Funny things that professors say...

Usually all the "fun" job-related posts come from Lance. After all - he has mandated screenings of movies such as "Meet the Robinsons" and he gets to play with Shrek all day long. But, even in my more mundane job teaching college students about Child Development, occasionally something fun comes along to share with you all.

Last week, I was teaching my Developmental Assessment class all about Standardized testing, and the various types of standardized testing that exist. We were talking about Screening and Diagnostic testing, and primarily the differences between the two. Like any good professor, I was giving them well-known examples of such tests. One frequently used diagnostic test used in special education is the "Woodcock-Johnson-III", which, if you're interested measures "general intellectual ability, specific cognitive abilities, scholastic aptitude, oral language, and academic achievement." So I ask (since many of my students work part-time in classrooms or have taken a break from work to continue their education), "Are any of you familiar with the Woodcock-Johnson-III?" And the response I got was a bunch of giggles AND one student, who I now have much admiration for, blurted out, "Wow, that's three for three!" and then any hope for serious conversation was of course temporarily suspended.

Once my classroom settled down and we could talk more seriously about the test (although we all had to refrain from referring to the test by name in order to prevent any further giggle outbreaks), we began talking about how to interpret the results and to be careful about how we use the results, when I, clearly not thinking straight, used the following phrase. "We really need to be careful about who administers the tests, because usually so much is riding on the Woodcock-Johnson that it can change the whole course of a child's educational opportunities." And of course, the class erupts again, and I snarked, not realizing what I said yet, "really? the name of the test is still funny?" and got the response from one student who could barely contain her giggling, "No, you just said that a lot was riding on it." This of course led to even more of a giggle-eruption.

Anyway, needless to say, I really appreciate these students much more now that they've revealed that they're just as immature as my dear friend Grundle.