I’m not a big one for giving away personal details in class, but I’ve recently realized how much the materials I write for my classes, especially discussion questions, are doing that for me anyway. Without me saying a word, students have recently noticed that the question “Can you eat sushi?” drives me nuts, that I have a strange obsession with sparrows and that I believe “the Japanese love of nature” to be a complete lie – things which my friends and family probably don’t know.
Are your handouts also giving away more about you than you may like?
Inevitably anything we write will give away information about us. It’s probably not important since few students will see us often enough for long enough to build up a picture.
On the odd occasions I taught students daily and for a long time they did get to know me very well. Though we were encouraged to meet students socially, I think a lot of their impression still came from my materials and teaching style.
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Not so much from handouts, but through all the spontaneous interaction/activities I make up on the spot, yes I think I’ve given away far more personal information than my enigma-preserving ideal self would like.
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