Off the Cuff

I had something different in mind to write about tonight, but when I opened my computer I saw an email from my college asking if some students could take the final early. It's likely those students will miss the last two weeks -- of an eight-week class. I don't think I can say why. I had to agree to a certain amount of confidentiality; how much is unclear. But still I don't want to do anything that could cause a problem (at least not in this regard). My belief is that the email constitutes a courtesy request, and I'm going to have to do some serious scrambling to come up with a solution. This "urgent" but seemingly last-minute request has thrown me into a tailspin.

This comes on the heels of a euphoric class session, one in which my students presented on their informative paper topics. It was wonderful! The class and I learned so much about so many topics. Even though I didn't tell them what they could and couldn't write about -- and some did not submit their topic proposals -- no two people wrote on the same subject. We didn't quite finish. The rest will take place during next week's class and should take only a half hour or so. Oh, and I just remembered that I'm being observed by the assistant dean next week too. I hope at least some students are able to come to class.

Anyway, we learned about socialism, objectivism, the life of an eagle (which is more interesting than you might think), production of coffee, effects on the body of caffeine, child marriage in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, what makes a serial killer, development of birth control, and the architecture of Frank Llyod Wright. I think that's all. I always make sure to have at least one question for each presenter; tonight the students had questions for each presenter too. The topics stimulated a great deal of discussion, which I allowed to continue for a few minutes after each speech and which in my view is the sign of a good topic.

Teaching at the base has been an interesting experience, and I like my students a great deal. Honestly, they blew me away tonight with their level of preparation and willingness to move up on the schedule to replace students on duty. I often tell my students that I learn as much from them as they do from me. I'm not sure it's always perfectly reciprocal, but this semester I am learning more than most. That's a good thing.