Leather Elbow Patches

Last week, I went to an inspiring dinner with three friends in my (former) grad program. Three of the four of us are pretty sure that we want to go on and become professors. I guess this says a lot about the people I hang out with, huh? We're all a bunch of nerds. Which is alright by me.

Anyway, we came to discuss the odd habits of our GSIS professors, including DeMartino's habit of filling up a mug with hot water (no teabag or anything) and proceeding to drink it before he crosses the threshold back into his office. MK says he does this a few times a day. We also spoke of professors that jingle the change in their pocket while they lecture - to the point where you could guess exactly which coins were in there. I still giggle about PVA's overuse of the endearing term, "friend," as in "good job on that paper, my friend" or his use of "guy" in the same manner: "great point you brought up in class today, guy!"

This was followed by a discussion of our future odd habits that our students will notice (and then sit around the same table and discuss). Jim definitely had the most pronounced habits. First of all, his head-tilting habit lets you know what he is thinking. His flipping-pen syndrome is also pretty apparent, although sometimes he mixes that in with the pen moustache (holding a pen tightly between his upper lip and nose before trying to let it fall and catch it in his mouth--we caught him doing it in class). I recommended that he not do the pen-moustache while listening to students' presentations.

Does the fact that Jim has these strange habits make him more likely to be successful at this whole teaching thing? Since this conversation last week, I have been trying to notice my strange habits that will carry over into the classroom. I am sure that they exist, but I just can't recognize them yet. If anyone has noticed any of my habits or has any ideas of habits I can try to incorporate into my repertoire, let me know.