the lessons a teacher learns.

i've learned my own lessons through the practice of teaching.

1. as a general principle, i think it's healthy for students to be slightly nervous about the course. it's not that i like scaring my students ..
   
   .. well, admittedly i do,
   but that's not the point q: ..
   
   .. but a healthy dose of fear/nerves is natural when encountering something new. for example, think of the nervousness before a race or a sports match.
   
   however, i have learned that maybe, just maybe, it's possibly to scare your students too much.
   
   
2. as a lesson to new teachers: don't ever say that you take office hours by appointment unless either you really mean it ..
   
   .. or you are impressively good at being brusque and unapproachable without being rude or mean.
   

as you can imagine, i'm holding a few appointments this week.

maybe i should relent a little more on the students ..