I'm the Teacher, You're the Student: A Semester in the University Classroom

by Patrick N. Allitt

Book Overview

What is it really like to be a college professor in an American classroom today? An award-winning teacher with over twenty years of experience answers this question by offering an enlightening and entertaining behind-the-scenes view of a typical semester in his American history course. The unique result--part diary, part sustained reflection--recreates both the unstudied realities and intensely satisfying challenges that teachers encounter in university...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812218876
• ISBN13: 9780812218879
• Release Date: July 2004
• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Delightful and Informative

Prof. Allitt's book recalling a semester of teaching a survey level US History course is the most entertaining and enjoyable thing I've read this year. I had some previous familiarity with his thoughts on academic subjects from several Teaching Company courses which he presented or in which he participated. All were quite good, but I found them generally orthodox, if accurate, approaches to the subject matter. In "I'm the Teacher" he shows a sharper critical edge, not to mention an abundance of dry British wit, each of which makes for entertaining reading while not descending to the "all my students are incomprehensible dullards" level. Nonetheless, Allitt implicitly delivers a powerful critique of American secondary education. Although I've spent 7 years in undergraduate and post-graduate education, I must admit that I've had no idea of the professor's viewpoint, apart from that of a friend or two in law schools, given long after I graduated. In fact, as I read Allitt's book, I experienced a fair amount of guilt over my undergraduate attitudes, work habits and efforts, all of which were largely of the mediocre level of which he complains. Something, however, probably the efforts of the 4 or 5 excellent professors I had, motivated me to attempt continued learning and that pursuit is exceptionally rewarding in middle age. And that heightens the sense of what I missed by not being a better student years ago. More significantly, "I'm the Teacher" led me to realize facts about the educational process nearly 35 years after I ended my undergraduate career. In particular, I feel embarassed about my lousy attitude and the frustration which that may have caused my most able professors and I can understand how a journeyman level of writing skills can compensate for all but the most deficient motivation. If Allitt's concerns were reduced to a single level of complaint, student writing would take the cake distantly followed perhaps by geographical ignorance. All in all, I wish that I either knew then what I now know (much better so, in fact, after reading this text) or at least had the maturity to intuit it. I'm not certain that this would be extremely helpful for a late adolescent about to enter college, but if I had a mature close relative in that position I would give it a try. As a matter of thoughtful reading for pleasure for adults though, I have no question about giving the highest recommendation.

Lively discussion of potentially dull subject

After spending 20+ years in a classroom, I always wondered if other professors felt the same way I did. Allitt's book confirms that they do. Allitt's book describes the progression of one class through a semester, session by session. We watch him prepare for class, lecture and answer questions. We learn how he writes exams and handles office hours, including some humorous encounters with "weepy" students. I love his "excuse file," which resembles my own, right up to the student's injunction to "reply as soon as possible." At times students unwittingly sound more like bosses! I'm the Teacher should be read in the context of the author's specific circumstances. He's a male in a liberal arts faculty. I doubt that a female professor could get away with some elements of Allitt's style. He wears the same old jacket, year after year. He's demanding. At one point he "towers over" a student who dares to open a fashion magazine: "Put that away at once!" And he refuses to get involved with students' personal lives. Female professors are expected to be nurturing and empathetic. For a contrast, read Gail Griffin's book, Seasons of a Witch, a vastly underrated book based on the author's experience as a professor of English and women's studies. And in the business schools where I taught, students often scoffed at learning ("It's who you know that counts"), but we were much better paid. To anyone seeking to understand academic life, Allitt's book offers a glimpse of reality on one dimension: teaching and dealing with students. But a professor in a university also faces endless committee meetings and political interactions. Allitt's life seems peaceful, almost idyllic. We don't see the challenge of finding time for research along with teaching and the ever-increasing service. Still I enjoyed this book thoroughly. Allitt has a gift for storytelling and his enthusiasm for his subject is contagious. Readers not only get a taste of academic life. We gain a fascinating taste of Allitt's perspective on some much-discussed events of American history.

