“If a teacher is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.” Kahil Gibran
I’m not going to go run and hide because I’m catching some heat. I’m not going to stay at home and pout.  Andy Roddick
These two quotes caught my eye this morning as I try to battle with my syllabi for the coming, oh so quickly, semester.  The heat outside is on my mind as, as always, it makes me feel constantly slightly ill: never finding the right food or drink to quell the heat inside or out. I do have air conditioning, and so I’m physically cool, but maybe it’s being trapped inside just like it’s January that adds to the discomfort.
As I work on my syllabi, hoping to improve it with some new thinking I’ve done and reading I’ve been reflecting on, I think of my students.  (Actually I do know profs who don’t think of their students as they set up their syallbi – it’s much more valuable to them to think of the ease of the work to themselves.) While I attempt to offer a learning environment, I also must be, at times, the source of heat that makes them ill, uncomfortable and while I hope not, perhaps even cower. I always hope that I am the facilitator of learning; but it’s a difficult process: enough heat to move them forward from the stimulus but not enough to send them into a cave hiding from it hoping to get cool again.
Thank you – I appreciate knowing that! 🙂
I have never experienced anything like this in your classroom, Sharon. Your classes have always been thoroughly enjoyable; I always looked forward to them.