Today I'm feeling a bit fragmented: I have grades due this week for my online class, which means lots of grading, plus I'm headed to my parents for a few days before my schedule gets a bit more intense. Let me collect a few bits before I head out for my walk and/or do more grading.
--The more I read and grade research essays, the more I feel like I am trying to teach a medieval skill that won't be relevant in the world we're inhabiting, like teaching students to shoe a horse in an age of spaceships. Today, as I wrote a comment about italicizing titles of journals, I thought about how few of my students have held an academic journal in their hands.
--That said, there are so many other types of writing that are so much more valuable. As I type out the word valuable, I think about how society values writing ("Can you make money from that?") and how I value it (will it help us cope and/or can it help us discover something?).
--I was surprised to find out the the children in my Bristol, Tennessee congregation started school last week. On this side of the mountain, they don't go back until August 28. We will do blessings of backpacks at our ice cream social on August 13.
--Next week, I'll be getting ready to go back to the classroom myself. I start teaching at Spartanburg Methodist College on August 15, and I'm really looking forward to it. I'll say more about that later, when I'm not distracted by this week's teaching tasks for my online classes.
--In some ways, I feel like my life has folded back on itself. I think back to the fall of 1988, when I was in my second year of grad school, so not as anxious about my ability to do grad level work, and I was excited to be able to try out some of my teaching ideas with classes. Back then, it was my first time teaching, and this year, it's not. But it feels similar. I'm excited for the teaching opportunity and for autumn coming and for the classes I'll be taking.
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