I am still struggling with my graduate class. It is amazing that a class of four people could make me so miserable. Although many people would claim that we make ourselves miserable.
How am I making myself miserable?
- I am giving them my hard work, that they do not appreciate.
- I assign them what seem to me to be meaningful (and often nontrivial tasks), which they do not appreciate or like.
- I don’t give high grades when I see poor work, and I have to deal with the arguments.
I could simply
- Not try as hard. Can I restructure class so that I’m not working so hard for it?
- Give easier assignments.
- Give high grades all the time.
The first of those seems like a reasonable course of action, but I think my integrity has arguments with the next two.
I need to care less about what they do, what they think, and how they complain. Maybe if I can manage to not react to it, it will drop off. And think carefully about what the learning objectives should be, given the level and disinterest of the students. What can I make stick given who I am working with?
You can’t make everyone happy. And being in a group of really unhappy people can definitely rub off. Insulate myself better. And detach, detach, detach.