Playing By My Own Rules

Sometimes we have the opportunity to lead by example. Sometimes, others might not even recognize what we are doing but at least we have the opportunity to please ourselves. With the way the Jewish Holidays fall this year, I will be missing a number of classes for the semester.

One thing which this means is, in order to make sure I hear all the informative speeches, I will be cramming them into two days instead of my normal three. This is going to make it tougher on me in terms of staying focused, critiquing speeches and typing up responses and getting them back to students in a timely manner.

I frequently tell my students that I list on the syllabus all the public speaking dates. Even if something comes up, they have enough notice to get the speech done. I too live by those words. Something has come up, me missing a few classes, and I have to own up. Even if it means staying up late or making other sacrifices, I have to make sure I do what I need to so the students all get speeches in and so I evaluate, critique and grade them fairly and quickly.