Translatable Skills

Today I ventured into Katherine's composition class and met a dozen students. I'm going to save most of my comments for the other blog, but I've got to say that all this waitressing is going to pay off in a way I didn't exactly expect.

During class I learned everybody's name, even if I only heard it once, and got a good feel for personality types. One of Katherine's comments during our debriefing afterward, when I mentioned my impression of one particular student, was, "Yup, that's him exactly."

It makes sense, in fact it's so obvious I wonder why I didn't draw a stronger connection before, that waitressing is so much like teaching. When you look at the day-to-day skills effective teachers have, they're really comparable to those of a good waitress. Good teachers remember their students' names, can handle a variety of personality types, know how to lead students to refining their ideas, even when the student isn't all together clear on basic concepts ("Yes, but what's your argument?), and are constantly aware of a large number of people and what they're doing. Good servers remember who had what to drink/eat, can handle a variety of personality types, know how to lead customers to refining their order ("What kind of vodka would you like in your cape cod?) even when customers aren't all together clear on basic concepts ("What would you like for your side?" "Oh, I get a side with that?"), and are constantly aware of a large number of people and what they're doing.

After today, I'm suddenly feeling more prepared for teaching next semester. While I'm still venturing into new territory in terms of designing a whole syllabus and all, part of it's going to be the same exact thing I do each and every weekend. And, with teaching, at least I'll have greater variety in my wardrobe.