Last night I finally went to my Language and Culture in Education class. This is the third week of the semester, but since the semester started on a Wednesday and last Monday was a holiday, yesterday was our first class. It was pretty strange feeling like I was starting to get adjusted to my schedule and everything and then just start another class. But, I think the content will be really interesting, so I'm looking forward to it. (Actually, the classes themselves better be interesting--the class is from 7-9:30pm and I think I'll have a hard time concentrating if it's not very interactive.) My first impression of the professor is hard to describe. It was kind of like we weren't sure if we could take him seriously. For example, on the schedule for next week is a "Symposium." "Symposium Participation" counts for 35% of our grade (and next week is the only one). So when someone asked him what the symposium was, he said, "well, it's a party." And I'm thinking, a party--could he be serious? We were all doubting him, but then he passed around a sign up sheet for us to put down what kind of food we'd be bringing. So, if my understanding is correct, I'll get 35% of my grade for bringing in some banana bread and getting to know my classmates next week. It'll be interesting to see how this class goes, but I did hear good things about the professor from some classmates last semester, and I know about half of the people in this class, so that should be helpful.
That brings me to something I noticed yesterday--a big difference between my experience at UNM and things so far at UA. At UNM, it was very rare for me to have classes with people I knew. I guess by my senior year, I had maybe 1 or 2 people in 1 or 2 classes that I already knew. And, my Russian classes had a lot of the same people in them, but that was it. So I didn't really know that many people from school. Maybe in other departments there was more overlap, but I think since Latin American Studies was interdisciplinary, I didn't run into the same people because I took classes in several departments. Anyway, here, I know people in all of my classes. The other GATs and I are in about 3 out of 4 of the same classes (including Preceptorship). I had met all but one of the students in my Contrastive Rhetoric class already. There are people I don't know in the Monday class, but, like I said, I know about half. I think this is really nice, especially since there seems to be lots of group work in a couple of the classes. It makes it easy to ask questions about assignments and share resources. So I'm enjoying that difference.
One more tidbit about classes--my Tues/Thurs class with Dr. Troike is worrying me a little. The main reason is that almost every day I hear a 2nd year EL/L student make a comment to the effect of "Troike's class is the hardest class I've ever had in my whole life" or "oh--you're in his class this semester--good luck." Not very inspiring. So, I'm trying to approach the class without letting this all get to me--trying to be objective. Reminding myself I've taken hard classes before and done fine. But it's hard not to be apprehensive. I'll see how today goes and just try to stay on top of the content, one class at a time...
The last thing I'll mention is that DR observed my class yesterday. I felt a little nervous about it, which was silly, because last semester she was so encouraging; and I'm sure I'm doing a better job now than I was then. But, besides a few constructive suggestions (mostly having to do with the room, actually), she was very positive. Of course, she noticed a student who was really not on-task, but she seemed to think things are going well overall. It's also nice to have some time to talk with her one-on-one about teaching issues after she visits the class.
Well, I think I've gone on long enough. Back to work...
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