respond to all 3 students 75 words each

1. I love your post and can't help but slightly laugh in the back of my  mind when I see how reliant we ALL are on predictability.  Here in the classroom we rely on the structure to reduce confusion and anxiety or stress, as well as keep us all accountable for the experience.  What I mean here is that if students came in each week on their own designated times but I, the professor, posted new assignments on days which were not marked ahead of time, then the learning experience would not be as effective and the student not as successful.  

I know we all love this standard and predictable environment, but does it take away from creativity and spontaneity?  For instance, sometimes I find articles or new sites that I want my students to check out and write a quick review on for some extra points.  Or maybe I want to pop quiz them prior to a large test to see if I can remediate anything right before the big test, especially in areas that they may not even know they are deficient in.  Unfortunately, I cannot do these things because I would really screw up the process for the majority of us.

Now, let me also say that I have been teaching in this environment for so long that I am used to it and, in many ways, have been desensitized to the standard formats and limits to creativity.  In other words, I still find ways to bring it in and gt people engaged, but it was not always like that...

2. After reading your post, I started to focus on a lot more areas that would be affected, if the elements of predictability were removed.    

The length of terms; instead of eight weeks, it becomes twelve weeks?  The length of time it takes to achieve a degree, would change.  Could a university extened the length of programs, at will?  Would less people graduate?  We can take this

We can take this evern further; Cash-paying students vs. Financial Aid students.  Should the cash-paying student's program be shortened and the Financial Aid student's program extended, because the government is carring the loan? 

These are areas that could be affected, if the elements of predictability were removed. 

3. I agree with you, Mr. Williams.  As a person that works and go to school predictability is imperative for me to be able to be successful in both areas of my life.