Grumpy Side of 60
Always room for improvement
By Bob Robinson

“Oh no… he’s old!! This is really going to be a boring class.”

The young lady sat down in the front row, pulled out her textbook and settled back looking around her, then at me, and evidently resigned herself to one of the worst classes she will have to endure on her fall schedule.

The quote was taken directly from her course evaluation at the end of the semester; I’m guessing at how she actually reacted when she saw me 16 weeks earlier.

Obviously she didn’t tell me how boring I was going to be on the first day of class. She was young; not stupid.

“Good afternoon!”

Mumble. Mumble.

“Come on, you can do better than that… good afternoon!!”

Mumble mumble a little louder…

“It’s noon, guys! You have to be awake by now… Good afternoon!!!”

They finally got the message… “Good afternoon!!!”

“Thank you!”

And that’s how my Edison classes start… morning, noon or evening, I try to “wake them up” and introduce them to the idea that maybe even for the first time, they are participants in their education, not just recipients or sponges.

As I was thinking back about some of my experiences over the last couple of years with the little ones, it occurred to me that aside from an occasional comment, I’ve said little about my 20-plus years teaching at the college level. Eleven of them have been at Edison.

Dynamics are different but can be just as fascinating.

When I was in college – during prehistoric times as I often tell my students – some of us, like me, were young and stupid; others my age, young and cocky. Some even young and serious. But no old folks. Adult learners at Texas A&M were typically there for a masters or PhD, not the traditional bachelors degree.

The education model was often “listen, memorize and regurgitate.” I actually had one professor who would walk into the room five minutes late, open the textbook he wrote (and that we had to buy), read a chapter, close the book and walk back out of the room.

Fascinating.

At Edison we mix adult learners (students working on a career change) with recent high school grads (the traditional college students of my time) and post-secondary students (high school juniors and seniors).

Little ones jump at the opportunity to participate; it’s often hard to maintain control. College students sometimes have to be begged, cajoled or brow-beaten into participating.

Wonder what happens to them during their transition from kindergarten to college.

Sixteen weeks later reaction to my teaching style is mostly positive, but not always...

One student said she didn’t understand why I would ask them to use their own time, gas and money for assignments outside of the classroom.

A couple complained that I assigned too much work.

Another didn’t understand the concept of the classroom experience versus the textbook experience…

“He expected us to read the book but never talked about it in class. So why did I have to waste my money?”

I even had a comment that I should retire and make room for someone younger who knew what she was talking about.

The most positive endorsement I had, however, was when a student challenged other students to say what they learned in class was not a life-long lesson they can use the rest of their lives.

And the student who saw this old guy and resigned herself to a boring 16 weeks? She was not the least bashful about telling me later what she thought when she first saw me. She already had an A and knew it.

“So how did I do?” I asked her.

She grinned.

“A minus,” she said. “There’s always room for improvement.”

Published courtesy of The Early Bird