Close call (f obs)

[RB]

I had a scary moment last night. I teach a graduate school class with about 30 students in the class. One of the students, a cute brunette, had a bad cold, which of course I picked up on right away. About 10 minutes into the class I go to call on the first person and my subconscious must have been working overtime, because I chose her from off my seating chart, without even looking at who I was calling on. If that wasn't worse enough, during the break (it's a 2 hour class), she comes up to me at the podium and apolgizing 1) for not knowing the answer to my question and 2) for sneezing while I was talking! She wanted to know if her sneezing was bothering me! She only sneezed about 4 times in the preceding hour, but I was terrified that somehow I was sending a signal that I was being distracted (I thought for sure I hadn't). I said, "No, don't be silly, you weren't being distracting," then I asked her if it appeared that I was being bothered. Luckily she said no, it was her being self-conscious. I breathed a sigh of relief to myself and went on. During the last hour of class she sneezed a couple more times, but I made sure that as soon as I caught a glimpse of a build-up, I looked away, just to be safe.

[r]

Yeah I once gave a seminar at Dartmouth one October during the finale of ragweed season only to have a very attractive women attend and proceed to sneeze 26 times during my 45-50 minute lecture. Infact she was sneezing so much (not small one either) that she finally got up and left about 30 minutesinto the lecture. Talk about tough to concetrate., that taxed me to the limit to keep my focus on giving a coherent well delevered lecture.

I have also had similar circumstances where female students with bad allergies would place themselves directly in my easy sight via their seating and then sneeze double digits during a lecture. Really have to mutitask at those times.

r.

[pluto]

Well, those two accounts comprise a pretty powerful argument for videotaping lectures and including the students -- to make sure you get questions documented, of course. Academic arguments come in a distant second.