[lit-ideas] Re: Potlach etc.


On Sep 27, 2007, at 7:57 AM, wokshevs@xxxxxx wrote:



Regarding the matter of dull moments in class:
A comment undergrads often make in my course evaluations has to do with what one of them once called "dead air in class." I think this is what Davied refers to 
below.
Thanks, Walter, for your response. I agree with you absolutely about the importance of silence and admitting ignorance. But I was actually thinking about those moments when everyone in the class has prepared something and the issue is, who shall speak first? Do you pick the most eager student? The recalcitrant one? The one at the back of the room? The one who is likely to start well? I was just saying that after years of thinking about all this, it occurred to me (how slow I am) that demonstrating random selection was as good a way as any.
One reason I wrote was to encourage those of us who teach to contribute tips from time to time; if we are thinking about literature and ideas, then surely we must occasionally think about how we, as the fellow in "The History Boys" puts it, "pass the parcel."
On the subject of "doing" reading, I have this to contribute. When I first began to teach I used to assign amounts of reading that were "good" for students. My professors had assigned impossible tasks-- read four Shakespeare plays this week, four the next, oh and the "Faerie Queen," and...--so why not continue the tradition of "ought to be able to"? I am now in favor of "is". I now hand out samples from the reading and time, in class, how long on average (x) it takes students to read a page. Then the math is simple. If they're supposed to spend six hours outside class doing work for that class, they can read 360 divided by (x), give or take.
My daughter's professors are still in "ought to be able to" mode. How about you? 

David Ritchie,
Portland, Oregon


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