Overdue update
Boy, I have not posted here in a long time. Sorry about that. I think most of you will have seen my somewhat more regular facebook updates. The quick synopsis:
We moved.
We're mostly but not entirely unpacked.
We started our new jobs.
I've just finished my first block course on my new employer's block schedule. In brief: classes meet every day, for three and a half weeks; it's the only class the students are taking, and the only class I'm teaching. Then everyone moves onto a new class.
It's an interesting adjustment. The block has its own rhythms, which are both like and not like those of the standard semester. My personal experience was:
week 1: high energy and enthusiasm for me, high to moderate from the students. Exploring what this new class is like is intriguing for everyone.
week 2: student energy drops precipitously; I get tired from trying to keep them going
week 3: everyone is sort of treading water; students miss class without explanation
week 4: vanished students re-appear; collective energy seems to rise as we all make the push to finish up
I really enjoyed my students, fortunately, and most of them told me they liked the class. I hope the evaluations will be both useful and positive.
On Monday I'll start teaching a totally new class. The first class I taught was a 300-level course for majors with 15 students; the new one is going to be a 100-level course with about 25 students. It should be an interesting change. I'll have a non-teaching term after the coming course, and by then I'll be good and ready for it, I think.
We moved.
We're mostly but not entirely unpacked.
We started our new jobs.
I've just finished my first block course on my new employer's block schedule. In brief: classes meet every day, for three and a half weeks; it's the only class the students are taking, and the only class I'm teaching. Then everyone moves onto a new class.
It's an interesting adjustment. The block has its own rhythms, which are both like and not like those of the standard semester. My personal experience was:
week 1: high energy and enthusiasm for me, high to moderate from the students. Exploring what this new class is like is intriguing for everyone.
week 2: student energy drops precipitously; I get tired from trying to keep them going
week 3: everyone is sort of treading water; students miss class without explanation
week 4: vanished students re-appear; collective energy seems to rise as we all make the push to finish up
I really enjoyed my students, fortunately, and most of them told me they liked the class. I hope the evaluations will be both useful and positive.
On Monday I'll start teaching a totally new class. The first class I taught was a 300-level course for majors with 15 students; the new one is going to be a 100-level course with about 25 students. It should be an interesting change. I'll have a non-teaching term after the coming course, and by then I'll be good and ready for it, I think.