I am finally starting to feel comfortable as a classroom teacher again. This past week, I was "observed" by my "teaching mentor," which helped me to develop a different perspective on things. After his observation, he generally had complimentary remarks for me along the lines of "I could tell you knew the content you were teaching," "It's clear that you've taught before," and "It seems like you're a natural."
That last comment got me thinking. Maybe I'm a natural-- I've always felt at relative ease in the classroom-- but you can't really say, at this point, that I succeed because "I'm a natural." I have, after all, spent four whole years in the classroom.
This made me want to do some math. I spent four years teaching high school, where we're required to instruct for 170 days a year. On my schedule, that equates to 3,060 hours in front of the class. This doesn't count grading, or planning, or organizing Student Government, or even teaching summer school. I've spent 3,060 hours in front of 20+ kids, and there are some lessons I have literally taught dozens of times.
My three credit English 101 course meets a grand total of 35 hours this semester. This means that in order to accumulate the number of hours of experience at the college level that I have at the high school level, I'd have to teach 87 three credit course sections. 87!! I have a double course release this year, but next year my funding package requires me to teach a "full load" of three sections, which is, incidentally, the same number of credits that tenure track professors teach at UMd. If I continued teaching 3 sections per year, I'd have to teach for 29 years to amass the same number of hours of experience that I got in just four years in the high school classroom.
I discussed this over lunch today with my friend Danielle, who still teaches at the high school I left. I was telling her how my mentor teacher seemed surprised at how well my students behaved and how well they performed on the quiz he told me was "pretty hard." "I know they're good kids," I told her, "but I kind of just expected them to pay attention when I talk. I feel like I'm missing something." Danielle's an excellent teacher, so it shouldn't have surprised me that she solved the riddle in a single sentence, but it still did.
"It's because you're prepared," she told me. When I asked her to elaborate, she reminded me that kids know when you're prepared, and when you're prepared, they behave and pay attention. "You can see it in your own classroom. On days when I haven't fully prepared the lesson, I know they're going to be chatting. I expect it." And she's absolutely right. We all have the occasional class of rambunctious and/or uninterested kids that are hard to reach, but one thing remains the same: when you're prepared, they focus better.
So thanks, Northern High School, for teaching me to loathe procrastination and to value the importance of being prepared. It's made me an exponentially better teacher, a "natural" even, and I know it's made me a better person, too. (And thanks for bringing me Danielle, as well.) : )
(The Class is a novel by François Bégaudeau about a teacher in France trying to teach French to African students. It exists in a sort of postcolonial context, as I understand it, which reminds me that I must get back to my actual homework.)
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
A Grain of Wheat
This morning, I went for my first outdoor run after several weeks of trips to the gym for workouts on mechanized equipment. The weather was just too great to pass up, and one of my classes did not meet last week, so that has allowed me the chance to make some headway on getting ahead instead of feeling like I am constantly behind. As soon as I got onto the trail, I noticed that I was in the middle of an official race. And because of where I'd started, I was just behind the leaders. This was made me laugh to myself until I got a cramp. I got to see firsthand just how fast the winners of these events run as they sailed past me, one after the other. I did get a few cheers at one point, though, from some people who I assume mistook me for the female leader. Fortunately, after I'd finished my first mile or so, their route took them off the trail, so I got to enjoy my last four miles in (relative) peace. I don't know how fast I ran, but I pushed myself pretty hard at the end, and it felt great to be out in the fresh air again. It reminded me of a quote from A Grain of Wheat, by Ngugi wa Thiong'o which I read for class last week. One of the characters is running in a race during his village's celebration of Kenyan independence, and we're told "he used to run in all long-distance races. He had even developed a theory about such races. 'They test how long you can endure hardship,' he used to say. 'You say to yourself. I will not give up: I will see this to the end.'" Indeed. If I've already unlocked a Kenyan "theory" of long distance running on my own, I'm destined for a faster race pace, right? : )
Since my schedule's not quite as tight this weekend, I thought I'd take a minute to share with you all what I'm up to this semester. It's a lot of work, but so far I'm enjoying all of it, so that keeps it manageable.
