First class

First class, and things went normally abnormal -- for teaching that is. Just as I was getting ready to go to the classroom, the electricity went off. As I said, normal for teaching. So we got started in the atrium, and to be honest, I liked the ambience in the atrium much better than when we finally got the electricity back and we went to the classroom.

As I was driving in from Clemson today, I suddenly remembered that I had not duplicated the Biopoem handout - something I had planned to use in class. Oh well, I thought, I can just print it out and copy it at the University Center. Then, no power. So I improvised and did a People Search, which would have been perfect if students in the class had not been in a cohort together for a year or more. It worked OK, but wasn't as effective as I would have liked -- but then, it's a good thing that students know each other so well, and I did give them some examples of using People Searches in get-to-know-you situations as well as in content focused contexts.

Everything else worked pretty well, even though the wireless was down and I didn't get to everything on my lesson plans. I was pleased that I had prepared a module example - that way, students will know what I'm talking about when we discuss the online portion of class, but I realized driving home that I have a reading on the schedule that is not on the module A directions. Hope folks will figure that out - if they don't, it is one mistake out of many I'll probably make this semester.

I hope the structure of the online part of class is [or will become] clear to them - I know they are feeling overwhelmed right now. I just hope they are taking only one course in addition to student teaching/internship because in past semesters when students have been trying to handle more than one extra class, it's been really tough.

Tomorrow, I want to tackle theory base, but don't want it to take the whole three hours. I need to have them "drive" the Blackboard and before I sign off tonight or for sure first thing tomorrow morning, I need to clean out all the comments on Discussion Board from last semester and set up the Support Groups/Book Clubs. . .But my todo list is so long, and time is so short -- and there is that big football game tonight!