status games

[deroosisonfire]

i did an experiment with my teaching the entire spring semester - i played low status to my students while leading discussion sections. body language was one of my main tools, but i also made jokes at my own expense when i would write something incorrectly, etc. i was curious to see whether it would make a difference to the students, and i got the results yesterday in the form of my teaching evaluations. most of the students included written comments and the recurring theme was, "i felt respected," and, "i felt very comfortable asking questions."* i am so excited that it worked, i have been trying to find a way to seem authoritative to students my own age and this seems to have been a hit.

so, i wanted to share. any else ever try anything like this?


*note this is paraphrasing. i cannot quote directly due to the ferpa.