It’s back-to-school time, so here’s a lesson about teaching that I learned from a dear colleague in 1994, my first year as a professor. It’s expressed here as a sonnet, entirely in words of one syllable.
Junior Faculty
Once, in my first year on the job, I said,
"How fine, my friend, that you let no one fail!
How hard you work to see them all well read!"
My friend, to teach me too, then told this tale:
A man goes to a farm and sees a boy
Who drives the pigs to where the peach trees grow.
The boy hauls up each hog, and it has joy:
It pigs a peach and eats it neat and slow.
"It's too bad," says the man, "a pig can't climb!
I see, with how you feed them, they grow big.
But can't you find a way that takes less time?"
The boy says, "Sure -- but what's time to a pig?"
If that sounds good to you then you might be
Cut out to teach, like my friend -- not like me.
Hi Adam,
Funny thing I was just telling Galen what you told me that year: that one of your profs said it wouldn’t matter if you gave the students the test the day before they took it – it wouldn’t make any difference in your grade. Since I was sitting at the computer I googled you (for some reason I seldom think to google people) and found my “time to a pig” story.
Well, after 32 years at WIU I’ve decided that joke is REALLY on me and its not funny any more. Retiring in May when I will not be blogging or finding religion. Planning on watching birds more seriously – easier than lifting pigs.
Hope all is well with your (now grown) Fern and Fox.
Martha