(I recall once in elementary school that some kids said that when God was passing out brains I was hold holding the door open. I had a reputation for asking stupid (obvious) questions and, bewilderingly, I was holding the door open.)
I’ve notice time and time again that, if you ask a teacher a lot of questions, most people will assume you’re incompetent.
I’ve notice time and time again that, if you ask a teacher a lot of questions, most people will assume you’re incompetent.
Interesting—my experience was that they (the class, but sometimes also the teacher) found me annoying, instead.
During my (brief) venture in college, taking a beginning calculus class, I tended to run way behind the teacher, trying to figure out why he’d done some particular step, and would finally give in and ask about it.
Invariably, he would glance at that step, and go, “Oh, you’re right. That’s wrong, I should have done...” And trailing off, he would erase nearly half the blackboard, back to the place where I was, and start over from there. About half the class would then glare at me, for having made them have to get rid of all the notes they just took.
Apparently, they were copying everything down whether they understood it or not, whereas I was only writing down what I could actually do. Craziest damn thing I ever saw. (But then, I didn’t spend very many years in school, either before or after that point.)
Really?
I’d expect that (1) most teachers would like lots of questions; (2) the teacher’s opinion would be visible to the class; and (3) the class would trust the opinion of the teacher.
1) is true for good teachers, and increasingly as one progresses through education, but not always. My physics teacher imposed a 5 question/day limit on me, albeit somewhat in jest.
2) is probably true, but may harm the student before they’re saved by college/ banding by ability, as 3) becomes increasing true with time.
I’ve notice time and time again that, if you ask a teacher a lot of questions, most people will assume you’re incompetent.
Interesting—my experience was that they (the class, but sometimes also the teacher) found me annoying, instead.
During my (brief) venture in college, taking a beginning calculus class, I tended to run way behind the teacher, trying to figure out why he’d done some particular step, and would finally give in and ask about it.
Invariably, he would glance at that step, and go, “Oh, you’re right. That’s wrong, I should have done...” And trailing off, he would erase nearly half the blackboard, back to the place where I was, and start over from there. About half the class would then glare at me, for having made them have to get rid of all the notes they just took.
Apparently, they were copying everything down whether they understood it or not, whereas I was only writing down what I could actually do. Craziest damn thing I ever saw. (But then, I didn’t spend very many years in school, either before or after that point.)
Really? I’d expect that (1) most teachers would like lots of questions; (2) the teacher’s opinion would be visible to the class; and (3) the class would trust the opinion of the teacher.
Where am I going wrong?
1) is true for good teachers, and increasingly as one progresses through education, but not always. My physics teacher imposed a 5 question/day limit on me, albeit somewhat in jest.
2) is probably true, but may harm the student before they’re saved by college/ banding by ability, as 3) becomes increasing true with time.