First Day Success

The first day of class was so much better than last semester. I was able to keep myself from getting nervous during the morning (telling myself that it was just a regular day at the office--sitting in the computer lab, working on lesson plans...). I did start to feel flustered about 5 minutes before class started, but I prayed about it and actually did feel better. It's hard to tell much about the students from just the first day, but they seem pretty good. (Angel, for example, told me yesterday that she could tell already one or two of hers would be troublemakers--I didn't have anyone that stood out in that way). I also don't have 6 girls named Katie this time, which is nice. In fact, I don't think I have any students with the same names. I think I did a much better job of explaining the syllabus, and I had them introduce themselves and do some in-class writing about their English 101 classes. It was interesting to read those and get an idea of what they had learned last semester, what they hope to learn this semester. Overall, I feel pretty satisfied with how the first day went, although there are still things I could do better next time.

I also went to my Contrastive Rhetoric class in the afternoon and I think that will be really interesting and applicable. It's about the way writing in a first language and second language interact with each other (in terms of linguistics, style, organization). Since I expect to teach an ESL section next semester, this class should be helpful preparation.

Also, I wanted to mention that the new bag Grandma and Pop-pop got me for Christmas is great--I was able to put all four of the textbooks for English 102 and my folders and my lunch in it yesterday. (That all would never have fit in my old bag.) The downside is that it was really heavy, but it was nice not to have to carry extra books in my arms. (I also won't have to take all four on the same day again, but yesterday I needed to show the students all the required texts). So, thanks again, Grandma!

I think that's about all there is to say about yesterday. Mark and I were both really tired when we got home, probably because neither of us has been that active in one day since last semester. It's going to take some time to re-adjust to this schedule. Today I'm going to Modern English Grammar, the class taught by the EL/L director which is supposed to be so hard. I'm eager to see how that goes!