1-1-1

Today was the first official class. It was my internship 1 course. That course has graduate students seeking their initial certifications to teach. This first day is a crazy whirlwind. We meet each other, learn about essential questions and the importance of prior knowledge, they work with a group of college students with developmental disabilities, then go home to do research, write and practice a three minute story that they will perform tomorrow in class, and read an article and be prepared to discuss it. Needless to say they leave exhausted and will likely either shut down tonight and be completely unproductive or shift into high gear.
I was excited about today because I was trying something completely new. I have had a new obsession with old postcards and constantly think about ways in which I can use them in the classroom. Today each student was given a small packet of about 5 old postcards and they had to spend a few minutes examining them. In the process of looking them over the task was to think about what is most interesting to them about the post-card. They could consider the picture on the card, the place it is from, the date and location of the postmark, or even the writing on the card if there is any. Then, they rotated around the classroom and consulted with one another about what interested the other people in the class about their post-card. Tonight they have to choose one aspect of the card and research it and then come in tomorrow ready to tell a three minute story. The story should have romance, drama, intrigue, arouse curiosity, have a clear beginning, middle, and end, etc. I am so excited to see what happens. But, having never done this before, I am also somewhat nervous.
In fact, this entire semester makes me a little bit nervous since I am teaching one completely new class and the other two classes have been completely revamped. Who knows what will work and what will flop?
One thing that didn't flop was my session yesterday with the Freshman. We got together to meet and discuss Day of the Locust by Nathaniel West. They are a dynamite group and I am looking forward to meeting with them for our real class on Friday.