I'm teaching English 101, which is officially called "Introduction to Academic Writing." I only have one section with 21 students, so I really can't complain. It's not a literature based course at all-- it's the class the incoming students are required to take to prepare them for the writing assignments they'll have to complete thereafter in their academic careers. The teaching model is based in rhetoric, so I get to teach some of the things we discuss in our department, but mostly I'm responsible for helping them learn how to become better writers. All PhD students start out by teaching this course, and a lot of them complain about it because they'd rather be teaching literature and there's a lot of grading. I like teaching writing, though, and since I'm only teaching one section, the grading responsibilities will not be as overwhelming as if I'd been required to teach two.
I'm also taking three classes. On Tuesdays I'm taking a class about 18th Century Experimentalism and Natural Philosophy. Or, as I might title it, "How science as we know it came to be." I'm technically taking it because I slid through our MA program without taking enough classes in pre-1800 subjects (one of my professors changed the scope of his class at the last minute), so it's a requirement, but I've been wanting to take a class with this professor, anyway, so I'm enjoying it. She tried to kill us with the reading assignments in the first two weeks, but now that I've accomplished those, I'm hoping it will be slightly smoother sailing for the rest of the semester. Plus, we've finally gotten started on the literature written about experimentalism, so I'm starting to feel more "in my own element."
On Wednesdays I'm re-taking a class on American Modernism/Modernity that is similar to the one I took in Spring 09, which I might title "Whatever Liz wants to read." Since we took the class with this professor last time he taught it, my friend Katie and I are taking it as a pseudo independent study. We're attending class on days that address new texts and working with our professor outside of class that relate more specifically to our research interests. It's really an ideal scenario for me, because it's precisely the type of literature that I want to be reading, and his flexibility with the syllabus will allow me to get an early start on working on the reading list that will ultimately serve as the basis for my comprehensive exams next year. (Yes, I am always looking forward. No use in standing still.)
On Thursdays I have a class in Postcolonial Literature and Theory survey course, which I could otherwise call "Books written by people whose names I can't pronounce." I feel completely clueless in this class, because after we left Conrad and Achebe behind in week one, I've never even read any of the authors we're covering, not to mention the texts we're assigned. It's supposed to be a survey, which means an "intro" to the field, but since it's the only postcolonial class offered this semester, a lot of people who specialize in this area are enrolled in it, as well. The one saving grace for me is that I've read a lot of the critical theory that serves as the foundation for the field, so even though the texts are new, the ideas are ones I'm used to working with.
These seem like a strange hodge podge on paper (or online), but as always, they begin to grow together more than I had originally anticipated. One of the articles I had to read for my PoCo class last week mentioned one of the texts I'd read for my Experimentalism class the week before. And so it goes.
The final thing I want to mention is that I've decided to stop making this blog "searchable" via google and the like. This means you'll no longer be able to type "Literature is where I go" into google and pull up the blog (I hope), so if that's how you're used to finding your way to me, please add the URL as a bookmark or put me in your blog reader instead. I'm careful about what I write here, since I know I'm sending it out into the public world, but the blog is not really meant for consumption by those who don't know me personally, so I don't see any reason why people need to be able to find it in their search engines.
Hope you've all enjoyed a restful weekend, and that your week ahead is productive. Vickie is set to return to MD tomorrow, and the new season of Glee premieres the night after that, so things are looking good for us this week. No races coming up anytime soon, and a whole month before the next Navy football game, but maybe that means I can get even farther ahead in my studies!
And just for good measure, here are a couple pictures of Clara and Cash enjoying the brand new additions to their families:
Thanks for sharing the pictures, guys!
Since my schedule's not quite as tight this weekend, I thought I'd take a minute to share with you all what I'm up to this semester. It's a lot of work, but so far I'm enjoying all of it, so that keeps it manageable.
