Ninja instructor

So, I'm leading one of my tutorials, and there's these two women sitting off to the side who keep talking. If they're discussing one of the points I raised -- well, I guess that's o.k. But I had the strong suspicion that their discussion was actually a bit tangental to the class.

I gave them the ''Teacher Look'' a few times, and that quieted them -- briefly. But then they would start again.

I finally ended up striding over to their side of the class, with my white labcoat billowing proudly behind me, and standing next to them. "Perhaps I need to stand over here for a while, eh?" I asked with a grin and a raise of the eyebrow. They got the point.

Then, to diffuse the situation, I launched my thirty-eight year old self into a cartwheel -- labcoat and all -- back to the middle of the room -- where I resumed the lecture, deadpan.

After a minute or two I commented to one of the students in the front row: "The secret is in keeping a straight face."


--GG