Scattered musings: two teaching-related thoughts

1.  I'll just put this out there: I'm uncomfortable with mocking students for crying in offices (not least because I have also cried in offices).  Sure, tears may be manipulative sometimes, and they're certainly no fun for the instructor (who could do without the Alice in Wonderland moment), but it feels as though we're blaming the crying student for not having a sense of proportion about the relative values of grades and life.  And yet, most of them are far too inexperienced to have that sense of proportion, especially if they've spent their entire lives in school.

2.  I attended a presentation on "flipped" classrooms this afternoon, and was wondering if there are any humanities types out there who have tried this approach.  It seemed to me that a blended flipped classroom might work quite well in skills classes--for example, model a close reading for the students online, and then have them experiment with in-class exercises.  Or discuss the revision process online and then have students work on revising papers in the computer lab.  But the instructor who presented was quite upfront about how negatively the students responded to a fully flipped course (including regular complaints to the department chair and furious course evaluations--it would probably be too dangerous for an adjunct or untenured faculty member to experiment this way). In particular, the students apparently felt that the instructor wasn't doing enough, even though the actual process of constructing the course was more work than the usual approach...

 

Comments

[Levi Stahl]

Something I overheard a boss tell a colleague long ago at the workplace, and which seems to be close to true and worth keeping in mind, is that everyone cries at the office sometime. Some of the same questions of proportion apply--if differently scaled-as in most workplaces it's not as if the patient has died on the table. Still, you never make fun, never take it lightly, if you want to be a good boss or colleague.

[Victoria Rondeau]

I teach at a private middle school where the 7th grade math curriculum had been sort of 'flipped' as described in your link. The math teacher is using the Khan Academy videos as an adjunct to other types of instruction. The kids are struggling with the format, and the parents have been in varying degrees of revolt - up to and including the the threat of lawsuits. Stuff is calming down a bit, but it has not been a great beginning. The parents have the impression that the math teacher is 'not teaching', the kids who dislike math/struggle with math don't like the mastery idea (and the accompanying extra work needed to show mastery) and it will take time for them to get used to the new format. As differentiated instruction I can see the logic of the approach, but shudder to think what that type of instruction would do to English/Social studies classes.

[Jonathan Dresner]

Aren't humanities classrooms effectively "flipped" anyway? If students aren't doing the reading, the class goes nowhere. Sure, there are lectures sometimes, but most decent humanities classes are discussions -- i.e. active participation -- based on out-of-class work.

[Nicoleandmaggie]

What Jonathan Dresner said.

[Miriam]

Well, yes, that's the thing...

[Servetus]

Thanks for thinking your students probably deserve better from you than to be mocked for showing weakness. I've met very few students who are "crying on demand" myself.