School's In

Well, school is in full swing now, and I made it through the first two weeks. I got caught up on all the news from my colleagues and am now getting ready to handle the first set of rough drafts coming in from my freshmen next week. They are writing about an event that had an impact on them and made them who they are today, so this will be interesting. I always get at least a couple of essays in which I learn much more than I wanted to.

I have a great schedule this semester: I teach on two freshman composition (I always want to spell that "compostion"--some of their writing would make really good compost!) Monday and Wednesday (MW) afternoons, and two more on Tuesday and Thursday (TR) mornings. Then I have a literature class on TR afternoons. I don't have to come in at all on Fridays!!!!

So far, my favorite classes are the TR's. Early morning students, for all their complaining about getting up early, are very animated and talkative. We have had some great discussions so far. Also, both of these classes meet in small classrooms, which I have found forces them to interact with each other. It makes for a nice, intimate, comfortable setting. I was worried about the afternoon lit class because that time period is usually conducive to napping and lack of good discussion. This semester I began giving random pop quizzes, so this group has come to class prepared every day, which has made for a really fun discussion of the literature.

My MW afternoon classes are a different story. While those students seem prepared, for the most part they just want me to do my thing and let them take their notes and get out with as little interaction as possible. They are all very nice though. It doesn't help that one of my classes meets in the agriculture building, which on Wednesday last week had a terrible barnyard odor. We found out later that there were chickens in the building. Also, on Wednesday, I sent my students out on a 15-minute field trip, and while they were gone, I could hear the instructor next door giving his lesson about the different qualities of saliva that different animals have. It was pretty gross. (Remind me one day to tell you about the mechanical cow that is in one of the classrooms!)

I received an email yesterday from one of the English department secretaries informing me that a new student has been added to one of my classes. I can only assume that anyone being added this late must be a hurricane refugee. All of the public universities in Tennessee are admitting students displaced by the hurricane. All a student has to do is show up and say that he or she is from one of the universities that is now closed, and we will admit him or her. Apparently--I got this info from the campus newspaper--the admissions people ask whether the student has already paid his tuition, and if he says he has, he isn't asked to pay anything here. No documentation is required; they are on the honor system. I hope no one is abusing this situation.

So that's my first couple of weeks back at work. This coming week will be fairly easy, but then the essays will start coming in, and the heavy grading will start. I'm sure I won't be able to refrain from telling you about the interesting grammar goofs that some people will commit. Here's a preview from past essays: One student getting dressed for an event put on his favorite quarter roy pants, and another student went through a bad breakup that left him with a hard ache.