Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Those Who Can Do

Conspicuously absent? Moi? If anyone had told me exactly how hard and how all-consuming this teaching thing was going to be or how many good manuscripts I'd have to turn down, I might not have signed on. I'm halfway through the semester now, and I have to admit that despite it being exciting and new and interesting I'm somewhat looking forward to it being over. Not just so I can get back to blogging, but so I can get back to copyediting. Meanwhile, that tired old saw keeps repeating itself in my head:
"Those who can't, teach."


Except in my case it looks more like:

"Those who can't teach."

And there's a little cartoon arrow pointing from it to me. Nobody has told me that I suck, and it's not as if my students are asleep during lectures, but most days, I feel inadequate. It's humbling. And you all know how much I like being humble.

Today I want to give some serious love and respect to the teachers in my life. Those who can both teach and do. Like Therese Cox at &7 and Jackie Jacobi-McCauley at And One Day All Will Know. And of course the venerable Dr. Mandik at Brain Hammer. I'm looking forward to getting back to being one of those who can . . . and doing. And sharing with you.

Love,

Your Copyeditor

Posted by at 11:51 AM
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4 comments:

  1. Whoever made up that saying obviously never tried to teach.

    Semesters always lag in the middle. First comes the excitement/anxiety of a new semester, then there's that stage where the class is finding its groove. Then there's a short period of enjoying the groove, followed by the long slog through the middle. Finally, it picks up with the last couple classes as the anticipation of it all being over grows.

    And then you get a few weeks distance from the semester and start missing it.

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  2. Amen to that.

    I'm still waiting to find a groove and enjoy it. Mostly it's a cycle of terror--orverwork--undersleep--terror--muddling through--relief--terror. Not sure that's a groove.

    My strong hunch at this stage of the game is that I'm simply not destined for teaching.

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  3. Thanks for the shout out, my friend.

    In my experience the terror subsides some with time...but the cyclical nature of it does not.

    We should all get together sometime soon! Sending you peace & warm thoughts.

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  4. We must've been on the same wavelength today, m'dear. My thoughts today at &7 all revolve around my own shortcomings as a teacher. Could it signal the return of -- BRAIN??

    If I could give you the prettiest, shiniest, most delicious red apple and place it on your desk, I would. (Except you know, now they probably call that nutritional harassment.) Nevertheless, you are wise & mighty & good on ya for giving something new a shot.

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Would you be so kind as to also tell me what your Word Verification word is when you comment? Creating a funny definition for it is a bonus. Love, Your Copyeditor.

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