Etiquette School is in session! > "Have you tried the bean dip?"

Preparing to stave off Stan the Obnoxious Student (anticlimax #4)

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Ms_Cellany:
<bg> I'm in a master's program studying humanities topic X, and taking two night classes this term. They're very unlike my college days of 198(mumble), involving lots of discussion, argument and brainstorming. Student ages range from early 20s to late 50s.

One class is haunted by "Stan." Stan Knows Everything. Once started, he Will Not Stop Talking. He Pontificates on topics ABCQ and Z under the pretense of asking a question. Stan Sulks when proved wrong. When bored, he uses one finger to spin his textbook on the table.  </bg>

I'm in a 5-member group that has to give a short presentation tomorrow on history of topic X. The rest of the 3-hour class is devoted to a whole-class brainstorming on what X may develop into in the next 10 years - we'll draw on that for a final presentation.  We met Sunday, and at the end, someone commented how much they feared the possibility of dealing with Stan.

Thanks to Ehell, I came up with some that they wrote down (shades of Bull Durham):
And I'd welcome more!

"That's an interesting perspective. Could you send us some links, and we'll consider it in the final project?"
"That's sort of off-topic. Could you relate it to the future of X?"
"I'm afraid we just don't have time for that level of detail in this setting."

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ETA: How could I have forgotten: "Are you asking a question here?"

BeagleMommy:
Yay, you and your group.  You will be shutting him down without being impolite.  Cookies all around!  ;D

RubyDoomsday:
"That is an interesting idea, can anyone follow up on that?" (If the rest of the class has the same issues with Stan, I suspect someone's hand will go up)

"What and interesting observation, but Sally has had her hand up for a bit now"

This is a multi-player scenario in which A,B and C are group members

Stan: Blah, blah, blah Iamsoawesome, blah blah-

A: "I'm sorry for interupting you, Stan, but I don't follow"

B: "I think what Stan was refering to is the *instert something that brings the subject back to where it should be*"

C: "Yeah, exactly and Stan makes a GREAT point that....(continue with regular programing)"

As for the When Stan Gets Bored textbook twirling, I think its best to let that be unless it's incredibly disturbing in which case I suggest someone drop something to throw him off the spinning and to keep a snappy atmosphere (prevents rote actions)

Daffydilly:
It sounds like he acts like a small child. Attention's on him, he's happy. Attention isn't on him, he makes sure it is quickly refocused on him.
Treat him as his behavior dictates, POD for RubyDoomsday's suggestions about group redirection. And if he starts spinning the book, gently tell him "Stan, now is the time to listen not play with our things".

Ms_Cellany:
We're almost disappointed that he didn't act up - we were so *ready*!

(And to make this story easier to tell, our topic was history/technology/power structure of journalism 1700 - digital era.)

The only Stan moment was when we were talking about how in the late 1800s the technology had become so expensive that it took either a very rich person or a good raiser of capital to start a paper, as opposed to a century prior.

He said "Yeah, but I could hand-write something several times and pass it out to 5 or 10 or my friends."

For a second I was so dumbfounded I just looked at him. Then "Yes, but that wouldn't be a mass-market printed paper."

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