OK, this is going to be another short post, but I just have to vent a little bit. This afternoon I had the single worst lecture I've ever had. Well, that might be exaggerating a bit, but that's how pissed off I am about it. First of all, it was on potential vorticity conservation, which to most readers out there probably sound like a bunch of gibberish, and it's very hard to explain well. So hard in fact, that I don't think I've had a good explanation of it ever. Anyway, today was especially horrible. The prof was flying through the lecture, skipping steps along the way, and jumping all over the place. I had next to no clue what the hell was going on. In the middle of it, I actually did raise my hand to ask a question because I couldn't make the leap from where he started to his next step because he skipped a large number of steps between there. Then he proceeded to basically make me feel like an idiot by saying, "Well, I guess I'll derive it...." That pissed me off to no end, mainly because I don't like being made to feel like a complete dumbass. It was a simple question and he had no right to make it seem like such a big deal to show some intermediate steps to help clear up any confusion. In fact, I think he was almost intentionally trying to confuse the whole class. He has absolutely no right being a lecturer, but as Tim (my officemate) put it, at a big research driven school like this, teaching is not the number one priority. Research is. This is why I don't want to work at a large school after I finish my degree. I much prefer a small school where the main focus is on teaching.
Anyway, I'm very grumpy right now, and I need to give myself some time to calm down. Plus, it's almost time for colloquium, and it sounds like a potentially interesting seminar, so I'll head down there soon. Hopefully by the end of it, I'll be a little less pissy. I'm not counting on it, though.
2 comments:
Well, even if you end up at a research-based school, you can still teach properly.
Of course, today I was a total lunatic in class. I was making fun of the kids more than I was going through notes. Of course, I did have some time to waste, but one kid called a girl, Paul (her name is Paula), and so I called him Camaro (instead of Cameron). Then I laughed aloud at another student who asked if he could so extra credit to boost his grade. I even slapped my knee in the process. And somehow there a reference to a dead cow at my laughing. That eventually let to raucous laughter by the class when I simulated a dead cow. "Mooo-- (thunk)" (hit the desk).
Ah, it was a good day.
I hope your colloqium was interesting. :)
Sounds like you had fun teaching today. :) Good times.
Colloquium was actually interesting, considering it was about economics. Two of the profs in the meteo department tag-teamed the talk, and they were both very, very funny. I don't think I've laughed that much for a comedian, much less a speaker at colloquium. That helped me work off a little steam. I didn't start feeling better about it until today though.
You're right, though. Wherever I teach, I will do it properly. :)
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