why is it necessary for me to stroke wounded egos and diagnose self-esteem issues in the course of doing my job as an instructor? i understand a certain degree of that, because i teach high-stress classes (writing and public speaking bring out the crazy in most people).
but when someone thinks that i am not "friendly" enough to approach, why do i have to then go chase after them, suggest to them that it is my job to answer questions (and, implied therefore, their responsibility to ask ME those questions) rather than their already over-stressed classmate, and try to build a bridge?
really? i just want to let her fail. if she doesn't want to ask questions and thinks i am not approachable (which is laughable, but she's reading the tone of my posts to her, which are sometimes snippy because she's like OHMYGOSHIT'SSOHARD on the first day of class. i just want to tell her to calm down, but she's obviously the overstressed yippie dog version of a student), WHY IS THAT MY RESPONSIBILITY?
i did not go to school to be a doctor of anything other than literature and writing. i can't diagnose your self-esteem issues. i can't figure out why you are freaking out about every little thing. i can sympathize, commiserate, and try to be of assistance, but only if you MAN UP and ask a question.
good grief. i am not that scary. on the scale of scary and mild, i am like the snuggle bear.
i don't get paid enough for this. i really don't.
but i still do it. and i'll keep doing it. i just don't know why no one ever talks about that as an essential part of the job description.
the end.
In our program (back when I was teaching), they actually tell us that our job is partly to be a therapist. There are a LOT of kids at our university, and many of them are in huge lecture classes, so we are sometimes the only "friendly faces" they get to see. It's sometimes stressful for us to play that role, though.
ReplyDeleteAnd they don't pay us extra for the therapy. :)