Bad Class

Had kind of a train wreck of an ethics class today; even had a moment in the middle where I got that total flop sweat thing happening. I was trying to explain the difference between necessary and sufficient conditions and I felt like the students didn’t care and didn’t understand; I started to not care either and as I plowed through the thing, I noticed a few heads on desks and those vacant stares that are the bane of a teacher’s existence. If had been a hole in the floor to drop through at that point, I would have.

I think the problem was mainly that I didn’t come clean with students; that is, I held back my views on the issue in a situation where they really wanted to know what I think.

At least that’s what I think right now.

We’re exploring the question, “should drugs be legalized?” I began the class by asking for their general background on a variety of illegal drugs; I just wanted to get a read on what they know about cocaine, marijuana, ecstasy, heroin, psychedelics, and methamphetamine. I think they were a bit unclear (maybe I was too) where this was going; I probably should have told them what I know about these drugs; that would have at least have given them an idea of what I was looking for.

Our goal is to explore various arguments for and against legalization; I think I should go in on Wednesday and present what I think is the best case to be made for decriminalizing all drugs; then at least, they’ll have something to push against in discussion.

I’m always reticent to argue for a position I hold in an ethics class; I’m worried that students will think that their grades depend on agreeing with me. I’m going to take that chance this time.

If they disagree with me, they can just chalk it up to my being an old stoner.