A successful teacher doesn’t bring themselves into the classroom. They bring their teaching persona. This is especially important if you are working in secondary education or with freshmen in college. If students find a chink in your armor, they’ll eat you alive. What’s curious is that male high school teachers often suffer quite badly because they keep going into the classroom just as they are, without any padding between their vulnerable human self and students.

I had a student last year who was desperate to provoke me. What he didn’t know is that it’s impossible to provoke me because I’m not there. The persona is.

Every class the student went out of his way to inform me that he hadn’t brought the textbook and couldn’t write anything because he lacked both a pen and a notebook. When that failed to elicit any reaction, he faked falling asleep. Then he pretended to listen to music in his headphones. Then he took to walking around the classroom. 

I was completely indifferent to these antics because I can’t feel hurt or disrespected in the classroom since I’m not there. I actually really liked the student because his Spanish was superb and I could always count on him to answer everything correctly and set the example for other students. 

The important thing is that you can’t fake it. Faking is a mistake because students will figure it out immediately. And the most crucial thing ever: never make it about yourself. I don’t mean don’t share stories from your life. Of course do that because it’s a great strategy. But don’t make the interaction about your feelings or your real-life self.

I’m writing this because somebody I know who’s a school teacher was almost in tears today because, he says, students are bullying him. What he doesn’t get is that he brings his vulnerability, his self that can be bullied into the classroom, and that freaks students out. They realize that if an adult is terrified of bullying, then they definitely don’t stand a chance against fear of bullying. And they try to destroy him because the spectacle of his vulnerability hurts them.

What’s hard is leaving the ironclad, unreachable persona at work every day. Nobody wants to interact with a Teflon creature outside of the classroom. 

N suggested that I go to a resort while he stays with Klara. He’d love to go but he has no more vacation days. Of course, it’s great that he wants to do this for me but I won’t have a good time without him and Klara. 

I’m so ready for the visit of our Peruvian relatives that yesterday I made papas a la huancaina and today I’m toasting maiz cancha. And if you never tried them, you have lived your life in vain.

This was my very first attempt at making papas a la Huancaina, so they didn’t come out perfect. I’ll make them again and then post the recipe. I’m very constrained by N’s hatred of spicy stuff because this recipe calls for the very spicy aji amarrillo.

So Merkel is going to ban burqas? That’s fantastic news. You can’t expect violence against women not to increase in a society where it’s ok to mark women visually as somebody’s property that’s not to be touched and nobody’s property that is open for grabbing, mangling, and assaulting.

By the way, I’m almost finished with Zizek’s book on refugees and a review is coming shortly. For now I can say that Zizek is at least a bit less terrified of the subject than everybody else. He still follows every sentence with a PC slogan but at least he has something of his own to say.

I could teach this summer and make $6,500 for one course and $13,000 for two. That’s about 1/4 of my salary. But I’m not going to because, as I keep saying, a good life is not measured in money. Instead, I will spend time with my child, read, go for walks, and enjoy my life. 

I drive an old car and even that only since a couple of years ago. But I’m happier and less stressed out than people who have to make car payments every month. 

To the question of “what is the most important natural resource of Venezuela?” on my Hisp Civ exam, one student responded with the name of my Venezuelan colleague. I now wish there were a question on the natural resources of Ukraine.