My new hero is the student in a class of mine who sent me the following email:
There is always a student who shows up 10 minutes late to each of the (…) lectures, carrying a box of takeout food. He proceeds to noisily eat it while you lecture. This is highly distracting [as well as disturbing; this guy doesn't know how to use chopsticks], especially for those of us who chose to follow the rules. Please take some action as to inform students that eating in class is disrespectful not only to you, but distracting to other students who are trying to take notes. Thanks.
See, eating noisily during class is annoying enough. But not knowing how to use chopsticks? That’s disturbing!
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January 25, 2007 at 3:40 pm
Anonymous
I guess, you cannot say to your student that eating in class is disrespectful (in US). But you can direct the students in your class to your blog.
January 25, 2007 at 4:32 pm
GASARCH
If the student ate quietly (perhaps with
a more sophisticated use of Chop Sticks)
then would this be okay? I would think
yes. The issue is not that its eating,
its that its distracting.
You CAN say its disrepectful to be
DISTRACTING, ind of how it is distracted.
bill g.
January 26, 2007 at 1:46 am
Cheshire Cat
It is disturbing. For if the chopsticks are not being used for the purpose of eating, who knows what they are being used for??
January 26, 2007 at 2:22 am
Anonymous
It’s disrespectful if the food smells at all, even if it smells good to most people… it’s disrespectful if it contains anything that people might be allergic to… it’s disrespectful if the person chews loudly, belches, or otherwise eats like a slob. Lastly, it is disrespectful to any of the students who might be hungry but are trying to concentrate on the lecture.
January 26, 2007 at 3:46 am
Anonymous
I would hardly call eating in class disrespectful. Some students have no choice but to have class schedules that make lunch breaks impossible (such as, say, 5 hours of lecture with no gaps). Unless the student is eating noisily or otherwise being a nuisance, I’d say let them enjoy their meal.
Anyway, as a former TA for CS70, I’d have to say that I’ve seen students do much worse than eating in class…
January 26, 2007 at 6:21 am
Anonymous
who shows up 10 minutes late to each of the (…
lectures, carrying a box of takeout food
On first read, I thought this must be Satish, but now I see that it’s a student…
January 27, 2007 at 1:19 am
Anonymous
Well, Satish could easily be mistaken for a student…
January 31, 2007 at 2:55 am
Anonymous
To the former CS70 TA: What kind of things have your students done in class?