New tricks for the old dog

[coffeesnob318]

Things I have learned today:

1. Bathrooms, kitchens, and any other room in the house wherein a large amount of water could, at any time, deposit itself on the floor, should be tiled. Sure, it's nice when it's a cold morning and there is carpet to greet your newly awakened feet. But I'll take cold feet any day (or, you know, wear socks) over the floor being soggy when the plumbing freaks out and doesn't drain properly.

2. The coffee guy downstairs is an angel masquerading as a human. After learning the previously mentioned lesson, I was in no mood to order off the menu. I demanded all espresso, splash of caramel, and none of that crazy milky nonsense, and he delivered with a smile. He made me try it right there (because he was skeptical) so that if I didn't like it, he could try again until I was happy with it. Bless his sweet heart. I should make him cookies.

3. My assumption that college students are intentionally self-centered is perhaps faulty. It's not self-centered; it's lack of experience. A group of students were in the office today, and they made the observation that they would be glad to grade all their professor's tests if he would take all of theirs. All three of us who were present immediately turned to them with massive stacks of paper in hand and said, "Absolutely - here you go!" They didn't take them, but just stared at us with that doe-eyed look of wonder. We had to explain that, while they studied for maybe 10-15 collective hours (and, apparently, we were overshooting there - nervous looks of "oh, we're supposed to study that much?" abounded), that was a far cry from the grading time that we put in, trying to double-check grades and grade exams and finalize grades. These people know nothing of stress.

Comments

[chicklet73.livejournal.com]

*loves on your downstairs coffee angel*

I think everyone who consider's a teacher's job "easy" should have to live it for at least a year.

[coffeesnob.livejournal.com]

I agree. I'd be glad to share my jobs. Well, that is if they wanted to learn without pay. We could set it up like an intership - they would have the value of learning, and I would get paid for enlightening them and lightening my workload.

[karyn5101969.livejournal.com]

Hahahahaha! I think they must be a bit daft. I put weeks into a paper and hours into an exam, so they've gotta be daft not to think 10-15 hrs is not normal for an exam. Gads, what did they think goes into everything? This is the future? Yikes. Well, I should know this, I speak to people like that all the time. 90% rule. 90% of the human population are really to daft to operate in the enviroment under regular circumstances. Gotta hold their hand.

[coffeesnob.livejournal.com]

It still amazes me what people don't know. It shouldn't, after all this time, but it still does. I just keep hoping that they'll surpass my expectations, but no....

I think that I'm going to teach a crash course on time management at the first of the semester. Maybe that will make expectations clearer.

[nonnierms.livejournal.com]

heh--the shocked and awed looks on my students faces when they learned how much time I spent on grading and class prep as well as my own classes and writing papers five times as long as the ones they whined about having to write was really quite fun.........