I was the student to this teacher

I had the honor of taking two of Dr. Allitt's classes during my undergraduate time at Emory University--and I can tell you firsthand that "I'm the Teacher, You're the Student" is just as amazing, inspiring and absorbing as his classroom lectures. I am so touched that Dr. Allitt, who has authored many wonderful books that teach history, took the time to write a book *about* teaching history. Prior to this, I never thought the day-to-day minutia of class discussions, slide-show presentations and grading papers was important enough to warrant academic discourse; indeed, Dr. Allitt chronicles these and many other aspects of the teaching process with the same fascinating and illuminating attention to detail he uses when expounding upon the Spanish-American War and the history of train travel. I read the whole work in one euphoric sitting, and the entire time I felt both cradled by Dr. Allitt's deep care for students and challenged to read and question and understand as much as I can about the world. The book's writing style matches his teaching style--entertaining, thorough, witty, and satisfying. "I'm the Teacher, You're the Student" is a MUST-read for any kind of teacher, no matter what the grade level, no matter what the subject or setting. It is also a MUST-read for any kind of student, especially those who are in college or contemplating it. And if you love history, make sure this book is in your immediate future.

Exceptional Book

Professor Allitt has written an entertaining book that will delight almost anyone who has had the privilege of a liberal arts education at an American university. The book is organized around a single semester of the professor's class on post-bellum U.S. history. He provides a lecture-by-lecture account of his teaching experience, with enjoyable digressions on the various issues that are the joy and bane of a teacher's life-tardy students, lazy students, students who have yet to master the fundamentals of English grammar, and, every so often, that diamond in the rough who writes cogently and provides a fresh perspective on a complex issue. There are three things, however, that set Mr. Allitt apart from so many of his colleagues. First, while chastising his students for their mistakes-one of my favorites is the student who wrote about Teddy Roosevelt who, after charging up San Juan Hill, went on to lead the United States through the Depression and the Second World War-he is quite empathetic, patient and forgiving. He is quick to praise them when they do well. And instead of simply railing against the inadequacies of today's college students, he is quick to note the many demands on their time and the pressures they are under. Second, he is not above second guessing his own judgments and wondering if there isn't a better approach to solving a problem than the one he has chosen. And third, he employs a somewhat unorthodox teaching style. He employs certain techniques- such as requiring students to draw on a blackboard some of the objects that are part of the day's history lesson (e.g., a locomotive)-that are at once quaint but also quite effective. In addition, instead of relying on the safe, but boring, standardized history texts, he includes on his reading lists historical novels that convey the mood and articulate the issues of a particular era. Alas, I must report that Professor Allitt is not infallible. At one point in the book (I think around p. 125) while discussing the period music he has chosen to share with the class at the commencement of a lecture about the 1920s and 1930s, he eschews Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue because of its excessive utilization by Delta Airlines in its TV advertisements. If the good professor spent more time watching television instead of reading books, he would know that it is United, not Delta, that is exploiting the Gershwin melody. I suspect, however, that he will wear this criticism as a badge of honor.

A Brilliant, Must-Read Book

Professor Allitt offers an edifying and entertaining look into what actually transpires within the classroom of one of America's leading universities. He exposes, in painful detail, students' lack of geographical knowledge (being unable to fill in all fifty states on a map of the U.S.), their confusion over historical figures (conflating Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt), and, most painfully, their inability to express themselves in clear writing. And yet the reader can feel how much Professor Allitt loves these pupils...and revels in teaching them. He enthusiastically exposes them to the history of our country, tries (in vain, it would seem) to teach them to express themselves, and forces on them an accountability for their assignments that is sorely lacking in many American academic environments. In addition to all this, he has written a book that is impossible to put down. When I finished it, I ordered 5 more copies to give to friends.