Just look at them and sigh

Classes start up again today, so my Thematic iPod selected CSN’s “Teach Your Children” for the drive into work. Today the Federal Public Defender University of Miami Junior Varsity Team begins working on some appeals. Tomorrow, I take on two sections totaling 235 One-Ls for Criminal Procedure Unplugged—one in my usual space and another in our new satellite classroom across campus.

I hate making little rules for class because I hate having to enforce them. Too many rules distract and detract from the mission at hand because people spend time litigating transgressions rather than being productive. For that reason, having “sick days” or “excused absences” is more expensive than having “personal days” or a fixed number of absences forgiven, no questions asked. So, I just give every student four personal days to use for religious holidays or beach days or dental appointments or whatever. But too few rules can also make it impossible to accomplish objectives because people need to be organized if they are going to work collectively.

My current working theory re: the laptops is that the bigger the class, the more of a problem gizmos are. Engaging a group of over 110 without eliminating distractions makes it impossible to cover the material in optimal depth. For one thing, you get constant requests to repeat things that were said while someone was emailing or IMing or shopping or whatever. And that breaks up class and makes it impossible to do anything remotely Socratic. Also, it’s maddening.

But the One-Ls will interpret being deprived of their gadgets as both punitive and arbitrary rather than as the natural result of being gathered for a particular purpose. “Expect whining,” said one colleague. Maybe from some, I suppose. But this is exactly what Nash was talking about when he wrote, “Can you hear? And do you care? And can you see?”