This morning, I'm trying to remember to do my writing first before going to teaching duties. Yesterday I did grading for my online classes; I thought I was caught up with grading late work, only to discover that I had some more to do. It's not a huge deal--it's late work, after all, so students should have no expectation of timely grading. But the term is ending soon, so there's some pressure, all self-imposed, because the semester isn't ending that soon.
In short, I was in a sour mood yesterday. That's not the reason I didn't do any blogging. I didn't do any blogging because time just zoomed away from me.
I went to school yesterday, and had a good in-person teaching day. My English 101 class got their final exam writing assignment and settled in to write--they are one of the best classes I've ever had about settling in to a writing day.
My British Lit class was wonderful in a different way. I did a variation of an in-person final exam that I did in the spring with my American Lit class (see this blog post for more information). My Brit Lit class is much smaller, so I skipped some steps. First I had them write their top 5 list, the 5 works we studied which most inform their understanding of the world today, the top 5 list of works that they would keep on the syllabus. Then I had them divide into 2 groups of 4 students. Each group made a group list and put it on the board at the same time.
Both groups had Frankenstein at the #1 spot, which I expected. I was happy that both groups also included "Goblin Market" and Mrs. Dalloway. We had a good discussion about the similarities in the works and the differences. One group also included Wollstonecraft's "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman" for similar reasons. That group's fifth work was "Porphyria's Lover," which led to a great discussion of new ways of telling stories and creating characters, like the dramatic monologue--new ways which are as old as literature, in many ways.
The other group chose Dorothy Wordsworth's journal, which made me happy and led to a conversation about women's lives and ordinary lives being seen as important--links to Mrs. Dalloway. The other group also chose Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," mainly for ways it shows the way the past affects the present--good insights that the student who advocated for it came up with on his own.
We also talked about works that we didn't cover deeply or much at all, and what might be included next time. One of my students suggested Jane Austen, and I said that I had also been thinking about adding Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. I also mentioned that Sense and Sensibility is coming back to the big screen for one day only and recommended it. I may have waxed too enthusiastic about Emma Thompson, saying, "If Emma Thompson came through that door right now and said, 'Come away with me right now, and we'll make wonderful movies,' I would leave without a second thought. Would I go get my purse? Yes, probably." And then we talked about big name British actors of the 1990's for a few minutes, and then I turned our attention back again to the work of the course.
I feel very lucky to be teaching this next generation of students at Spartanburg Methodist College. They give me hope for the future. They have a wide range of interests: I'm thinking about my Brit Lit students who had a great conversation about musical theatre when I asked them about the direction of theater after "Waiting for Godot." They've been good sports about my cell phones in class ban. They're respectful, even as they question what the larger world wants them to believe.
I've got one more class day, today, wrapping up three classes, and then it's on to Thanksgiving and exams. I don't need to report to campus for exams, another aspect of life that makes me feel very lucky. So much gratitude here in this week as we dash to Thanksgiving and beyond!
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