Some cheer during a tough time in the semester.

I want to post this email I just received from a student, because this kind of email is so very very rare.

I gave my students a worksheet full of horribly incorrect sentences that they were to correct as an exercise in proofreading. The sentences were compiled (mostly) from student papers from last semester.

This particular student--the absolute brightest student I have had the pleasure of teaching--just wrote me to say that she had finished the exercise, and:

HOW DO YOU EVEN GRADE THESE??! These sentences are ridiculous. I don't understand how these kids graduate from high school when they can't even put together a clear, cohesive, complete sentence! I'm sorry, it just blows my mind. Is it because they're just lazy, or do they really not know how? It seems like they really don't know how. Now I'm even MORE depressed!

This is why I could never be a teacher - I lack the necessary patience and understanding. You're my hero.

Aside from my feeling rather self-satisfied right now--isn't it SO NICE to hear a student view the classroom from our perspective?!

P.S. I wrote her back to tell her, among other things, that I have no such "necessary patience and understanding." I just fake it well. :-)

Video on the state of higher education.

I don't even know how to introduce this. Please watch:



I need to gather my thoughts, but I think it says some interesting and powerful things (and some things I disagree with as well).

I think I am going to assign some kind of extra credit assignment to my students in conjunction with this video.