Mikey had a dream about me this afternoon (while reclined and slumbering.) In this dream, I was thin and trim, and I was in a relationship with the actor who plays Angel. Woof! More fun details; this actor was working in a 99cents only store (apparently as some manager) and the employees in the store only got paid if there were customers in the store buying things. One went through the back door of the store and it was a secret passageway into some hoity-toity hot spot cocktail bar, that Mikey found quite appealing in his dream.
Today, my class was a train wreck. Here's what I wrote to the administrator of the college:
As you were there, it is redundant to re-visit that no student was on-time; that the bulk of the students were 28 minutes late and arrived in a group, and that a further student arrived at 10:35. I re-started the class at approximately 10:30, and, as you experienced, only one student was paying attention to my presentation; the bulk of the students, including the entire late arriving group, were engaged in personal conversations.
Just as you were leaving, I made the sharp remark to the group that it seemed they were not aware that I was in front of the room. This remark, as you saw, did not penetrate the shield of indifference that they had put up.
After you left, the final student arrived. The class had finished the in-class exercise that I had given out, and they were continuing to engage in the indifferent behavior that you saw me experiencing. At that point, however, an air of derisiveness had entered into the room.
In that moment, I was certain that no further action on my part would attain their participation in today's class. I went through the four in-class quizzes that were scheduled for today, providing very little explanation of the material. I covered the essay portion in a similar, truncated fashion. One student, the ringleader of the indifferent behavior, asked me if I was going to explain the material to them, and I declined, pointing them to the book or a dictionary if they had questions.
I dismissed the class extremely early.
None but one of the earliest arriving students apologized for their behavior, expressed regret or an interest in re-starting the class to gain something of it. They filed out, silent, picking up the hand-outs that were scheduled, and didn't begin speaking until they were out the door.
I did not at any time engage in emotional or inappropriate behavior, but I did end the class telling them that they had been given the time and attention they had shown me.
After two weeks of this studied and intentional indifference, lack of preparedness (most of the students did not bring their course books) and complete lack of attention to the material being presented, I chose this course of action.
My good friend with whom I've taught about fifteen years wrote me back tonight telling me she didn't think she would have lasted a half hour in that environment. That makes me feel better, as a number of my friends have counseled that I should have stuck it out or chosen some other course.
But, I digress.
This morning's blood sugar number was four hundred ten. I can tell it's still very high, as I'm having trouble breathing, and my chest is very tight. Last night's dinner, the weirdness of the former student coming to my apartment at about 8:00 running from a police chase (he had another hit and run) and such, followed by ice cream with Philip at about midnight did me no favors, I'm quite sure.
Anyway, I must to bed that I can rise and go to church in the morning. I'll post a nifty new picture of the actor that Mikey has dreamed I had hooked up with.
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