DISCUSS: footrubs and teaching
Michael McAfee
The dark elf strides into the Place with a whistle
in his step and a lift on his lips. After wishing the Place
a happy anniversary, he orders a soda on ice and finds a
comfy chair to sit in.
"Y'know," he begins, "last night I took this course
on giving foot rubs, and-"
Before he can complete his thought, he is grabbed
by several patrons and pressed into footrub service (not that
he minds or anything :).
"anyways," he continues, "this is the second time I've
taken an adult education course, both of which I enjoyed a lot.
It made me think about what I could teach if given the time and
training to do so. I decided on math and music: math because
it's something I've always been good at and it's important to
know, and music because it's also something I've always been good
at and I know I can teach the basics to folks who don't know that
much about it. And maybe a creative writing course of some kind,
because I think the teachers in my high school botched it and I'd
like to think I could do better.
"But let me open this up to everyone. What sort of course
do people think they'd like to teach one day?"
Michael, the Chaotic
"I once heard th' Jeopardy theme song through my lower bicuspid!"
--Zippy the Pinhead
disclaimer: not that there's anything wrong with that
Tammy Jo Eckhart
> do people think they'd like to teach one day?"
>
> Michael, the Chaotic
"I'd teach introductory ancient history classes, women's history
classes, and lead graduate level courses on specific topics in these fields
-- I think I'd let the graduate student make a lot of the decisions about
what topics to pursue."
"I've started thinking about how I'd conduct the classes. Several
tests so that the students can see how well they are learning and I can get
more feedback. One paper -- rough draft due at the midterm so I can help
direct them. Reading lots of primary sources, in translation especially for
the intro classes, and discusses of these. Use films and audio tapes to make
the topics come alive. And for the Roman intro class, a special meal to
introduce them to some of the recipes we have from that era and give them
"first hand" experience into Roman life."
"My ideal undergratuate class has few history majors. I want to
teach the business, science and art people. I want the jocks and the
druggies. I want to help people understand just how much of our culture is
related to the ancient cultures. History isn't just a bunch of dead facts,
history is us, our culture in it's infancy."
Aurora sighs. "It's beautiful."
Aurora, the Dawn "But I won't cry for yesterday.
tj...@columbia.edu "There's an ordinary world somehow I have to find.
* I only look sweet * "And as I try to make my way to the ordinary world
* and innocent * "I will learn to survive." -- Duran Duran
amy hamilton cross
> do people think they'd like to teach one day?"
>
> Michael, the Chaotic
Well, I'm going to get myself in huge trouble for this one, but I'd like to
teach a reproduction and sexuality course, for 8-year-olds. Set mostly in
terms of an animal science oriented curriculum with thorough discussions and
laboratory experience in mate selection, breeding, and the birth process.
Preferably with a small class-size, so that the students can feel free to
ask any question.
I have T.A.'d [oh, those dreaded words] a couple of sections of an
introductory microbiology laboratory, and would love to do so again, with
one large change. I would like to see the time pressure removed [we covered
a huge amount of material in a single semester], so that the students could
have more time to just experiment in the lab. It is amazing to watch people
learn about a part of the world that was previously unaccessible.
My favorite quote "THAT'S growing in my THROAT?"
But anyway, thanks for bringing up the topic, Michael, I'm looking forward
to hearing other people's responses.
Amy
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Everything comes down to "why?". There is no answer, only ways to
keep pushing through the walls that the damn question throws up in
your face--N.H.
amy hamilton cross
>teach the business, science and art people. I want the jocks and the
>druggies. I want to help people understand just how much of our culture is
>related to the ancient cultures. History isn't just a bunch of dead facts,
>history is us, our culture in it's infancy."
> Aurora sighs. "It's beautiful."
Aurora jumps a bit as a glass crashes into the fireplace behind her.
"I agree entirely. My largest regret from my undergratuate years was too
much time spent in science classes, and not enough in other disciplines. It
has been a struggle to learn literature and history as "independent
study"--ie. on my own."
May I buy you a drink?
Thingfish
> The dark elf strides into the Place with a whistle
> in his step and a lift on his lips. After wishing the Place
> a happy anniversary, he orders a soda on ice and finds a
> comfy chair to sit in.
>
> "Y'know," he begins, "last night I took this course
> on giving foot rubs, and-"
>
> Before he can complete his thought, he is grabbed
> by several patrons and pressed into footrub service (not that
> he minds or anything :).
