Me and My Big...

Speak no evil!

1. I needed to see my students in Intro to Adver. I owed them the “Mixes” lecture and the prelim exam was just the following week. Having found the room they were in, I entered and looked around, trying to find the person assigned to have the readings photocopied. I could not remember his name, but I knew how he looked and behaved. Curly hair in spikes (Yes, it is possible) and the matching clownish demeanor. But there were so many of them. So I had to ask, “Sino nga ba yung may… may sayad?” (Who among you is the looney one?) They all looked at me and then looked among themselves. Many of them were snickering. Still others were in awe. I thought that the question would surely be left unanswered. Who would admit to such a thing? Thus, while the class was in a lull, I tried to remember the name. But then, lo and behold, a student raised his hand and said with pride, “that’s me, Ma’am! What do you want me to do?” I tried to control the laughter that wanted to burst out of me. And while I was doing that, I realized that in this section, even the geekiest one can be counted on to perform a task. Okay, I’m kinda proud of them.
2. No mentioning of sections. One member of this sophomore section approached me one day and asked for the hard copy of the Romanticism lecture. He was not able to download it due to technical difficulties mainly caused by the Taiwan quake and I realized that most of my students were not able to download it, too. So, I asked the student (Let’s call him Boy #1.) who approached me to have the readings photocopied for the whole class and give it to the leader of the other section which was also taking art history under me. He looked sort of hesitant. Not being used to getting this type of reaction from anyone, I had to pry. “Okay,” I said. “Why the glum look?” The student answered, “We’re not really close.” I answered. “You’ll only give this to him. Why do you need to be close?” And he told me something that I cannot tell anyone because they all read my blogs. In the spirit of fairness, curiosity, and all those things we use as a veneer for gossiping, I had to confront the other party (Boy#2). What did he say? The same thing. But the culprit is boy #1. Now, who is telling the truth and who has that defense mechanism called displacement? Attn. Mr. Freud!
3. I was assigned to handle the art history petition class. The students enrolled in it all failed and wanted me to handle their class. They were quite undisciplined when it came to being on time (which should be an intrinsic quality for all those who want to pass my class). But after a few meetings, I was handling them like it was an ordinary class with students conscientious of their duties. I was quite proud. Anyway, last week, I came out smiling because the class was able to finish the activity and they were ALL participative and competitive. When I went inside the faculty room, I was still smiling. Now the most curious among my colleagues was the one who failed all the students in the pet class. “Why the smile?” she asked. “I just finished a session with my pet class,” I answered. While I was walking towards the door to head for home, I heard her laughter which insinuated that I am pissed and was just smiling to control myself. My smile widened.