Today is my first day back to school. It’s been a mad dash to the finish line but lesson plans in hand, I’m as ready as I think I could ever be.
As most of you know by now, I’m teaching a new class this semester.
It’s exhilarating and completely intimidating all at the same time. The thought of walking into a room with 34 pairs of eyes on me is enough to send me running in the other direction. But, I spent the last three weeks practicing excellence and preparing to teach, to demonstrate, to guide, to share what I know and what I’ve learned.
Yes, I wrote this entire course in three weeks.
Some may have sketched out the first few class periods and left the rest to office hours and Friday afternoons. I wanted to see the whole semester. And by “whole semester,” I mean:
4 textbooks spanning almost 500 years
78 pages of notes
a 4-page outline for the first class
52 pieces of media (30 recordings, 22 YouTube videos)
77 slides of images
2 paper assignments
a 5-page syllabus
7 group project assignments
10 essay topics
14 research paper topics
15 quizzes
I wanted to walk in on the first day with the big picture in mind. I want to teach every day with a goal, a purpose, an objective. This is where we’re going to start and this is where we’re going.
Ready or not, let’s do this.
