I don't think of myself as a traffic cop. As we've returned to the classroom post-pandemic, I've been working at retooling my classroom to be as conducive to peer-to-peer learning as possible. Lots of group work, lots of discussion, lots of presenting an idea then sitting back to see how it unfolds. And if a traffic cop did that...well, it's not just cymbals that crash!
But I definitely see where you're coming from. I think one contrast might be that I tend to iterate-out-loud. I often tell my students that there is no one way to learn anything, especially something as maddening as English, so we need to experiment until we find what works best for them. So, I guess I'd think of myself as more mad-scientist-in-chief rather than anything else.
Also, I love the Asimov quote. I used "thinking through my keyboard" as a tagline for my first blogs, years and years ago.
I don't think of myself as a traffic cop. As we've returned to the classroom post-pandemic, I've been working at retooling my classroom to be as conducive to peer-to-peer learning as possible. Lots of group work, lots of discussion, lots of presenting an idea then sitting back to see how it unfolds. And if a traffic cop did that...well, it's not just cymbals that crash!
But I definitely see where you're coming from. I think one contrast might be that I tend to iterate-out-loud. I often tell my students that there is no one way to learn anything, especially something as maddening as English, so we need to experiment until we find what works best for them. So, I guess I'd think of myself as more mad-scientist-in-chief rather than anything else.
Also, I love the Asimov quote. I used "thinking through my keyboard" as a tagline for my first blogs, years and years ago.
Love the image of “mad-scientist-in-chief!”
The article in The New Yorker is indeed a good one.