Einstein document, Art History Final Exam

(c) Arthur Sasse, 1951

One of the five images which Art History students had to describe for their final exam. Here is a quote from some of the most memorable paragraphs. Really makes you see things in a different, unexpected light:

His hair leaves in all directions. He has the eyes very open. And his tong is no more in his mouth.

Presentation Etiquette - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Good ...

... sign up for as early a time slot as possible. They show that they take the assignment seriously and that they are willing and eager. Of course, the teacher is less likely to grade them harshly because they appreciate their bravery and seriousness.
... come up with a well-thought out, organized project which demonstrates they have done a bit more than the bare minimum. Teachers can always tell the difference. A handout distributed to the class does wonders. So do a few well-chosen images (photos, paintings etc). You don't need the BNF to come up with those, and five minutes spent online could make all the difference.
... practice delivering their presentation. Seriously. Even once makes a difference.
... do not read the whole thing from an internet printout! They make bullet-style notes, and look up every once in a while while engaging their audience.

The Bad ...

... do the bare minimum. They go to the first website, print something out and attempt to read it to the class, often without any prior preparation. The result is a boring, monotonous struggle with boring monotonous facts which even I don't have the mental fortitude to follow.
... are a poor audience. The generally do not listen to the other "bads" presenting and do even worse.
... are not ready on the day they have signed up for, and give you some flimsy excuse and have to reschedule.
... pronounce every word off their Wikipedia printout as though it were a French word.
... forget either the lyrics or the song on the day they are meant to present.

The Ugly ...

... show up and tell you the lyrics are on their flash drive but they did not get a chance to print them out thirty seconds before class. When you sigh and go to your office to print stuff out (when that person has had six weeks to tell you what to print out), they inform you they can't go today because they also forgot the text of their presentation at home.
... do not show up on October 11th, day they were meant to present on. You don't see them or hear from them until December 9th. Without so much as an excuse, they show up and proceed to present after everyone else is done. At which point you don't even bother telling them their presentation would not count towards the final grade, of course.
... speak in French while everyone is presenting.
... don't bother presenting even if it's the last day of classes and they know they won't get another chance.
... hide their face while speaking

And as a general rule: I know speaking in front of people can be stressful in ANY language. Yet part of growing up and becoming an adult means learning how to deal with stress on a daily basis. Start here!

On Favorite Song Music Presentations

Now here is a project which I never thought would backfire! Mind the past tense, please. I asked my first years (most of whom act as though they have taken some sort of bizarre vow to never, ever, under any circumstances, utter a word in class - conversation class, nonetheless) to pick a song they like (in English), play it for the class, distribute the lyrics and say what it talks about. I mean, wouldn't you want to do that? How hard can it be, really? To say nothing of the fact that I volunteered my laptop, so that they would not have to worry about playing it. AND volunteered to print out the lyrics and make copies so as to spare them the 1-2 Euro they would have paid for printing charges!

Boy, was I up for a rude awakening. Working the sign-up sheet proved a challenge. I have three groups and henceforth three columns - only Group 1 could figure out they needed to sign up in just one column. The remaining two groups were scattered in BOTH columns so I had to color-code it. You think that helped? Think again. I am not even going to comment on the people who signed up to present Oct 12 at the beginning of November. "If I could tuuurn back tiiime"? AAARGH! Follow my presentation comments please, guys, because there will be a lot more presenting in Semester 2!

Lunch Time Scheduling Troubles

The one thing which I learned this year - don't you ever dare suggest that French students be deprived of their lunch! They consider "not having enough time to eat lunch" a legitimate excuse not to attend class! Also, do not even dream of keeping them longer to where said lunch break is jeopardized. They will be pointing to their wrist watches with a gesture which leaves no doubt as to the inappropriateness of your behavior.

The first time I had two Art History students actually walk up to me and tell me, completely seriously, about how they have to switch sections because of said Lunch Conflict, I thought it was a freak accident of sorts. Oh no. It has happened several times since, and every time I am very entertained. (Three times a week I, too, go without eating lunch till 2:30 pm and never even think about complaining!) But so that we have this in writing once and for all: "Not having enough time to eat lunch" is NOT an academic excuse in my book. Babies need to be fed at regular intervals. Adults do not. This excuse is, therefore, not valid.

Moreover, dear students, what are you thinking anyway? Most teachers would like to believe that their classes are so interesting and appreciated that people would forgo food, water and sleep just to be there! Don't burst our bubble! Just eat a bigger breakfast and get a kebab after classes!

Never thought I'd be doing this ...

... but it occurred to me that a place on the internet where I could share my experiences and expectations while teaching at Rennes University would be beneficial for my students. There seems to be less opportunity for communication than I would have hoped for, and as a result, this past semester has proven a bit disappointing (especially RE the first-year students) So - hopefully - this would be a space in which questions are asked and answered!