Several hundred students in one particular University enter their first class: History of Ancient Times in Lecture Hall 3. They all find their seats, and wait to see what the professor will teach them, and hope that the class won't be as brutally boring as its description in the course catalogue.
The professor enters the room, wearing stuffy clothes with an even stuffier attitude. He breifly looks up at the students as if just realizing he has a class to teach. "Good morning class," he introduces them, "I am Professor Example, and this class which you have entered is called simply History of the Ancients. Your first assignment is this: Look to your right. Now look to your left. Chances are, both people on either side of you will fail this course, and half that amount will fail the semester."
Though what you've just read is only an exaggerated example of a college class, it's necessary to emphasis that silly little professor tactic favorite among the most unhappy teachers: The "look to your right" shock treatment.
How frightening to a college freshmen would it be to learn of the extreme difficulty in passing the most basic of courses in the first semester? Quite frightening I'm sure. When I first started college last year, I was scared to talk to people, let alone wonder what I could be doing grade wise. Goodbye A's and B's. Hello Academic Struggle.
But there's a big issue that I have with this "Look to your right/left" tactic. In fact, I don't like this concept at all. What kind of professor tells you you'll most likely be a failure? Is it some sort of negative reinforcement, I wonder? Or are they simply outlining the truth in that college is hard and playtime is over?
Well, if it's negative reinforcement then it clearly isn't working if the statistic stays the same. So what's the point?
There seems to be no point. I mean, if you only tell these new college students that they can't possibly achieve anything, you aren't doing your appointed job as teacher. Telling the students the class is hard and will require effort is one thing --a good thing-- but the phrase "Look to your right/left" is not helping anyone.
And it also seems to create a view of college that isn't always fulfilled. I breezed past my first semester, got on the Dean's List, and passed all my classes without trying as hard as I wanted to, and a few of those classes required a good deal of work. I still maintained good grades even this semester, though the classes I chose were more practical work and harder.
Look to your left. Now look to your right. Only 1.2 percent of a half of the person on your right will be progressive….I mean c’mon, it’s ridiculous.
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I looked to the left and saw the TV...Law and Order. I looked to the right and saw myself in the mirror...does this mean I will fail to be half progressive?
Good blog post. I have imagined myself be that kind of teacher, sort of, my speech would be kind of like that with the you all will fail unless you show up and then go study, if you do that then this class will be easy follow up. Every teacher I ever had that said anything like that was rumored to be eil mean and vindictive so I would take their class get the left right speech then Ace their classes. I would go no and on editing my thought speech, then I would remember I am studying to be a nurse and force myself to let the train of thought go.
Good luck in all your classes.
~T
All truths are easy to understand once discovered; The point is to discover them ~Galileo
If you're going to be one of "those" teachers, at least make the speech somewhat original. At least then you're students could focus more on the content of what you're saying, rather than thinking "Here we go again...".
Good luck in your classes as well!
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Mind Control is Easier Than You Think
get students to wise up and get in touch with reality. But if it's overused and not effective, then teachers should stop with the tactic. I always knew that I would be one of the people that stayed, so I didn't care about the tactic. I like it better when teachers ask, "Why are you taking this class?" It helps me focus on why I'm there.
www.progressiveu.org/blog/americangirlinchina
I like that question better too, but usually if a teacher asks it I'll have a second of panic where I think I've stumbled into the wrong classroom!
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Mind Control is Easier Than You Think
I hate the "look to your right" saying! I see it as teachers have a mental quota of how many people they are going to pass or fail. On the first day of class, my writing professor said everyone in the room would get a C unless their work really stood out. I said goodbye GPA. Seriousll though, if you know most of the kids you teach are going to fail the class, why not help them? Thats waht teachers are for, right?
To me, it just seems like the kind of negative reinforcement that doesn't quite work as planned. Hey, college students have enough going on. Let's not have our teachers saying we won't be able to accomplish anything.
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Mind Control is Easier Than You Think
Well said.