My first post of the year…
…And it’s January 22. I fear this is a sign of how the semester will be. I have over-committed myself to various things at BRCC. Some of what I’m doing is important to me, but it contains elements that are not. Others are important and I enjoy. In either case, I’ve forgotten how to say no and I need to start prioritizing.
Classes are going well so far. This semester I am teaching Introduction to Humanities for the first time ever. I’m excited about it and frustrated because I can’t keep my mind out of the theory clouds and in the community college classroom. I think I’ve put together something accessible, but we can only see how it unfolds.
I’ve been very persuaded by the literature I’ve been reading about students today. Regardless of the problems with categorizing and labeling, I have found the insights that characterize students to be helpful in reaching them. So one of the things I’ve taken to heart is that they are “makers of things,” they are part of the DIY media culture. So I’ve hunted up all sorts of ways for them to make things in all my classes. I am experimenting with wikis and bboards this semester for HUMN. These are old news for some folks, but I’ve never wanted to explore dealing with rubrics and how to grade them. So I have to do that now. I’m incorporating Glogs as well — I just discovered glogster. I’ve always been condescending about people who use posters as projects in their college level classes. I’ve never found them convincing as college-level work. I’m comfortable with the assignment I’m using, but I still need to think through rubrics and the like.
Looking over all the “new stuff!!” I’m doing, I realize that once again I’m working harder than I need to and spending more time on classes than I need to.
So, for now, I’ll just practice:
“No….”
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