Now I remember why I teach summers. (No, it's not the money, even though the money is good).

My general bio. class laughs at the things I say that are intended to be droll or funny, they take part (with gusto) in the class activities, there's a general air of enjoyment in the class. My ecology class - they're already starting on their projects, one student began doing some soil analyses for her experiment today - I took her into the lab, got out the equipment and chemicals and the book of instructions and asked her if she wanted my help or if she just wanted to have at it, and she said she'd just go ahead and if she had any questions she'd come get me. (I just checked on her - she was done but was dissatisfied with one test and wants to try again with a fresh sample tomorrow).

This always makes me chuckle a little, and think about the guy that I took physics from one summer back in the 80s. I was gung-ho getting done "early" with college (mainly because I was at a "public ivy" but was paying out-of-state costs - they wouldn't let me be an in-state student even though I was employed in that state and was paying that state's income tax...apparently you had to either be born there, graduate from high school there, or be married to a resident to yourself be a state resident). Anyway. I took summer classes at the school where my dad taught as a way of getting some classes out of the way. Physics was one of those - it transferred, and I had been warned off of taking physics and organic chemistry together, which would have been necessary had I not taken physics in the summers.

Well, the first year went okay - jovial older man close to retirement, and also it was the basic vectory stuff that I grasped pretty easily. Second year physics, not so good. Mainly because the prof was kind of a jerk.

He walked in the first day, gave the class (there were perhaps 70 of us in the lecture section) the stink-eye, and said, "I know why you are taking this class this summer. It is because you could not pass it during the regular semester."

I think he then went on to make some comment about how it was no easier in the summer, but I had pretty much shut off listening to his patter by then. One of the fastest ways to make me mad is to assume that I'm not good at something. I was also offended because, hey, I was essentially paying his salary, and he didn't know me, and after ALL, I was just taking this stupid class from him to save myself a little time and money....

Anyway. One thing I have learned from summer session here, is that students tend to fall into one of four groups:

1. New freshman/new transfer students who are champing at the bit to get started. Generally they're at least decent students (at best: outstanding students - some of the best I've had have been summer students) and they usually have a high degree of enthusiasim.

2. Students who want to graduate early, or who are pursuing a double major. Again, high motivation levels, and usually high organization levels. Usually good students to boot.

3. People coming back to school for enrichment or to further their education (like teachers). Again, usually they're pretty motivated, usually pretty smart, and they also have perspective on life that some 18-year-olds don't. (Like: you can't work 40 hours a week, party every night, and take a full load of classes and still expect to get As.)

4. People who are visiting family for the summer or staying with parents, who go somewhere else to school, and who want to get a required course "out of the way" in the summer. Again, they know why they're in school - and they also often bring a different perspective to things, having gone somewhere else.

So generally, my summer classes average slightly higher on tests - and average higher on motivation - than my regular semester classes. (But don't tell them that.)

So, some 16 or 17 years after my College Physics Experience, I'm inclined to shake my head in disbelief over the prof's attitude.

(More of the story: it was optics. I HATE optics and did poorly at it, until I got one of my friends' older brothers who had been in the Navy to tutor me. Something like 3/4 the class failed the first test, the prof ranted at us after it, and then said that anyone who wanted tutoring as a way of saving their sorry butt, they could apply to....HIS WIFE! He hired his wife as a tutor, at $8 an hour....one of my friends in the class reported that to the dean, who shut it down, but still...there were TAs for that class who could probably use the money. Anyway. The general feeling in the class was he made the test unnecessarily difficult and unfair, perhaps as a way of driving students to his wife's tutoring business. [And he ranted at us for squealing on him to the dean!] I remember storming into my dad's office the day I got the test back, and just bursting into tears - I had tried SO hard, I normally didn't fail at things, I felt like I was being unfairly treated, and I was just frustrated. And my dad hugged me, and as he was hugging me, he whispered in my ear (whispered because there were other people in the room), "I'm sorry you got the *sshole professor." [turns out he knew the guy - too well]. At any rate, I got motivated, got a tutor, and set the goal of kicking Physics' butt that summer. And I did - I got an A, not that it probably mattered to *sshole Professor, but it did to me and I felt better.

And I did learn a valuable lesson: even if you suspect that your class has a few clunkers of students in it, don't let on you suspect that! It really sounds horrible to a class.)

Another thing I've learned: Just as the professor's attitude can feed back onto a class, the class' attitude can affect the professor. Maybe I need to grow a thicker integument, but when I walk into a class full of people who smile and nod and who want to take part in the activities and discussions, I'm a lot happier and willing to go the extra mile in teaching the class, whereas if I hit a wall of hostility and "why do we have to learn this junk?" I kind of want to shut down and not expend extra effort for them.