I had a Friday moment today. This is ok - because it IS Friday. A good teacher can be flexible and go with the flow. A good teacher can adjust to the needs of their students. (side note - this is the end of week 7 out of 14 weeks in the semester at my college - at a normal school, this would be a good time for a break. Our school is NOT normal, however. We take our break after NINE weeks.) A bad teacher gives in to student wishes too often. A bad teacher does not follow through and is inconsistent with assignments.
So, you be the judge. For today's class we were going to have a discussion on 5 different theorists using the jigsaw method. Students were assigned their theorist to research and were to bring that information to class today. Jigsaws really only work well if there are an approximately even number of students in each group. So, we start the class today with over 20% of the class missing, with two of the groups being especially hit hard by absences and only having 2 vs 6 group members. The activity won't work. So, what's a prof to do? I could lecture instead of discuss. Or, I could throw the plan out the window and let them out a half hour early.
Heck with good or bad, I opted for good common sense, and, of course, being a hero. Test next week. TF
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