For some reason, for the last little while, I've had a Dorothy Parker line running through my head. At a party playing word games, she was told to use the word "horticulture" in a sentence. And in true Dorothy Parker fashion, she said "You can lead a horticulture, but you can't make her think."
In my darker moments teaching, I tend to think of that as a useful summary of the more annoying aspects of my job.
Which is, admittedly, very uncharitable -- I should add a caveat that every time I get grumbly about my students, it really has more to do with my own dissatisfaction with my own performance as a teacher.
Still, "horticulture" is a fun word. I suppose there's a whole cheesy metaphor I could spin out about the cultivation of minds, but that isn't really my style. Unless we add something in there about fertilizer.
That somehow reminds me of Margot Asquith (former British PM's wife) who, when greeted by Hollywood starlet Jean Harlow with the words "you must be MargoT Asquith" (with T sounded), said "no dear, it's a silent T - as in Harlow". Pretty quick thinking, if you ask me!
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