I'm teaching English 101, which is officially called "Introduction to Academic Writing." I only have one section with 21 students, so I really can't complain. It's not a literature based course at all-- it's the class the incoming students are required to take to prepare them for the writing assignments they'll have to complete thereafter in their academic careers. The teaching model is based in rhetoric, so I get to teach some of the things we discuss in our department, but mostly I'm responsible for helping them learn how to become better writers. All PhD students start out by teaching this course, and a lot of them complain about it because they'd rather be teaching literature and there's a lot of grading. I like teaching writing, though, and since I'm only teaching one section, the grading responsibilities will not be as overwhelming as if I'd been required to teach two.
I'm also taking three classes. On Tuesdays I'm taking a class about 18th Century Experimentalism and Natural Philosophy. Or, as I might title it, "How science as we know it came to be." I'm technically taking it because I slid through our MA program without taking enough classes in pre-1800 subjects (one of my professors changed the scope of his class at the last minute), so it's a requirement, but I've been wanting to take a class with this professor, anyway, so I'm enjoying it. She tried to kill us with the reading assignments in the first two weeks, but now that I've accomplished those, I'm hoping it will be slightly smoother sailing for the rest of the semester. Plus, we've finally gotten started on the literature written about experimentalism, so I'm starting to feel more "in my own element."
On Wednesdays I'm re-taking a class on American Modernism/Modernity that is similar to the one I took in Spring 09, which I might title "Whatever Liz wants to read." Since we took the class with this professor last time he taught it, my friend Katie and I are taking it as a pseudo independent study. We're attending class on days that address new texts and working with our professor outside of class that relate more specifically to our research interests. It's really an ideal scenario for me, because it's precisely the type of literature that I want to be reading, and his flexibility with the syllabus will allow me to get an early start on working on the reading list that will ultimately serve as the basis for my comprehensive exams next year. (Yes, I am always looking forward. No use in standing still.)
On Thursdays I have a class in Postcolonial Literature and Theory survey course, which I could otherwise call "Books written by people whose names I can't pronounce." I feel completely clueless in this class, because after we left Conrad and Achebe behind in week one, I've never even read any of the authors we're covering, not to mention the texts we're assigned. It's supposed to be a survey, which means an "intro" to the field, but since it's the only postcolonial class offered this semester, a lot of people who specialize in this area are enrolled in it, as well. The one saving grace for me is that I've read a lot of the critical theory that serves as the foundation for the field, so even though the texts are new, the ideas are ones I'm used to working with.
These seem like a strange hodge podge on paper (or online), but as always, they begin to grow together more than I had originally anticipated. One of the articles I had to read for my PoCo class last week mentioned one of the texts I'd read for my Experimentalism class the week before. And so it goes.
The final thing I want to mention is that I've decided to stop making this blog "searchable" via google and the like. This means you'll no longer be able to type "Literature is where I go" into google and pull up the blog (I hope), so if that's how you're used to finding your way to me, please add the URL as a bookmark or put me in your blog reader instead. I'm careful about what I write here, since I know I'm sending it out into the public world, but the blog is not really meant for consumption by those who don't know me personally, so I don't see any reason why people need to be able to find it in their search engines.
Hope you've all enjoyed a restful weekend, and that your week ahead is productive. Vickie is set to return to MD tomorrow, and the new season of Glee premieres the night after that, so things are looking good for us this week. No races coming up anytime soon, and a whole month before the next Navy football game, but maybe that means I can get even farther ahead in my studies!
And just for good measure, here are a couple pictures of Clara and Cash enjoying the brand new additions to their families:
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
The Truth of Fiction
"The Truth of Fiction" is an essay published by Chinua Achebe in 1988. I can remember reading it in undergrad and thinking, "Yes, that is why I love to read." I had to read it again for class last week, and I was hoping to be able to find it online somewhere, because I'm so frequently asked this question: "Why do you like to read so much?" I couldn't find an online text (it's included in this compilation), so I wanted to share instead a few of my favorite quotes from the essay.
"...art is man's constant effort to create for himself a different order of realty from that which is given to him; an aspiration to provide himself with a second handle on existence through his imagination."
