Week 7
Managing the Classroom 2
Still from "The Godfather" - 1972
We will continue using the same format as last week.
We have two new pieces to read, one fiction, the other non-fiction.
Please read the fiction piece: “Dietrologia” (Paul Theroux, The New Yorker, Dec 7, 2020).
This short story is well-written, easy to read and understand and we hope has the potential for you to devise a variety of discussion questions. You might want to review Class 4 notes (on Student Engagement) to help with what is meant to be a challenging exercise for students.
As for a non-fiction piece, “The Flashing Warning of Qanon” (Matt Alt, The New Yorker, September 26, 2020) seems more like science fiction than real life. The article raises many questions and issues that are worth exploring and make for good discussion.
Could you imagine Marlon Brando in The Godfather pointing his finger at some unlucky man off the street who wandered into what he thought was a low-risk class for prospective teachers? And could you imagine Brando asking that man to think for a few minutes at the level at which you are now accustomed to think? Imagine the level of tension–just the right amount? (cf Donald Norman.)
You, as good students, who work carefully preparing yourself for class, will now diplomatically instruct the teacher that he has strayed too far from the core issues of the course. But the teacher will protest that he is being no more obscure than Sal in "Dietrologia."