mathwonk said:
after reflecting further, i think the poster meant he was bothered, not because the other guy knew everythign, but because the other guy talsk too much and answers every question before anyone else has a chance to think. that can be ddifficult and inhibiting,a nd poses a challenge also fore the teacher.
still, it helps to realize there is always a faster gun in town.
This is very true. I used to be the fast gun in business school before I transferred to university for mathematics, and I noticed that I was taking away everyone's chance to answer the questions or think about them. I was a tutor at the time also, so I was concerned about others doing well too. Noticing this, I slowed down, and always gave some time for people to answer the questions. It might be slow, and you might notice half the class not thinking, but there are some trying... don't ignore them.
In university, I kind of fell out of the fast gun spot, which wasn't very fun. It's my fault because I wasn't studying a lot, or doing anything for that matter. I didn't participate in most of my classes this term. I'm just bored.
I noticed one student, that I know through a friend, and he is the fast gun in Abstract Algebra. I decided to start participating. It's interesting stuff, just taught very slow. Well, when it came down to finding a contradiction, I found a different solution, which was also a contradiction. I raised my hand, and explained my solution. The prof saw I was very interested in that kind of thing, and that my intuition is pretty good. He told me to talk to him after class, then he asked me if I would like to do a little project for him, so naturally I said "YES!". Unfortunately, I don't know Complex Analysis yet, but I have it next term. He told me to go to his office and he will point me in the right direction, so that's pretty cool. I'll probably go to his office today.
Anyways, the bottom line is... start working because things will pay off in the end. Because I slacked at the beginning of the term, and worked 40 hours a week, I fell behind a lot. I'm doing great in my classes though, but next term I'm only working 8 hours a week. Dedicating my time to my academics.