First Days of Classes Fall '09

Two days of first classes done. I am teaching 6 writing classes this semester: 4 Prep Writing I and 2 Prep Writing II classes. Luckily for me, all of the Writing I classes are on the same days (MWF) and all of the Writing II classes are on the same days (TR). The only bad things are the sheer number of students that I have right now: almost 23 in each class though of course not all students showed up for the first day of classes. Wednesday will give me a better idea of who is actually going to be in each of my classes and how many are going to stay there.

Once again, I forgot how exhausting these first few days really are. It felt good to be back in the swing of things, but by Monday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. when my last class of the day was over, I could barely keep my eyes open. I think it's the repositioning myself as the "extrovert" I have to pretend to be when in the classroom. All summer long, I've been able to be an introvert, keeping to myself most of the time, but for 4 hours solid, I had to be "on" in front of a group. When I came home that day, I actually fell asleep on the couch for about half an hour and didn't even realize I'd done it. One minute I'm watching the Nightly News with Brian Williams and the next thing I know, the local news is on. I'm not a big nap taker, but I just couldn't help it that day.

I don't yet have a good read on what my students are like. There are just too many of them and we haven't had our "getting to know you" session yet. That's coming on Wednesday. I also still have students asking me to let them into my classes. They are already so full! It's hard to say no, but the numbers are getting overwhelming. A result of the combination of a bad economy, high student enrollment, and not enough teachers.