(no subject)

[yuuago]

My students are frustrating me.

I knew that Cooley was asking for trouble when one of the optional topics he assigned for the essay was to do a comparison between Oryx and Crake and parts of the Old Testament (in some ways, the novel could be considered an allusion to Genesis and/or Exodus).

The story of Adam and Eve, and the stuff about Moses and the Israelites, are very short and can be read in ~30 minutes. Many people have at least a vague understanding of what these stories are about before even reading the Bible. Furthermore, various translations of the Bible are readily available online, so even if one does not own a copy, there is no reason why one cannot look up the stories and read them.

So, with this in mind, why are people getting their information from freakin' Wikipedia?! Seriously. Every time I look at the works cited pages - Wikipedia. Not a single version of the Bible in sight.

*flails angrily* WHAT THE FUCK, KIDS?! ... *deflates* Then again, I suppose I should not expect much. After all, this is the class which did not have a single person who could tell me who Job was. *facedesk* Why is it that I, a complete heathen, know the stories better than these supposed Christians do?

Anyway.

I worked on some fic during intro lecture this morning. The Big Long Fic is up to 10 pages now. Yes, yes indeed, Big Long Fic is big and long. Good lord. But I'm almost finished the scene I'm working on, which is good. Then, on Friday, my students will be doing an in-class essay, so I shall take that time to work on it as well.

Also, I have come to the conclusion that while fyretoppaaa is my stalker, I am likewise tikula's stalker. This is the only explanation for our interactions on the kink meme, haha.

[edit 10:09 AM]

My oral lit prof e-mailed me back. I'll be dropping by her office at 2:30 today to discuss my issue. :X I can't be sure, but it seems that she might be charitable, provided I agree to do my essay on a different topic (one of the works we will be studying in upcoming classes, rather than Scofield). That sounds perfectly fair to me, of course.

But we'll have to see. *deep breath*

There was a comment she made about me not checking my e-mail regularly. I know, I know! I should do it! It's just - *flail, gesture* It's hard for me. The anxiety. I'm scared of checking my school e-mail. It's not an excuse, I know, I know! It certainly isn't an excuse! Nevertheless, checking my e-mail terrifies me, and I avoid doing it. But I'm going to try to break that habit before it's too late.

Comments

[mumumugen.livejournal.com]

I think I can sincerely say I feel your pain. Good God, nobody reads anymore! It's come to the point where I've had students get offended when I suggest reading. No, I'm not lying. When told that they would have to read a ten page material, a girl shrieked, as if I'd told her she had to pluck out a kidney. "Reaaad?!" she drawled in an angry, nasal and frustrated tone.

So *pats* I feel for you. SERIOUSLY. Today I had another painfully frustrating class myself. Nobody did the reading, I repeated myself about a dozen times on every possible subject, and there would be instances of this:

"Alright, I just read the concept for "paterfamilias." Can anyone tell me what is the most outstanding element in it?"

Girl lifts her hand.

"Yes?"

"Um. Whatsa paterfamilias?"

But that wasn't the worst, really. The worst was the chatter box in the back rows, and people playing with their cellphones. I was surprisingly less disturbed by a woman who brought a kid with a Nintendo DS and had him play Mario Kart at full volume. It was vexing, but not as much as grown adults could be.

[yuuago]

Whaaaaaat.

Good lord. Your class would drive me insane, dude. Guh. Seriously.

I do have some chatterboxes in my class, but generally I can make them STFU. I say to them, ":| OH MY GOD. CLASS HAS STARTED. THIS MEANS YOU, LIKE, TOTALLY NEED TO BE QUIET. SERIOUSLY. Thank you." But they seem to be scared of me, which probably helps a great deal (I have no idea why they'd be intimidated by someone like me, but I'm certainly not complaining)

[jesusphreaq.livejournal.com]

AAHAHAHAHAHA. Oh Rhys. Ahahaha. I'm sorry. I shouldn't be laughing at your pain... ahahaha... but it's pretty funny. Wikipedia. What were they thinking?!

But I really don't think Cooley understands the level these kids are at. If he had to mark all this stuff I think he'd reconsider his expectations.

Awww, you can't write on Scofield? That kind of sucks. I hope Gingell cuts you some slack!

Why don't you forward your school email to your normal email? Sometimes it's important to get school emails. What if your books were recalled and you didn't notice and suddenly you owed millions in fines?

[yuuago]

They aren't thinking, that's the thing. D:
You might very well be right about Cooley. I do think he severely overestimates what these students know/can do/are willing to do. Sigh. Ah, well. I shall put up with it. Soon, I shall be able to wash my hands of this class, indeed.

I might forward my school e-mail to my normal e-mail. But I might not. At least I would know then that I have school-related stuff, I suppose, but whether I would actually read the messages is another question xD

[kittencuffs.livejournal.com]

...Okay, are you serious? Could no one really tell you who Job was? That's not an over-exaggeration to stress a point?

Because... wow. Seriously? I'm not Christian, and I know that story backward, forward and sideways. That story is actually one of the leading arguments against Christianity, in my opinion.

I just cannot fathom people, especially (seemingly) learned people, not knowing it. o_o

[yuuago]

Nope. Nobody knew who Job was. I was teaching Oedipus Rex, and I had them read an article comparing Oedipus to Job. But when I went to discuss it with the class, everyone was confused, because nobody knew who Job was (and they didn't bother to look it up. Sigh)

I wouldn't be so angry about the whole thing if the majority of these people didn't claim to be Christian. :/

[kittencuffs.livejournal.com]

Those kind of Christians are the kind that piss me off. (Well, the know-nothing Christians who blindly follow the herd like sheep without putting forth any effort into their system of beliefs themselves, and the burn-in-hell evangelist Christians who take eeeverything way too seriously.)

Honestly, how can you claim to be a practitioner of a religion that you KNOW NOTHING ABOUT?

[bryn-or-lunatic.livejournal.com]

Can't you have your school e-mails forwarded to your normal account?

[fabledquill.livejournal.com]

Good lord, that's pathetic.
You should forbid Wikipedia. Most of the teachers at my school do.

[yuuago]

That's the thing, I do.

But they use it anyway. D:

[fabledquill.livejournal.com]

Well, start knocking points off! How old are these kids?

[yuuago]

First-year university, so probably 17-19?
And believe me, I do knock off points for that shite. Don't worry. D:

[fabledquill.livejournal.com]

Oh for heaven's sake.
I'm a junior in high school and I know better! *headdesk*
God, I feel bad for you. DX