Re: Always that one student

If we think that every activity we give an entire class is
going to be meaningful to the entire class... we've got
another think coming. If your entire class walked into a
doctor's office all with strep throat, would one antibiotic
in the same dose work for all of them?

No. Just as no one assignment is going to work for all your
students. And this student had the bravery - if no tact- to
tell you that it wasn't working for him.

So now like Young Goodman Brown you think it's everybody. How
are your evaluations? I trust your school does them because
most do. What do they say?

I know and likely you too people who've taught their entire
career but never taught well - at all. There are bad teachers
out there.

I handle such matters by inviting discussion on it - if you
really want a shot of the truth, ask for it but be open to it
though that can be hard. There's nothing wrong and everything
right with being reflective about your teaching.

>
> > What if all the students feel the same way, that the
> activity was pointless?

Usually they'll do it anyway - they don't want to upset or
anger the person who's giving out the grades.

This student acted out of
> disrespect -
whoa, was it that? Is yours a silent college classroom? Or
did his frustration get the better of him? What if felt that
way about every assignment you gave?

and is probably going to give me problems the
> whole semester, but what if he touched on some truth about
> my teaching?

What if indeed.

I've always gotten good evaluations, but what
> if I'm just not cut out to be a college instructor?

If you've always gotten good evaluations, then what is all
this angst about?

What if
> I've been fooling myself all this time? (I'm a new
> instructor, been teaching about 4 years).

If your evaluations are positive, that says a lot. Your post
actually is quite confusing. No teacher is the right teacher
for every student and there's no shame or blame in that. If
you need every student to love your teaching to feel
confident about your teaching, it's then not really your
teaching we're talking about.

What if I'm a
> horrible instructor and not fit to teach English? I know
> I'm jumping to conclusions based on this one activity and
> one student, but I tend to question myself constantly, and
> if this student felt this one activity was pointless,
> perhaps the whole class is pointless (the way I teach it
> that is).
>
A lot of what we do in education - if you think about it - is
process not outcome.
> Just feeling blue today.