"It is a truism and a cliche that experience is the best teacher; it is even arguable whether we can truly know anything which we have not personally experienced. But our imagination can narrow the existential gap by giving us in a wide range of human situations the closest approximation to experience that we are ever likely to get..."
"The life of the imagination is a vital element of our total nature. If we starve it or pollute it the quality of our life is depressed or soiled."
"... reading the novel explains so much to us and affects radically the way we perceive the world thereafter."
"My theory of the uses of fiction is that beneficent fiction calls into full life our total range of imaginative faculties and gives us a heightened sense of our personal, social and human reality."
"... when a desperate man wishes to believe something however bizarre or stupid nobody can stop him. He will discover in his imagination a willing and enthusiastic accomplice. Together they will weave the necessary fiction which will then bind him securely to his cherished intention.
The fiction which imaginative literature offers us is not like that. It does not enslave; it liberates the mind of man. Its truth is not like the canons of an orthodoxy or the irrationality of prejudice and superstition. It begins as an adventure in self-discovery and ends in wisdom and human conscience."
"...art is man's constant effort to create for himself a different order of realty from that which is given to him; an aspiration to provide himself with a second handle on existence through his imagination."
"It is a truism and a cliche that experience is the best teacher; it is even arguable whether we can truly know anything which we have not personally experienced. But our imagination can narrow the existential gap by giving us in a wide range of human situations the closest approximation to experience that we are ever likely to get..."
"The life of the imagination is a vital element of our total nature. If we starve it or pollute it the quality of our life is depressed or soiled."
"... reading the novel explains so much to us and affects radically the way we perceive the world thereafter."
"My theory of the uses of fiction is that beneficent fiction calls into full life our total range of imaginative faculties and gives us a heightened sense of our personal, social and human reality."
"... when a desperate man wishes to believe something however bizarre or stupid nobody can stop him. He will discover in his imagination a willing and enthusiastic accomplice. Together they will weave the necessary fiction which will then bind him securely to his cherished intention.
The fiction which imaginative literature offers us is not like that. It does not enslave; it liberates the mind of man. Its truth is not like the canons of an orthodoxy or the irrationality of prejudice and superstition. It begins as an adventure in self-discovery and ends in wisdom and human conscience."
Sunday, September 12, 2010
A Kiss for Lily
Remember a few months ago, when I was going around saying "Everyone I know is pregnant!" Well, the babies are coming!
Billy's cousin Jacelyn had Lily Reese on Thursday. She weighed 6 lbs, 15oz, and mom and baby are both healthy. Welcome to the world, Lily! Congratulations, Jay and Allen!
Cash is a big brother now!
We can't wait to meet her!
(A Kiss for Lily is a children's book with a cute, applicable title.) : )
Billy's cousin Jacelyn had Lily Reese on Thursday. She weighed 6 lbs, 15oz, and mom and baby are both healthy. Welcome to the world, Lily! Congratulations, Jay and Allen!
Cash is a big brother now!
We can't wait to meet her!
(A Kiss for Lily is a children's book with a cute, applicable title.) : )
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Anchors Aweigh
Still no time for words. But here are some pictures! Navy lost, but the sun was out, and we had fun. And I got to take a bit of a break from all this craziness.
So I tried again. The marching band on the big screen above the Mids' seating section. (How do they pack them into such a tight space at the stadium in Annapolis?
Other news in brief:
-We lost our second softball game via slaughter rule. For some reason unknown to myself, I tried to dive for a ground ball that went between me and the shortstop. I did not get an out. I did not even stop the ball to keep it in the infield. I just ripped open my knee and am now developing the only scab I can remember having in recent memory.
-We went to our friends' new house for a housewarming party on Saturday. Billy can now add beanbags to the list of tossing games he excels at.
-I finished the syllabus for the class I'm teaching.
-I had the distinct pleasure of wading my through the single worst/most difficult text I've been assigned in grad school in between all of the above. I managed to say something about it in class tonight that I don't believe was completely idiotic. So I will count that as a success.
-I have had very little time to follow the US Open. This depresses me. I'm trying to carve out enough time to watch a match in the case that Nadal and Federer both make it to the final. I like Rafa's chances this year.
