Making The Best Of Online Teaching

9/3/2020

Chances are I will have to teach most of my classes online again this September, just as I did during the lockdown.

I am not particularly fond of teaching online, but I try to make the best of it. To keep things entertaining back during the lockdown, I taught most of my lessons while strategically-positioned before the deer antler trophy that hangs on the wall behind my desk in the study.

One of my students took this photo during an online lecture in April.

I'll have to come up with something even better this time around.

7 Comments

William James Tychonievich link

9/3/2020 21:01:18

Uh, you know what that means, right?

Francis Berger

9/3/2020 21:10:59

Which "that" are you referring to, Wm?

Francis Berger

9/3/2020 21:16:29

@ Wm - If it's the antlers, I certainly hope you are not implying that I am projecting some kind of horned god/wicca/neopagan/ thing with this.

William James Tychonievich link

9/4/2020 06:06:16

It’s the mark of a cuckold, a running gag among the Elizabethans. See, for example, Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus.

Francis Berger

9/4/2020 07:09:25

@ Wm - I thought that only applied to ram horns - the expression put horns on someone - but I now see antlers were often thrown into the mix. In any case, it was meant as a gag - the added dimension doesn't trouble me.

Besides, stag antlers have a host of other symbolic associations (see header above), including the occult/pagan stuff (horned god, Cernunnos, etc.) I mentioned in my previous comment.

As an aside, I just noticed this online in connection to the topic:

Charlton Horn Fair

One of the most popular events in London's season was the Charlton Horn Fair, which lasted for three days, and was a fair with a scurrilous reputation, encouraging rowdy and drunken behaviour. It was so bawdy that the fair had to be moved from its place opposite St Luke's Church, to a place at the other end of the village.

William James Tychonievich link

9/4/2020 07:22:13

Until fairly recently, deer were always said to have "horns," with "antlers" referring only to the tines just above the eyes. In both Doctor Faustus and The Merry Wives of Windsor, the "horns" are pretty clearly those of a stag.

Ram's horns I would associate more with Jupiter Ammon and Alexander the Great.

Francis Berger

9/4/2020 07:42:55

@ Wm - The gag is now a super gag. I don't think I'll be able to top it if I have to teach online again - unless I manage to procure chimps with laser guns or something along those lines.

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Making The Best Of Online Teaching

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