Hugging like a man?

A recent comment on this old post on group work got me thinking. I'm going to (probably) address portions of Anon's (who is an engineering student, hooray!) comment in some future post(s), but let me reproduce the last bit:

"Group work is ONLY recommended if you have bright, responsible and good students who know they must work as a team. Then it is indeed a very good experience, although I've seldom have had that. Manly hugs."


Hmm...


I've been told that I have a good handshake because I don't "shake like a typical woman."

I've been told that I'm a good lecturer because I "don't lecture like a girl."

But I've never had anyone comment on my hugs. What is a manly hug? Like a quick shoulder slap? I'm not sure what a "womanly" hug would be, probably because my preferred state is to NOT have people touching me.

Especially students.

So I wonder. Could there be a difference between engineering and non-engineering hugs?

Boosting the Ego

I know that I'm an amazing professor. I prep awesome lectures, I'm insanely available for my students, my tests are hard but fair, and I even get some research done.

Still, whenever you start a new job, you always wonder: do my students know I'm an amazing prof?

This week several different students (from different classes, too) decided to tell me how much they liked my teaching style, lectures, sunny disposition (where did that come from??), etc. etc.


While I like to claim to be a very confident person, and that I don't care if my students like me or my class, I gotta admit it...... I was really freakin' pleased to get the praise.



I'm sure there are many (several?) of you out there that don't give a bleepity bleep about what your students think of you. If that's the case, I'm guessing that you are tenured. (Just a guess--- if that's not the case, please correct me.) But I'm not tenured. As a new prof, it's great to hear well ahead of midterms that I'm meshing with the department. Now I just have to keep this up for the rest of the semester....