From: Kalkor (kalkor@kalkor.com)
Date: Sun Mar 24 2002 - 20:37:27 MST
[Violet]
So Hermit, there's my two cents. Be the complacent little listener 80% of
the time, and let all hell lose the other twenty.
Therefore, it will be at least a month before I try out the "mystery" line,
dr sebby. ;)
Cheers, Violet
[Kalkor]
My suggestion would be to alter the ratio slightly... maybe 50% complacent
listener (smile, look interested), and 50% questioning.
But I do agree with the others, that you should focus on tact in your
questioning. After all, you can't be in class propagating rational thought
if you're in the headmaster's office for "unruliness", can you?
Everyone processes new ideas a bit differently. Throughout my schooling, I
found that if I understood something in lecture, and asked the teacher a
question that was more like a regurgitated statement of what they had just
said, only with a slightly different wording, viewpoint, or emphasis, that
lights would come on in the eyes of some other students. I've also had
several teachers (mostly in mathematics) who had a habit of presenting
abstracts in more than one way sequentially, rather than covering a subject
in solely their own or the text's manner and pressing forward. I seem to
recall the average score in these classes was higher, but that may just be
my expectation clouding my recollection. The point I'm trying to make is
(and to paraphrase fdr's valuable suggestion), try to regurgitate as much as
you can of what your teacher says back to her in the form of a question, but
make it tactful, polite, as though you were trying to understand the subject
from different angles. If you can do this in such a way as to make her
answer contradict something she has recently asserted, then by all means do
so! But do not point out her folly to her. Let the other students notice for
themselves. Or write down exactly what she said that's contradictory and
mention it jokingly or slyly to other students later. Be devious, but don't
be insulting... catch more flies with honey before you ruthlessly crush
them!
You may find that you are the only student interacting with the teacher. I
know most times, I did. Sometimes it's infectious however, and if the way
you do it is pleasant, excited, funny, or enthusiastic, then you may just be
able to draw others out of their shells and get them asking questions too.
The status quo in US public (and private) schools is "sit down, shut up,
take notes". I feel that this is fundamentally and horribly wrong. Getting
one other student in your class to ask questions is, imho, far more valuable
than convincing your teacher of her errors.
Kalkor
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