(Anchors Aweigh is apparently a very popular book title. I don't know what any of these books are about, but I must go to bed if I am going to accomplish a full week's worth of reading tomorrow.)
I took this next photo thinking, "I can just flip it around and the M will be right side up!" It didn't occur to me that the whole world would then be upside down. I think I'm brainfried.
So I tried again. The marching band on the big screen above the Mids' seating section. (How do they pack them into such a tight space at the stadium in Annapolis?
Other news in brief:
-We lost our second softball game via slaughter rule. For some reason unknown to myself, I tried to dive for a ground ball that went between me and the shortstop. I did not get an out. I did not even stop the ball to keep it in the infield. I just ripped open my knee and am now developing the only scab I can remember having in recent memory.
-We went to our friends' new house for a housewarming party on Saturday. Billy can now add beanbags to the list of tossing games he excels at.
-I finished the syllabus for the class I'm teaching.
-I had the distinct pleasure of wading my through the single worst/most difficult text I've been assigned in grad school in between all of the above. I managed to say something about it in class tonight that I don't believe was completely idiotic. So I will count that as a success.
-I have had very little time to follow the US Open. This depresses me. I'm trying to carve out enough time to watch a match in the case that Nadal and Federer both make it to the final. I like Rafa's chances this year.
(Anchors Aweigh is apparently a very popular book title. I don't know what any of these books are about, but I must go to bed if I am going to accomplish a full week's worth of reading tomorrow.)
Monday, September 6, 2010
Our Sister (Killjoy)
This morning, I woke up early to get some reading done before we head to the Navy football game. I opened up Ama Ata Aidoo's Our Sister Killjoy, and it begins with this: "Things are working out/ towards their dazzling conclusions." This reminded me that I texted Vickie last night to find out the results of her NCLEX, which she took on Friday, but she texted back that she'd have to tell me later when she got home because she hadn't seen the results yet.
So I went to check my phone, to find out, SHE PASSED!!! On her first try! Not that I ever actually doubted she would pass. But still. Now she's officially Victoria Chambers, RN!
Dazzling conclusions, indeed! (That was worth watching again, no?)
So I went to check my phone, to find out, SHE PASSED!!! On her first try! Not that I ever actually doubted she would pass. But still. Now she's officially Victoria Chambers, RN!
This calls for some celebration!
Dazzling conclusions, indeed! (That was worth watching again, no?)
Saturday, September 4, 2010
The Deep End of the Ocean
Classes started this week. In my first one, my professor said "Cold water, meet deep end." No kidding. I'm actually a fan of jumping unabashedly into the deep end, but this is all a bit much for me. I'm treading furiously until I can get my bearings and adjust to my new schedule of teaching and studenting, but until then, I'm feeling completely overwhelmed.
So I've got pictures for you, instead of word vomit.
They were supposed to give us a sample syllabus for the course I teach, and I was fully planning to follow it. Don't try to reinvent the wheel, I'm always trying to tell myself. However, they still haven't done it, and I can't keep waiting forever. So I found myself planning it like this:
I believe this to be bordering on certifiably insane. But I have something even crazier to share. This is a photo of my assignment book, for the assignments that were due this past week, which means they all had to be accomplished before classes had even begun:
And here's the list for next week. Please note how few cross outs I have yet managed to accomplish. Yet, I've been reading and planning almost non-stop since Tuesday morning.
Other news in brief:
I dove for a ball in our softball game last night and tore open my knee. A nasty scab is forming. And I didn't even stop the ball. And we played such a bad single inning that the game ended early on account of the slaughter rule.
Andy Roddick did me a favor by bowing out of the US Open in the second round, so I am no longer tempted to set aside my work for tennis watching. Though yelling at a lineswoman for mixing up her right and left can hardly be considered "bowing." I have a lot more to say about this but no time in which to say it.
Must get back to work.
(The Deep End of the Ocean is a book by Jacquelyn Mitchard that I can remember reading back in the 90s when Oprah put it on her booklist. I believe it fed nicely into my John Grisham crime novel obsession.)
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