teaching: going out with an inappropriate bang.

My little teaching experiment has come to an end. I’m graduating next week (!), I’m going to work at the VA, and I’m taking a break from academe for a bit. The last day of class, I’d planned a lesson on revision, since that was part of their final unit. That fell apart immediately.

I began by switching up the roll call question format. Instead of me asking them a question, they would ask me one. Ezra warned me that this was dangerous, but I expected my students to be too afraid to ask anything inappropriate. What was I thinking? Have I been in class for the last semester?

My 9:30 class had the unofficial goal of figuring out if I smoked pot. To quote one student after class, “Well, people wonder about you.” I got, “What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?”, “Have you ever done anything illegal?”, “Have you ever run from the cops?”, and the phenomenally unsubtle, “Have you done multiple drugs?” I caught him on the multiple bit. What’s that supposed to mean? I got him to narrow it down to coke. Which, clearly if I did coke, they’d be getting their papers back a lot sooner. So no, I don’t do “extreme drugs” (wtf) but I told them stories about people I know who have. Look at me! I’m crossing lines all over the place! Just not those kind of lines. 

After convincing them I was boring, I got somewhat milder questions: “What’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever done drunk?” was a fun one that I totally answered. I cited my tendency to have heart-to-hearts when I’ve been drinking, and the emotional, very un-Kat melodrama that ensues. They liked that. I got questions about Ezra which he categorically told me not to answer, so I went out of my way to answer and volunteer unsolicited embarrassing stories (”Psssssshh! What is up with you and your jar?!”).

My second class cared more about my political leanings and what I was doing after graduating. One 12:30 student asked if I had to have basketball-sized elbows or knees, which would it be? I answered the only way a “teacher” like myself could: my elbows, because I have really nice legs. They were mildly scandalized. This confirms my long-held suspicion about my classes: 9:30 is quiet but infinitely mischievous, 12:30 is all talk. 

Finally one student asked what I liked best and least about the course. I said what I liked least was the grind. Trying to figure out how to fill class time in the best and most helpful way, being attentive but not babying them, and trying to not burn out completely proved for an unrelenting semester. What I liked best was easy: my students. I met 43 really cool people this semester. I don’t know if I always did right by them, and clearly I need to redefine some boundaries, but they were a joy. I’m going to miss those crazy kids. 

Filed under corrupting the youth, life i guess |