Busy, busy, busy, happy

You can guess that I've been busy. Most of my students are freshman and there's a unique kind of panic, mixed with excitement, mixed with overwhelm that emanates from a freshman's eyes and those eyes often are looking at me, asking me to "do something." Whatever that "something" is takes time and so much of my week has been herding and training freshmen in the ways of being a college student. I'm not complaining. I actually enjoy bringing some calmness to all this chaos. I feel useful, which makes me happy. Because I have an additional section, more grading also adds to the busyness. But, the good news is I'm keeping up thus far. I'm also feeling rather good because this semester I decided to really come out of the closet as a conservative professor. I share with the students my personal experiences in the university system as a person who holds conservative beliefs. Without going into great detail, the sum of my experience has been, be quiet, give them what they want, and you get to pass and get the degree. Speak up, challenge, question, means trouble, which of course is the antithesis of what education should be. So, when I introduce the core theme of critical thinking to my students I tell them how important discourse of all views is to educational process. I also share that it is imperative that we treat all people, regardless of their views, with respect and that my classroom is a safe place for challenging and questioning. In the past I have hinted that my beliefs differ from most in my department, but this time I just came out with it. It felt very good and the students were very receptive...lots of head nodding as I shared my personal experience and expectations regarding classroom discourse. All and all this has been a very busy and satisfying week.