Teaching has gone wrong this semester. I do not need to wait till the end of this semester to write my usual self-assessment; this semester has been a disaster. Two of my three classes are dead in the water, drifting aimlessly; my students and I are locked in a fatal embrace of disinterest and mutualContinue reading “Teaching Gone Bad: Reflections On A Semester Gone Wrong”
Tag Archives: teachers
Why Faculty Lock-Outs Are Irresponsible And Inappropriate
In response to my post on Sunday making note of the lock-out of faculty at Long Island University (LIU), a Facebook friend wrote on my page: So, I don’t understand. What makes university professors any different than people who work any other job? If you don’t like the pay, or don’t like the working conditions,Continue reading “Why Faculty Lock-Outs Are Irresponsible And Inappropriate”
Long Island University’s Labor Day Gift To The Nation: A Faculty Lock-Out
Some university administrators manage to put up a pretty good front when it comes to maintaining the charade that they care about the education of their students–they dip into their accessible store of mealy mouthed platitudes and dish them out every turn, holding their hands over their hearts as paeans to the virtues of edificationContinue reading “Long Island University’s Labor Day Gift To The Nation: A Faculty Lock-Out”
Anticipating, And Interacting With, The ‘Bright Light’ Student
On several occasions this semester, while preparing for my classes–by doing the assigned readings, naturally–I find myself experiencing that most pleasurable of sensations for a teacher: the anticipation of an invigorating classroom interaction. With a wrinkle; I have very particular students in mind. Now, in general, I look forward to my classroom encounters with myContinue reading “Anticipating, And Interacting With, The ‘Bright Light’ Student”
Step This Way For The Deunionized American Workplace
American unions look headed for another legal beating in the US Supreme Court. Pretty soon, we’ll be able to drop all pretense and just advocate beatings until the morale–of American workers–improves. The Supreme Court is about to hand their overseers a slightly thicker, more knotted, whip. Ten Californian teachers have sued their union–on First AmendmentContinue reading “Step This Way For The Deunionized American Workplace”
Scott Walker: Destroying Tenure, Keeping You ‘Free’
Scott Walker is well on his way to destroying one of the finest systems of public education in this country. Those who cheered his attack on public sector unions will cheer this move on too: it has everything they want. A repeal of tenure, destruction of faculty governance, budget slashing, more power to university administrators.Continue reading “Scott Walker: Destroying Tenure, Keeping You ‘Free’”
The Clock-Watcher’s Punch In The Gut
Last Monday, as I taught my graduate seminar on The Nature of Law, one of the students in attendance turned to look at the clock: we still had some forty-five minutes to go in a two-hour meeting. As I saw this, I experienced a familiar feeling, one that, as usual, temporarily, if not visibly, incapacitatedContinue reading “The Clock-Watcher’s Punch In The Gut”
Samir Chopra 