I am a bit vocal in the classroom. This is due to a variety of reasons: being a bit more mature (older) than most teachers, having fought quite a bit as a young man (not all of it successful), and lived a good bit of my adult life split between two successful careers. This has given me a bit more latitude in what I say in the class. Nothing bad, just a bit more latitude. A patient once said to me, “Doc, no one is going to listen to your advice – as good as it may be – until you get some gray in your hair.” He was right. And now that I have earned those grays, I take full advantage of them.
I was in a class years ago with a new teacher, when the class felt it necessary to “jump the shark.” In other words, they flipped out. They felt this was the perfect time to challenge every rule, procedure and protocol we had fully in place. With a big test the next day, it was important to review as much as possible, but they would have none of that. They wanted to play, and we do not play the day before a test.
I closed my book and informed them they would not begin “independent study” for the next day’s big test.