I encountered a lot of silence in the classroom this morning. Some of it was desirable: the silence that descends on a classroom full of students writing for dear life. But before they wrote, I tried to get them talking, and that's when I encountered the other kind of silence.
Maybe they're not awake yet, I thought. After all, the class begins at 8 a.m., a time when I'm still absorbing my morning quota of caffeine. Maybe they just don't know each other well enough to feel comfortable sharing ideas. Then again, they didn't even laugh at my jokes! That's the kind of silence that makes me nervous.
Oh well, there's always next time. Meanwhile, I enjoyed the delicious silence that descended on the class while they were writing. Pens and pencils scratching and scribbling--there is no silence more soothing.
1 comment:
Eight in the morning? And they're able to write? This is a really promising class, Prof. Hogue. (Can't the Department budget spare some change for a Starbuck's delivery?)
Post a Comment