Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Did I miss anything important?

Students who have missed a class sometimes inquire, "Did I miss anything important?" They mean no harm, but the question baffles me. "Of course," I can't help responding, "everything we do in class is important."

Why would I waste an hour of your time to talk about something that I don't think is isn't important?

Update: James McGrath points to this great poem by Tom Wayman: "Did I Miss Anything?"

3 comments:

James F. McGrath said...

If you're not familiar with it, you should read Tom Wayman's poem "Did I Miss Anything?"

d. miller said...

Thanks James. Fantastic!

Isaac Gross said...

I remember grading your gospel quizzes and being particularly upset that people missed a certain question regarding Bonhoeffer. They missed out on Bonhoeffer! It was particularly frustrating grading friends who I could see weren't doing the reading,etc.

Sitting in on classes, I would sit in the back and see people on laptops doing everything but taking notes. Again, arghh!

My roommate and I both went through Briercrest without laptops and it was great. I feel like we were fully involved in our classes.

Even now I notice fellow students on laptops doing everything else but who have questions that almost seem designed to say, "I am listening." They put the question forward and then retreat back to their game.

Not exactly missing a class, but still falls under "Did I miss anything?" Yes, yes you did.