Boring Teacher Rant.

[cedar_grove]

I've noticed something on my friends page lately, and that's the increasing number of people posting to writing journals and communities things that they have written during this or that class at school, college, university etc.

Now I'm all for people expressing their creativity and would never advocate ignoring the Muse when she hits, but I find this to be a worrying trend. What about the subject of the class? What about the work/discussion/explanation or gods forbid actual /teaching/ that is being missed while poems are written or stories penned?

What would happen, for instance if the /teacher/ suddenly decided, "To hell with teaching math, (or insert alternative subject here), it's boring anyway, I'll sit down and write the next chapter of my novel instead," and then did just that?

Spare a thought perhaps that your teacher has probably given up his or her free time in order to plan for the lesson you are summarily ignoring. Teachers work incredibly long hours for monetary compensation that is, more often than not, well below the average for professionally qualified individuals; receive little or no respect from peers, students, pupils, members of society and especially not from governments who blame them for the lack of achievement and the poor results of learners who are, apparently, sitting in their lessons writing poetry.

Comments

Fic in class? eek.

[calibrata.livejournal.com]

When I was in classes, I was forever "multitasking" -- this post's icon started as a margin doodle in a stat class -- but fic was about the one thing I wouldn't touch. Why? Because it uses the same part of my brain as processing a lecture. I knew this intuitively long before I learned about the separation of verbal from spatial working memory.

Poetry is neither here nor there because it can be so short (and so pesky) that it takes less effort to write than to ignore -- say, arrive a little early and write it down while the class is assembling and getting organized. I'm not sure exactly what you've seen though, so... ^_^

Re: Fic in class? eek.

[cedargrove.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the comment that so bothered me was... A quick poem I wrote in my History class because I have nothing better to do. It wasn't so much the length of the poem as the comment that went with it. Um... how about looking up something historical or actually applying yourself to the lesson?

But I see it a lot... apparently people think that a classroom - other than an English/lit class - is the place to write. Hmmm.

On the other hand I could just be a fuddy duddy teacher.

Re: Fic in class? eek.

[mirrani.livejournal.com]

But I see it a lot... apparently people think that a classroom - other than an English/lit class - is the place to write. Hmmm.

On the other hand I could just be a fuddy duddy teacher.

Maybe a little of both? I dunno.. as someone who can't actually process the stuff coming in unless she's multitasking, I never sat and just listened to what was being said. 'Course you know this is how my mind works, I'll be driving in the car, talking about cutting the grass, stop and ask, "Did anything I just say make sense 'cause I was thinking about what to get Kira for her birthday and lost track of the conversation." Apparently, according to you and others who are having these conversations with me.. I don't skip anything in the process.. so I guess I'm good to go when something like that comes along.

On the other hand, some creative writing might also inspire /more/ study.. depending on the type of person doing the writing. Someone who's writing something might wonder how it would have been written by the greeks.. or.. suddenly get inspired to research someone's history in regards to whatever they were creatively writing...

I didn't express that well.. and maybe that's only the way I work too. :)

Re: Fic in class? eek.

[cedargrove.livejournal.com]

On the other hand, some creative writing might also inspire /more/ study.. depending on the type of person doing the writing.

I agree with this... you're right, and having thought about it, it isn't that people are writing in lessons that bothers me, it's the attitude... the:

...something I wrote in xxx class because I had nothing better to do

No problem with multi-tasking to keep the brain ticking over at the right speed/intensity for each individual, but it's that attitude of assumption that the class is a waste of time. Might well have been, but then can't the student do something relevant to make it worthwhile? Like you said, wondering how this of that person would have done something... or inspired to research something or whatever.

You expressed it just fine, and got me thinking, *grin* Thank you.