You might after taking a whiff of mine!
--
"I'm the TAB [cola] of music lovers." | Ken Primer
-Ryan Gavigan | k...@uxc.cso.uiuc.
"A sure sign of a crappy video tape is if it has a rainbow| I am what I am...
on the jacket." -Mark rebeiz(I think) | What am I?
Andisheh Mahdavi
acr...@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (amy hamilton cross) writes:
>Everything comes down to "why?". There is no answer, only ways to
>keep pushing through the walls that the damn question throws up in
>your face--N.H.
Some people say that if you ask "why," and follow up each and
every resulting answer with the same question, you'll eventually end up
having to consult quantum electrodynamics. Others say it'll all lead to
linguistics or philosophy of language. Which path you choose, I guess,
says a lot about who you are.
I guess the problem I have is that scientific knowledge can be
very exciting on a personal level, but it seems to be quite a challenge to
at all convey this sort of excitement. But I really feel scientists are
philosophers on a certain level, too; only that they're caught up in lingo
that's appropriate for discussing the outside world.
With that in mind, it might be really interesting to fashion a
class were you could integrate both; something that can be as rigorous as
a regular physics or astronomy class but still not confine itself to pure
empirical description.
AndyM
Andisheh Mahdavi
>Science isn't, in general, "flashy". (no jokes about the Big Bang, please :-)
>And one person's excitement is another person's yawn.
Perhaps the "yawning" is due precisely to the lack of good science
education, especially in high schools, where people usually decide to
embrace or shun the sciences. (Not that I'd ever be interested in teaching
high school, and I guess that's part of the problem: people who are really
into a certain field wind up dealing with it at a higher-than-elementary
level, and all the "bored" people wind up teaching the youngins)
>As for philosophy: 'tis possible. I tend to think of philosophy --- or what
>I would consider philosophy, which may or may not agree with what philosophers
>consider to be philosophy --- as an attempt at relating science, or objective
>reality in general, to one's "personal" reality. (I presume the "certain
>level" isn't the trivial one from the fact that Ph.D. means "doctor of
>philosophy" :-)
But philosophy is in some sense "above" science, for it lays down and
explores the foundations of those inductive/deductive principles that must
exist before any science is at all possible. Furthermore, there are always
questions which can't be answered by science: for example, is a theory
some sort deep truth about the world out there (realism) or merely a
useful tool for describing that which we observe (instrumentalism)? These
things have very little to do with "personal" realities and are
significant problems, still of a "boring" nature, that are nevertheless
outside the realm of scientific discourse.
AndyM
Mary Branscombe
In-Reply-To: <2c081c$a...@apakabar.cc.columbia.edu> tj...@bonjour.cc.columbia.edu (Tammy Jo Eckhart)
Aurora's class...
please can I join? sounds wonderful ;-)
MerryTail
+-------------------------------------------+--------------------------+
| Organisation: Me? You're joking, right? |ma...@cix.compulink.co.uk |
| Officially "too bizarre" and proud of it |
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+-------------------------------------------+--------------------------+
Ceri.B - DEVIOUS
> "My ideal undergratuate class has few history majors. I want to
>teach the business, science and art people. I want the jocks and the
>druggies. I want to help people understand just how much of our culture is
>related to the ancient cultures. History isn't just a bunch of dead facts,
>history is us, our culture in it's infancy."
> Aurora sighs. "It's beautiful."
Devious blinks "One type of history that really IS beautiful is art history.
And our University is considering dropping it because 'it is not required'.
What?! How are you going to learn how to paint gold unless you study the
Baroque? Or how to paint light unless you look at Rembrant and Turner? You
want a recipe for ferocity? Look at Delaquoix's tiger-and-lion hunts! Even
though I'm only a computer student, even I can see that its a travesty to wipe
out history!"
(Alright, alright...my Dad's the Art History lecturer...:))
Devious quickly whips out a pendant with a picture of the 'Tiger of the Salon'
in its center "Delacroix is my hero!"
Love, Devious.
______________________________________________________________________
/ \ "Imagination, inspiration, self-actualisation, culmination." \
| |___________________________________________________________________|
| Devious says..."People say, 'you don't look like a devious |
___| person', and I reply 'It is all part of this Paladin's facade." |
| | E-mail: s137...@giaeb.CC.monash.edu.au |
\__/____________________________________________________________________/