Jonesing for the chalkboard

How do I miss teaching? Let me count the ways:

1. Students keep it real. They don't live in the theoretical cocoon, and thus make me aware of my own assumptions. They certainly don't tilt as hard to the left.
   
2. Students have their own lives. I miss hearing the stories of where people have been and where they're going. Grad students are much more homogeneous this way.
3. I have many fewer opportunities to learn how to text and use Facebook.
4. Very few chances to talk pedagogy, much less to practice it. It's a soul-enriching art for me--learning how best to serve others.
5. I love the feel of dry erase dust on my fingers in the morning.
6. Teaching is like writing--in articulating your thoughts on a subject, I better understand what I already know.
   

Of course, the one thing I don't really miss is grading (especially as I watch Sarah wade through mounds of papers). But on the few occasions where a teaching related discussion has come up, I find myself jumping in eagerly. Even when its none of my business. I'm happy to be presenting in my GIS class in a week. I'm itchin' for a fix.