The good old days
personally I wish we could back to just teaching!
What has to happen for you to get down to the real meat and potatoes, Greg? Until a course of action is identified - and acted on - things won't change. Are you willing and able to bring about the changes you want?
So right Tony, I wish we could get down to the the real meat and potatos of our jobs , and stop all the hand holding and cottling
I have found within our institution many who will agree with this dissertation. But as noted, they are the good old days, not to be recaptured. When I need to become more informed about our students body's decision making process, I turn on some popular reality TV program, discover the lastest fashion trend, visit a blog site or other internet babble room to attempt to understand those in front of me every morning. There is a bevey of statistics that when compiled, form a picture of today's student. It hasn'nt helped that social promotion has continued for so long. Or it has become accepted by other public schools that if they just make an attempt, that's ok. If that's the case then I should qualify for a raise just for getting out of bed and coming to work.
ah... "but the good old days werent always good and tomorrow is not as bad as it seems"~ Billy Joel
While I tend to agree with the underlying sentiment... or what I ASSUME is the underlying sentiment... for better or worse, this is the hand we are dealt.
1) The "X/Y Generation" are not readers... are indeed not PATIENT. They grew up in a day of "if you dont like it, flip the channel". While I disagree that they are able to truly mutli-task... their mindset is such that they change so rapidly it APPEARS to be. And anything less is boring drudgery.
2) Failure is nothing. Just hit reset and do it again... if you feel like it. OR, there might be something more interesting on another channel. Nothing is forever. Everything is passing, fleeting. And they have no concept of the "life is like a bowl of jalopenos" philosophy of life.
3) Whether we like it or not... whether we agree with it or not... whether it is CORRECT or not... we are not "real colleges". Personally, I say thank God for that! I challenge any "real college student" who shows up in my classroom to take a "clep" test and if they pass... they dont have to attend. So far, none have passed. I actually CARE about my students and what they are learning. I actually have the freedom to press every student to get better than they were when they first arrived. No matter how good that was. But... this prevalent perception lures the "traditional" student with what we consider "genuine academic skills" to other campuses. The ones lured to us are those looking for OTHER ways... faster ways... sometimes "easier" ways.
What this (and more I am too lazy to write) means is that, as instructors, we are called to teach. Not just to teach our subject. But, to teach how to learn. To teach how to succeed. To teach how to do what we went to higher education KNOWING how to do and they do not.
Who is at fault? Who cares? It is what it is. And while there are days... more often than not, truthfully... when I, too, wish for a return to the old days when I could use my hickory stick to teach them reading, 'ritin', 'n' 'rithmatic. If nothing else, it would be nice to go home to my own family sometime before midnight.
And yet...
To stand off to one side, wearing my one tie. And watch while a woman hugs her mother and her five children when they congratulate her after moving that tassel. To see them months later and have them talking away about how great the job is and that they are moving into a new house and just stopped by to change their address...
Well. Truth be told, that isnt enough compensation or I would be doing this volunteer. Looked at in a pure mercenary fashion... that student who graduated knows at least 6 people they will be bragging about me and my school to. This will be some continued rent money and food on my table if ANY of them sign up. Further... if the boss that hires them is happy with the quality of my student... he will start looking for my students and in time, perhaps many will get the idea that if they want to work in town, they have to have me as an instructor. And, last time I looked... no one is going to fire their money maker. I just have to make sure that I am.
