First, the closet quandary: What to wear for the first day of class? Dress for climate, comfort, or confidence? And which climate--Amazon Rain Forest outside or Arctic Tundra inside? That smashing new blue blouse makes me feel confident but wearing new clothes on the first day causes emotional discomfort, even though I know that's a ridiculous superstition.
Next, calling roll: I always ask the class whether I should start at the beginning or end of the alphabet and then I comply with the request of whoever responds first, just to reinforce the value of responding to questions. Today the question produced a chorus of responses in one class and a bunch of blank looks in the other, as if students feared being wrong. It's an easy question: "Would you prefer that I start at the beginning or end of the alphabet?" If students fear providing a wrong answer for such an easy question, how will they handle the hard ones?
And we're off! By the time I've gone through four different syllabi, I'm tired of hearing myself talk--and I'll bet my students are too. Time to make them write!
I thought I'd do some mowing this evening, but after four classes, I barely have the energy to drag my tired body to the department meeting. If I could hike nearly five miles through rugged terrain two days ago, why does teaching four classes today make me want to put my head down on the desk and sleep for a week?
(And I thought choosing an outfit would be the hard part!)
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