Teaching and telekinesis

[indigo_rose99]

The mistaken belief that I, as an instructor, have amazing mental and physical powers continues to astound me.

I have been teaching classes like the one I'm currently teaching in CA for something like 17 years. My habit is to attempt to walk into my building to teach an hour in advance of the class start time. About 60% of the time, I am successful. The rest of the time is a mess of locked doors, unreachable security guards, careful employees who won't let a badgeless or unworking badge in the building, copy machines that jam up irreparably, projectors that refuse to connect to my laptop, and all the other things that can and do go wrong. If things go well, I spend about 20 minutes reviewing my class material just before it starts.

Yet every class, I have students who are deeply shocked that I bother coming in an hour in advance. They seem convinced that I can teleport into a classroom, have my computer set up, connected to power and projector, with all appropriate files open, have all of their handouts stacked and ready, all their prizes organized in a line... All in about 30 seconds.

I'm organized. I'm prepared for things to go wrong. But I have no magical powers. I have tried to gently explain this to my students, but they are persistent in their firm beliefs that these things should all together take less than 30 seconds.

I once had a class for which the entire building didn't open until 9am. Class was supposed to start promptly at 9am. And it was England, which meant that at 9:10am when the person who opened the doors actually appeared, my entire class was waiting in the lobby with me. *sigh* Yeah, I tried to do the magical act then. Start class while plugging in cables and booting my computer and trying to pull out handouts and notes... It didn't work. And I was off balance the entire class. Ugh.

Where do they come up with these ideas? Perhaps I appear too organized and in control in an ordinary class?

Comments

[sclatter.livejournal.com]

I can definitely understand an hour in the case of potential access issues, or if you have things to do like copying. But personally if I'm going to give a talk I find arriving 15 minutes ahead gives me plenty of time to be hooked up and ready to go. If I give myself more than that I just make myself nervous waiting. So I guess I can understand thinking that an hour seems like a long time. The important thing is that you have a system that works for you!

hmmm...

[indigo-rose99.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking about your 15 minutes. So I timed myself this morning. It is the 5th day of classes all in the same location. My badge works on the front door, so I don't have to wait for someone to unlock it. My classroom is unlocked, so I don't have to wait for anyone there, either. I know where the plugs are. I know how to activate the projector (which sounds easy, but this is the most new-fangled fancy creation you have ever SEEN. And I've worked with a lot of projectors. Without directions, I don't think I would have ever managed to connect this thing with my computer.). And as it is the last day (instead of the first), I only have a minor amount of copying to do. I did not spend any time studying. And I did not include my bathroom break.

From stepping out of my car to being ready to teach with everything set up, 28 minutes.

I have to think you have some shortcuts I do not share. You likely only teach in a small set of classrooms. You see the same rooms over and over again (I'd never seen this room or building until this week. Typical.). Do you bother to plug your laptop into power? (9 hours of class, I must plug in) Do you have a Mac, or is your computer in sleep mode when you walk in? (As I often have to drive a ways and don't always boot my computer in the hotel in the morning, I have to bring up my laptop from a cold start. It is not quick.) Are your classes short (<3 hours)? Going to the bathroom immediately before class begins is always a good idea if I can manage it.

Perhaps my students are thinking like you, like their college professors who just walked in and started class. I have a lot more things to do than they are accustomed to thinking about.

Re: hmmm...

[sclatter.livejournal.com]

>
> I have to think you have some shortcuts I do not share.

True. I do speak in the same rooms repeatedly. I ALWAYS plug into power, but I generally use the departmental Mac which is brought up from sleep not cold boot. And I'm giving shorter talks.

Actually when I was teaching my class I had no start-up time at all--I gave chalk talks! My favorite profs always use the chalkboard over Powerpoint. I mean, sometimes you can't avoid Powerpoint, but I think that Powerpoint encouraging lazy lecturing, and enables the teacher to lecture in such a way that effective note-taking is nearly impossible. Not that it can't be used effectively, but often it is not.

chalk vs PowerPoint

[indigo-rose99.livejournal.com]

*laugh* I remember chalk talks. And sadly, I think you are right. Especially for note taking, chalk is much better than PowerPoint. Plus, I think chalk talks do a better balance for audience members who are either (but not both!) visual or auditory learners. I'm a visual learner, and PowerPoint presentations tend to put me to sleep.

Does PowerPoint make you lazy? Perhaps. Tufte, one of my favorite authors on graphing, hates PowerPoint. He talks a lot about how it can actually be harmful in a business environment. http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/powerpoint

I freely admit that I lean on PowerPoint. What should I say next? Turn the PowerPoint page. Did I cover all of the topics I was supposed to? Flip through the slides I skipped. Could I teach 16-24 hours of class without it? Hmm... Not without a lot of notes and some extensive thought on how to change my style.

Re: chalk vs PowerPoint

[sclatter.livejournal.com]

I found that I went through a page of typed notes (with figures) in about 10-15 minutes. So yes, 16-24 hours would be a LOT of notes! :-)

[tiger-stripes.livejournal.com]

This, and visiting your friends in California doesn't hurt either :)