intellectual argument. Here’s where student apathy works in your favor.<br /><br />Those years of Froderick Frankenstien from Fresnohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11653942918068535424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-77828843664390798432016-07-13T12:57:34.516-04:002016-07-13T12:57:34.516-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Froderick Frankenstien from Fresnohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11653942918068535424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-54429746618685691772016-07-13T12:57:08.461-04:002016-07-13T12:57:08.461-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Froderick Frankenstien from Fresnohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11653942918068535424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-58110869261584261452016-07-12T21:40:24.703-04:002016-07-12T21:40:24.703-04:00I only mention it because it often comes up during...I only mention it because it often comes up during a reading from one of our textbooks, and everyone is horrified that kids in other decades were spanked. I was stupefied 10 years ago when I first noticed this, but now it seems like it's just absent from my students' lives.<br /><br />I was spanked like a champion, for minor and major things. I have mixed thoughts about it. I never Eating Low Saltnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-72705794025468648632016-07-12T21:06:29.042-04:002016-07-12T21:06:29.042-04:00Well, they're probably spoiled rotten! Duh!
I&...Well, they're probably spoiled rotten! Duh!<br />I'm in the red zone.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17067128333819881574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-59629600361927798282016-07-12T21:01:46.289-04:002016-07-12T21:01:46.289-04:00You have students who were spanked? I haven't ...You have students who were spanked? I haven't had one in 10 years or more.Eating Low Saltnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-84767071739439539412016-07-12T20:10:34.555-04:002016-07-12T20:10:34.555-04:00Discussion? Debate? Hahahahaha My students will...Discussion? Debate? Hahahahaha My students will actually laugh out loud at anything that they don't "believe" in. Everything I teach is just opinion evidently.<br />Sexual orientation? Hmmm that's a choice! No one is born *that* way.<br />Transgender? Hmmm people change their sex because they're perverted. Spanking? Hmmm I turned out okay and I was spanked. Ya know if Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17067128333819881574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-32380406812815849082016-07-12T12:28:08.061-04:002016-07-12T12:28:08.061-04:00I handle this in my "Science of Controversial...I handle this in my "Science of Controversial Issue" course by asking students to actually engage with data. I also am pretty harsh about which sources I will accept for short papers: no think tanks or other polemical organizations, from either side of the fence. In practice, that limits one to academies of science or government agencies.introvert.profhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09042783611716432247noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-22020800121561768422016-07-12T12:26:27.149-04:002016-07-12T12:26:27.149-04:00I'm with Cassandra here; I prefer the explicit...I'm with Cassandra here; I prefer the explicit assignment to refute your own paper. <br /><br />But I have also been known to grade straw men rather harshly.introvert.profhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09042783611716432247noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-6108412396216348902016-07-12T07:14:12.989-04:002016-07-12T07:14:12.989-04:00Debate?
Among students??
In Class???
[crickets]Debate?<br />Among students??<br />In Class???<br />[crickets]Rosencrantz Andor Guildensternhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05095512139776536635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-31480330289129552472016-07-11T22:15:51.393-04:002016-07-11T22:15:51.393-04:00This strikes me as a good one, too -- a whole pape...This strikes me as a good one, too -- a whole paper (or prepared debate arguments) on *each* side (or at least two sides). The usual direction to "consider counterarguments" within a single paper doesn't go far enough; it just gives students a chance to briefly rehearse (perhaps mischaracterize) arguments on the other side, then dismiss them. Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-57571332812913108712016-07-11T22:12:20.675-04:002016-07-11T22:12:20.675-04:00It's not relevant to my own sciency field, but...It's not relevant to my own sciency field, but I heard once of the idea of making the student argue with herself: after a certain number of assignments where she can write of her own opinion, as assignment to sincerely and thoroughly refute one of those previous assignments.Rivertown Jacqueshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01804623110685318468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-61215883147323892112016-07-11T20:27:23.817-04:002016-07-11T20:27:23.817-04:00I have to admit that I mostly sidestep the issue b...I have to admit that I mostly sidestep the issue by not having a lot of instructor-assigned readings or discussions thereof, and by discussing form more than content when we do have readings -- because I can, given the skills-focused (writing) classes I teach, and I, too, am not eager to try to moderate debates in the classroom, and because I genuinely believe that some of the ways composition isContingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-28609935927279516612016-07-11T18:09:46.696-04:002016-07-11T18:09:46.696-04:00Best post of the day.
Bar none.
Existential angst....Best post of the day.<br />Bar none.<br />Existential angst.<br />Emptiness.<br />The misery.<br />Well captured.<br />Southern Bubba, Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12050992903794385204noreply@blogger.com