Writing Class

Their first writing assignment = pretty bad, but not as bad as I expected. Too much fluff. Too much focus on reaching the word count total and not enough interested or focus on saying something. It's okay, it's just the beginning. I can tell there's good in this bunch.

First Day!!!!

I spent weeks preparing for the first class. I had a great PowerPoint presentation prepared. I rehearsed it. I factored in some time for student interaction, questions and answers, discussion. I was excited. I ran off copies of my materials. I was set.

I got to class. Did attendance. Ran through my PowerPoint, was feeling pretty satisfied with myself and then I looked at the clock. 25 minutes.

I ran through what I thought was 2 hours worth of material in 25 minutes. I had an hour and a half to kill and a room full of students staring at me and and and...

ARRRGGHHHH!

I fell back on an old teaching standard. I showed them a movie. It was related to the topic. I found it in 10 minute chunks on YouTube. It's a made-for-television movie called "Pirates of the Silicon Valley," about Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. I sat in the dark and stressed out-- how had I so seriously misjudged how long the class would take? YIKES!

Down to the Wire

The students have two days of break before the new term starts. Term starts on Monday. I'm excited and nervous and scared and eager and ready and not ready all at once.

I spent yesterday literally cleaning my classroom and today I have to finalize my syllabi and print them off. I need to make sure I have my first/introduction classes ready to roll. I've been moving slowly but steadily for a couple weeks and now the next time I come to work I'll have a class and it seems like there's still more I need to do.

Somebody, please show me how to make this projector thing work?

Faces and Names

I attended the new student orientation on Friday! Squee! I met the people who will comprise my Technical Writing class-- 12 males and 1 female-- students in the technology program. I am happy to report that they look like a good bunch. No one really stood out as a potential problem.

Actually, I was hanging around the room where they all congregated at first to fill out paperwork and listen to administration people talk to them about the school. It was 10:26 and orientation started at 10. A girl was escorted into the room by one of the admissions people. Another teacher from my program leaned over to me and said, "I bet you she's one of ours."

He was right. So, so far, that's my only potential for trouble.

Later, the whole of the winter-start class was broken into majors and sent to classrooms to listen to the individual program directors speak, to get the rules and such for the individual majors. I sat in on that portion too and actually got to meet and interact with some of my students! Squee!

Program Director was really selling my class, telling them that the local employers really want our students to have more "soft skills"- better communication skills, better people skills. They seemed to be excited.

Squee!