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November 22, 2005
Bear with me
Once very involved in a situation it is easy to get blinded by spur of the moment thoughts. So often taking a moment to collect one's thoughts can shed new light on a situation. Even more helpful is discussing the issue.
This is why so often the moment you rush to ask some one for help you solve your own issue half way through. Yes, it can be helpful in solving the current issue, but the now randomized and probably confused person that was unnecessarily interrupted is probably not too pleased.
Thoroughly writing down the exact issue which needs to be solved, before going to someone, can drastically eliminate excess questions. If the shear process of annotating the situation doesn't lead to a solution then there is now a concise thought out idea to convey to a potential helper.
I was recently told the story of the Stanford Bear. The way I heard it was that a rule in class was that every question had to first be asked to the bear. So, before asking the TA a question, students had to walk over to a little stuffed bear and out loud ask it a question. If the bear didn't answer it, then the student could then ask the TA.
I think that is a brilliant idea; a true lesson in answering your own questions by talking through the issue.
Well, there wasn't a doubt in my mind that this story was true. Even if it wasn't, I figured it was worthy and it should become true.
Amused that the cleverness of this teaching style, I did a quick search on the topic. Apparently someone heard the story differently. Assuming how I heard it was true, this person missed the boat. Someone apparently thought that the bear itself would actually answer the questions. Surely it is believable that some TA would actually use their powers for automating themselves and installing the answering machine into a bear. Right?
As cool as talking teddy bears are, teaching students to answer questions themselves seems a bit more plausible to me. Note only is it great for the students to become self sufficient, but think about all the time saved by the TA.
Has anyone else heard anything about this alleged genius bear?
Posted by layla at November 22, 2005 9:25 PM