<p>Great post Shawbridge, as usual.</p>
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<p>This takes me back to my college days. My first college english teacher hated the kids in his class who had been accelerated there due to high ACT scores, which included me. I received a big fat red “F” on my first paper and dropped the class that very day.</p>
<p>The following semester I retook the English class from another teacher. She was one of the best teachers I ever had in college, probably because she, like you mythmom, loved her students, loved what she was doing, and wanted to draw out the best in her students.</p>
<p>Just the other day I found the research paper that I wrote for her class about the Leboyer method of childbirth (birth without violence) for her class. The paper was supposed to be about a person, but due to my great interest in this subject she let me choose my own topic. I received a great big fat “A+” for that paper. I reread it and I still think that it was a great paper! She inspired the best in me and I felt so empowered by her confidence and belief in me!</p>
<p>So, thanks mythmom, for being the best kind of teacher 
I mean that from the bottom of my heart!</p>
<p>momlove: Your name says it all. You pass it on!!!</p>
<p>These “disadvantaged” community college students blossom when fed (by knowledge and attention) and are capable of great thoughts and very compassionate points of view.</p>
<p>I’m lucky that now that I’m an empty nester, I can share my life with them.</p>
<p>I need a hip replacement and each class they comment on how my hip is doing that day.</p>
<p>I have a rule, a normal one I think, no answering cell phones in class. They can get up without asking and take their calls. Well, I got two in a row, and I thought it could be an emergency. They encouraged to “break the rule” and take the call because my hip doesn’t allow me to easily bolt out of the class. So sweet.</p>
<p>And lest anyone think we coddle students, this week (in various classes) I have taught: Stephen Hawking and ideas of time travel, why it’s impossible and the dream that it might not be; that Benjamin Franklin took Puritanism and removed God; the exact transcript of the Wansee Conference that led to the final solution, and the Aeneid in terms of Homer’s earlier epics.</p>
<p>I am very lucky to spend my time talking to young people about the ideas that interest me and teaching them to write about what interests them.</p>
<p>momlove: Did you use the Leboyer Method when you gave birth? Still, even if no, I feel happy that you achieved success writing about something you could own and use your own voice to discuss. That’s the ball game in my opinion.</p>
<p>Mythmom, are you a community college writing teacher? That is what my sister does.</p>
<p>Life is a team sport. Moms are, more often than not, quarterbacks. You can play the denial game all you want, but the vast majority of successful grown men had very involved moms. Ignore at your own risk.</p>
<p>^^^Yup, yup, yup. And to carry it even further, even those gigantic bears of NFL players when confronted by the camera say “hi mom” more than “hi dad.” I was so depressed when my third turned out to be yet another boy, but a wise nurse patted my arm and said “boys love their mothers don’t ever forget that.” And yes, I am a “strong” mother and rule the roost LOL , I am the quarterback, I call the plays, but I do not helicopter.</p>
<p>Has it struck other posters that CC is a giant helicopter landing pad?
Anything from what to do on college tours, prepping for tests, choosing essay topics, editing essays, choosing LOR writers, thanking writers, what to wear at interviews, what prep programs to use, how to deal with FAFSA, how to calculate EFC, advice about fit and loving thy safety…</p>
<p>And then there are the recipe threads, the washing machine threads, the travel tip threads…</p>
<p>marite: That’s cute.</p>
<p>momofthreeboys: Boys don’t ever tell you you’re wearing an awful outfit. Hm. Sometimes girls do.</p>
<p>“Has it struck other posters that CC is a giant helicopter landing pad?”
LOL! That is the BEST description I have ever read of CC!</p>
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<p>I’m not sure what you mean by this. Are you suggesting that community colleges don’t expect students to provide citations or are lenient towards plagiarism? I’m at a community college and I don’t think I’ve had a course yet that hasn’t stated on the syllabus that plagiarism is grounds for immediate expulsion. Usually the teacher lingers over this point on the first day of class as they go over the syllabus. Citation has been expected on all papers, whether they be related to science, English, anthropology, geography, etc.</p>
<p>Maybe we’re a helicopter landing pad, but we’re also smart enough to seek information. (I had never even heard of SAT IIs before I came here.) It is always heartbreakng when I hear about some terrific student who is financilaly disadvantaged but obviously unaware of things like need based aid.</p>
<p>Helicopter landing pads are very useful in rescue missions. that’s what helicopter parents tell themselves, too!:)</p>
<p>Or a helicopter control tower. Pilots call in, “Should I be worried? What should I do? Is this a mission or not?” They hear back, “Do not go near the child. Do not call the school. Do nothing.” In the meantime other pilots chime in, “Know how you feel. Bummer.” ;)</p>
<p>marite said: “Has it struck other posters that CC is a giant helicopter landing pad?”</p>
<p>hahahaha</p>
<p>Thank goodness for CC, a place where I can indulge this magnificent college obsession in a safe and protective environment, where no one thinks it’s out of character to have statistics at hand regarding the number of 2210 SAT and above scores for 2008.</p>
<p>By providing this outlet CCers gives my family the gift of protection from the obsession!!!</p>
<p>Kei</p>
<p>P.S.I prefer to think of it not as a helicopter parenting, but as high level AWACS-like aerial reconnaissance.</p>
<p>I always joke that i have a “cyber helicoptor mom” through CC. My own mother is pretty distant, but whenever I need quick guidance, advice, or anything on the college search, I come here and I have my own fleet of helicopters</p>
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<p>Amen to that! I’m an information addict and can’t feel comfortable until I understand everything about an issue. The whole college application process has been much more difficult to get a handle on than I would have thought. A friend told me about CC. I don’t see how non-CCers get through this process without losing their sanity. Or maybe it’s just me - I tend to be a little bit OCD about things like this. :)</p>
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Best use of the metaphor yet. :D</p>