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[patchouli]

In honor of Thanksgiving and in response to Expatinuk's "Disappointed" thread, I thought it might be appropriate to post here about a student (or two or three) you are thankful for being in your classrooms:  Thankful because the student has always been great or thankful because the student has grown so much over the term. 

Here are my three Thanksgiving mentions, with their names changed:

John:  Who brings tremendous social and political energy and ideas into the classroom, and is committed to changing the world and making it a better place and has already started to do so.  He inspires me.

Sarah:  Who at first was tentative about my recommendations for her work, but has since gone on to develop and strengthen her own strong voice and grown into a confident and independent thinker.

Bob:  Quiet, strong, and dignified, but who brings real-world wisdom to our class discussions and is a role model for others in the class.  He is smart, modest, and many students admire him, I know.

[trabb]

In honor of Thanksgiving and in response to Expatinuk's "Disappointed" thread, I thought it might be appropriate to post here about a student (or two or three) you are thankful for being in your classrooms:  Thankful because the student has always been great or thankful because the student has grown so much over the term. 

My entire writing class this semester because they have decided to laugh and to try.

Sally:  Who has left the state for Thanksgiving and thus is nowhere near me.

[ftophi]

I am giving thanks for the 99.9% of students that I have this semester that are bright, engaged, articulate, enthusiastic, funny, and up for a challenge.  I'm giving thanks that they are kind enough to laugh at my jokes, diligent enough to show up for an 8:40 am class even on the day before Thanksgiving, and savvy enough to come prepared when they want to challenge me about a grade (!)  I will be proud to see them as fellow alumni taking our school's name out into the world.

Ftophi

[tenured_feminist]

My entire intro grad seminar. They are delightful. They read and think about the readings, and even though the class is only two credits and won't matter much to them, have written lovely essays on topics that full professors would shudder to approach (one was more or less "justify the existence of this discipline, if you dare").

Former students Bryan and Robin. Both were my undergraduate advisees and have taken extraordinarily careful, thoughtful, mature paths to the applications for which they now need recommendations. I only wish I'd had the scope of vision and capacity to think through career, family, and life at their ages that they do.

Melissa, who's not the star of the grad program and gets very little respect from other faculty. She just quietly moves ahead, acquiring the tools she needs piece by piece, getting stronger and better with every term she puts in. She's moving toward a dissertation topic now, even though she's not yet through her comps, and I think she will be able to apply out for nationally competitive funding and get it when she refines the topic. Oh, how I will love making that announcement to the department!

My undergrad class, so many of whom cheerfully allowed themselves to be seduced by the materials and now actually care about things that most people would find unbearably dull. In the course of the writing assignment they're working on now, several have seen the bigger issues and are using it as a springboard to think about the rule of law, democracy, and morality and are really confronting themselves as citizens of Western nations. Most of them won't take As away from this class, but they'll take away something much more valuable.

[secretweapon]

Gareth, who at least once every seminar will say something really intelligent, and something really hilarious - sometimes at the same time.

Vonna - who produces great work and doesn't let her dyslexia hold her back.

Mark - whose interest in the history of class comes from his own experience of working nights in a factory to pay for college.

Laura - who is not the brightest student, but who always does the readings.  Always.

[infopri]

I am thankful for most of the students I've ever had.  By and large (with exceptions, of course), they've been motivated, cheerful, reasonably polite to me and to one another, and remarkably non-indigo.  (Okay, there was that one undergraduate group in 1995 for whom I'm not feeling too grateful--but I give thanks that at least they weren't a discipline problem.)

I'm especially thankful for:

B, who at 21 was already thinking about things his peers won't think about for another 10 years (if ever), and who clearly was the kind of student over whom graduate schools salivate.  It wouldn't surprise me to learn he has his doctorate by now or is at least working on his dissertation.

P, who at 39 was caring full-time for her baby granddaughter (her daughter was deployed in Iraq) and pursuing her bachelor's degree, in spite of serious learning disabilities caused by a stroke some years before.  P struggled with the material but never gave up, and, when given the flexibility to learn in her own way, she truly excelled.  I was proud to be her teacher.

S, who inherited a sharp legal mind from her parents and kept me on my toes in class.  She's going to change the world some day, or at least her corner of it.  I pity anyone who stands in her way.

J and all the other students whose gentle manner, great sense of humor, and sincere interest in the material reminded me every day of the reasons I wanted to teach in the first place.

[ccteach]

I give thanks for:

E (mentioned in another thread) who went from jail time last year to A-cing my class this year.

M for going from being a young, smart-mouth student a couple years ago, then listened to my advice on proper classroom behavior, to being a loving single mother who sends me email updates and pops in with her baby when she can for a visit.

S for going from a young, smart-mouth student a couple months ago, then listened to my advice on proper classroom behavior, to being a sweet, grateful student who tries very hard (also a mom -- quite possibly a single mom).

Thank you, E, M, and S!

[vprof]

To the mother who came to class a few days after having her baby thro' C-section. Because I was really impressed with her commitment, I actually went over the 2 classes she missed (during office hours).

[_mara_]

K, my awesome, awesome RA.

[mended_drum]

My freshman class this semester: for their dedication, adaptability and senses of humor.  Oh, and they write pretty well, too.

My sophomores: for not whining about reading Chaucer in Middle English even once!

My junior / senior class: for passion--passion for Homer, Vergil and Dante.  Never fear:  Boccaccio approaches!

Jonathon: the alum who's proved me and a late colleague right about his intelligence, humor and dedication to the field.  If he doesn't get a job this season, he's welcome to live in my basement until someone is smart enough to snap him up.

[prof_viola]

Despite the mockery I regularly deal out, I wanted to post on this thread.  So--thanks for:

My Comp I students--Spending two days of the break reading your papers was (apart from the occasional blooper or instance of b.s.) NOT painful.  In fact, it was fun b/c so many of you thought carefully and wrote effectively.

Thanks, especially, to those who are brave enough to ask questions even when they think their questions are stupid.  (They're not.) 

Thanks for G, my foreign student who has knocked herself out to improve her spelling, grammar, and vocabulary and now regularly writes A range work, even in the mechanics category of the rubric. . . .

Thanks for J, who loves science and professes to hate writing, but still was willing to put out the effort to improve.  He nailed an A- on the last paper and today asked a question that stumped me and sent me to do some extra research for tomorrow.  I love it when that happens.

Thanks for my amazing adult students who are juggling parenting and school and work, yet never complain and are obviously grateful for a shot at an education.  Thanks for showing the younger students how it's done. 

Thanks for the students who make such great comments on the literature we read that I write them into the margins of my teaching texts and quote and cite them to my next classes. 

Yeah, this college teaching really is a good gig.

[ccteach]

Yeah, this college teaching really is a good gig.

It sure is. Thank you for starting this, OP!