Before today's comp class, a student came to my office. She's quiet and smart and attentive, the kind of person you really appreciate in class. She told me that she has an assignment in her psychology class requiring her to do something embarrassing in public and then to observe the reactions of others. She wanted permission to do something today in my class. I approved. We worked out a plan.
During class, I handed out a short, in-class writing assignment. Janice spoke up loudly (as planned): "Do we have to do this?" I said yes. "Well, I don't want to! I'm sick of these assignments!" Now, come on, I said. At that point she took the assignment sheet, crumpled it up, and threw it back at me. Everyone's eyes got very big. People are looking at one another. The guys clustered in the back are looking around in surprise. I say something to reinforce the assignment, and Janice pounds loudly on the top of her desk: "Why don't you just go and watch a Hitchcock movie," she tells me in disgust. Now the silence from the rest of the students is pretty thick. Red faces all around. I'm handing out my remaining uncrumpled assignment sheets, and everyone is just staring down at their desktops in embarrassment. Janice puts her head down on her desk and pretends to cry. Everyone is totally silent.
I figured that there were no more reactions to get, so I let the whole class in on the prearranged plan. Suddenly, the rest of the class in their relief becomes more animated and talkative. Everyone then said what they thought had been going on. One student thought that Janice had had a car accident on the way to class. One guy in the back said that he was encouraging her to refuse the assignment. "You were doing it pretty quietly," I said. "Well, I was nodding my head to Nick," he said. Lesson for the day: Howard Payne students, even the ones who like to present themselves as edgy and rebellious, are really, I guess, under it all just very, very nice. They will be embarrassed and quiet and cast their eyes down to their desktops rather than cross a line and show anger or foment a rebellion. Even the football jocks. It was kind of sweet.
Comments (8)
Very sweet! Not sure what my darling 8th graders would do in a similar situation. Hmmm...
No one wants to piss off the prof this close to semester exams!
Well, at its core, HPU really is pretty much everything the school advertises it to be. Baylor's not much the same way unless I missed something and they started promoting frat parties and date raping.
But yeah, the counterculture at Howard Payne is terribly small. I can only think of about five of us when I was there.
I'm impressed that you were able to keep a straight face, especially with the Hitchcock movie comment. I gotta give props to you and Janice for your acting skills.
On a completely unrelated note, the new Facebook pictures of you with the two students are really great. I don't know those girls, but I'm pretty jealous that I don't have impromptu photos with you!
What an assignment!
Neat. (neat?)
One day in my "bad" class, I handed out a worksheet for the students to do. One particularly bold student stood up, crumpled his into a ball, walked across the room and threw it in the trash.
I was baffled. I guess I had hoped that more students fell into the "very, very nice" category like the ones in your class.
Oh well. Cool story!
i do that about half the time in my classes...
good luck today on your commentary of Seven Year Itch