It only works right if done from the inside...

Pay, I say, pay attention, son! I'm tryin' to learn ya somethin' here!

Assassinating? That might be a bit stronger than necessary. After all, those seats are needed , perhaps by students who will put some effort into their education.

They all put in some effort but some of them never really play. They're the ones I want to uncover.

Also, anyone speaking like Foghorn Leghorn should be teaching law. It just seems right.

That makes as much sense as anything I've heard this week!

I loved it Professor... it is true that you teach while looking for that one wonderful student who will not only comprehend but will take what you've taught him/her and exceed beyond anything you might have done without even realizing how good they really are.

And to the rest who are there just taking up space... flush the toilet...

V.

There can be many more than one per class! Sometimes "seeing is believing" for some of them (If HE can do it, so could I) and other times, enthusiasm and curiosity are infectious.

I'm not sure I could teach school... seriously...

V.

Teaching kids, no way. I don't think I could handle it.

Teaching adults is different. I don't need to run after them down the hall or threaten to call the principal or the truant officer...you don't want to come? Fine, thanks for your money, see you next semester. :>

Bingo!

V.

I've simply stumbled on this, but I'm curious; I'll try to read through more later, maybe answer some of my own questions, but for now. Are you actually a professor? I'm unfamiliar with customs here and am curious if it's character or a reflection. That, and I'm curious about the... weight, to the sixth partition from the end.

Hauke von Friedrichs is my alter ego; I use him for some stories that sort of happened, but not quite the way I'm telling them (Lynda Barry, a cartoonist I admire, calls this "autobiografictional").

And about the statue garden...well, have a look at
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/23053269/
and
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/10936864/

Heh, alright. ^v^;
Guess I was primarily curious.
Kinda struck a personal chord and checked.

It is indeed a noble pursuit to want to stoke the flames of curiosity in others, but they have to want find and add kindling to the fire. Like you said, 'done from the inside.'
I have had many people tell me I'd make a great teacher, but I personally don't see it...I run out of patience too easily.

I commend you for the continued search to uncover the diamonds in the rough, and attempt to put polishing tools in their hands and educate in their application.

Really liked the comment about the garden statues being of equal worth for some students...hehe.

I could put a statement about that in the syllabus. "Unsatisfactory work may result in a W (withdraw), an F (fail), or a P.

"What's the P stand for? Pass?"

No, not exactly....

The world would be a sorry place indeed without teachers, instructors and professors. Life is far too short for everyone to waste it on the trial and error method. Without someone willing to spend their time forcing our eyes open and cleaning the ignorance out of our ears, none of us would amount to anything noteworthy.

But I, too, have wondered about those who spend time and money on higher education only to waste the opportunity on frivolity and sloth.

A lot of the ones who waste their time have been told "go to college" but they have no idea why they should, or are dodging doing something else that they consider worse...they're often a lost cause.

A lot of those who are by most measures very successful students (high GPA's and high levels of proficiency in many skills) are the most stubborn about taking on open-ended questions where they might fail. They don't feel safe to try, because they didn't get those great GPA's and collect those skills by risking their time on things that might not pay off, and they assume I'll hold up my end of the treaty ("You worked hard, so here is your reward").

Sad state of affairs!