During a class on Thursday, I mentioned blogging as an example of a creative activity that is accessible to anybody. As soon as I uttered the word blog, two of my students exchanged knowing stares, smiled and nodded at each other. And then looked at me in a sly manner.
So I started to wonder if they have discovered my blog. The reason that I mind is that I really don't want the students to be exposed to my strong political beliefs. I try to keep my politics as far away from the classroom as possible in order to allow the students to feel comfortable expressing their own convictions.
Hopefully, I'm just being paranoid.
10 comments:
My students don't know I blog, but they know my political convictions. I don't make it a secret, because it's impossible. Moreover, I found that students are always trying to discover what you think. It's easier to let them know, and then make sure that it doesn't play a role in your attitude towards the student nor towards your grading. They know I am very liberal. What I do in class is to play devil's advocate to every position presented by my students. There is always some intelligent counter-argument to be made, and I like to provoke my students that way. As a result, left-wing students love me, and right-wing students invite me to their weddings, where they serve "freedom fries". I think the student who loves me the most in my 4 years teaching at my institution didn't vote for McCain in 2008 because he was too liberal.
My students don't know I blog, but they know my political convictions. I don't make it a secret, because it's impossible. Moreover, I found that students are always trying to discover what you think. It's easier to let them know, and then make sure that it doesn't play a role in your attitude towards the student nor towards your grading. They know I am very liberal. What I do in class is to play devil's advocate to every position presented by my students. There is always some intelligent counter-argument to be made, and I like to provoke my students that way. As a result, left-wing students love me, and right-wing students invite me to their weddings, where they serve "freedom fries". I think the student who loves me the most in my 4 years teaching at my institution didn't vote for McCain in 2008 because he was too liberal.
Similarly, I did not vote for President Obama in 2008 because he was, and is, too conservative.
I'm with you completely. Most people are shocked when I tell them that Obama is too conservative for my tastes.
May I ask what your position is on the next elections?
I am beyond horrified by the possibility of the Repubenrons winning anything, so I will vote Democratic for most offices. But if the Green Party fields a Presidential candidate, I will most likely vote Green for that office. It seems to be the only way to let the Democrats know that they cannot ignore us progressives.
I am inclined to believe that President Obama can win over any of the current crop of Republican candidates and potential candidates. But my opinion is probably colored by the fact that I view Bachamn, Palin, Santorum, and Trump as manifestations of pure evil. I am not quite sure this is true of Huckabee and Pawlenty, but I am sure that they would make far worse presidents than Obama.
I don't try to keep my religious or political feelings secret from my students, but of course they rarely arise in math classes.
I think I taught New Jersey Governor Christie in a class once, which makes me feel a bit weird. But I take comfort in the fact that he did not get his outrageous political views from me.
Huckabee scares me a lot more than, say, Trump. Trump is just a buffoon, while Huckabee, in my opinion, is the second, much fiercer incarnation of George W. Bush. And several more years of that would be the death of this country.
I am inclined to take Huckabee less seriously than Trump. I think his only real appeal will be to the fundamentalist Xtians. And I don't believe he would be as bad as Bush, should I turn out to be wrong on this. Trump, on the other hand, has the kind of bravado that Bush had without even Bush's low level of common decency.
The fundamentalists already put one president into office and pushed Palin onto McCain as a running mate. I think there is no greater danger to this country than the one that comes from fundamentalists. Everybody else might be evil, horrible, nasty but you can address them on the level of logics and reason. Those folks who think that God has spoken to them personally, though, are beyond any reasoning.
I am terrified by fanatics.
They are beyond any reasoning, to be sure. However, I don't think they are numerous enough to prevail. There are too many voters who feel as you do.
Maybe the students blog and thought that you knew about them.
On the other hand, if your students somehow stumbled upon your blog, it wouldn't be hard for them to know. You have a picture of yourself on the front page and occasionally mention the part of the country where you live.
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