*very Greek ideal of academe voice* NO you do not have my permission to burn your Norton Anthology for warmth, close reading is actually an excellent way to combat the December chill https://twitter.com/chronicle/status/1267116133217382402

feeling exactly like Socrates, except damper. and instead of forcing you to drink hemlock they just don't renew your contract so we've got that going for us

side point but I pretty much say 'hey let's hold the lecture/seminar/etc outside!' on every sunny day and I have never been allowed to, and now

even on sunny days I think this underestimates how much you would just get screamed at by seagulls on Sussex campus, Socrates never had to deal with that

once (in my last job), when running a walking tour in London I was giving a spirited and fascinating* explanation of plague burials and realised that all of my students were looking at a squirrel instead

*tbf the squirrel was indeed more interesting

anyone who has ever done any sort of outdoor pedagogical exercise will tell you that a) it will most likely piss down, b) if it doesn't piss down it will be ungovernably hot, c) you will spend all your time worrying that the students are going to get run over

this will hold true even if you are in a dedicated outdoor teaching space away from roads, students* will find somewhere with cars and wander in front of them

*see also: conference delegates, members of the public, yourself if you are attending an event rather than leading it