As mentioned below, I will be teaching from 8:30am-2:20pm three days a week (for three weeks) starting next week. This will be interesting on a number of levels. First, that will take me to the END of week 38 pregnancy wise. Yes, I have a few back-up people arranged. Second, this will be the longest class I’ve ever taught. I’ve done three week intensives other summers but the timing was kinder (a WMST one last summer - wow, was that really only one year ago - but we scheduled it on four mornings rather than three days thus meaning no need for a lunch break and making the day significantly shorter). Third, oh I forgot my third point.
So I have broken the class up into just over an hour long sections. Section one, coffee break, section two, coffee break, section three, lunch hour, last section. I quite like 60-70 minute sections. That seems to max out the attention spans without entering the glazed portion of the show.
Again, interesting as I’ve never taught four classes in one day - which is what this pretty much comes out to be. So I am doing very much what Kim mentioned in her comment yesterday - share the work!
Section one: lecture. I will talk, they will write, they will feel they’ve been “Instructed”. As much as I try to drill it into students that active learning gives them more skills, they learn as much, and they learn with less pain and wasted time - students want to be lectured to and to take notes. I continually get the feedback “but how do I study for this test as there are no notes!” and I ask if they could write a three page long reply about the use of the hero’s journey to explore notions of childhood transforming into adulthood/maturity in three of the texts we covered and they say ‘yes, no problem’ and I say ‘well that’s the whole point!’ But they still want notes. It doesn’t matter that they learned the components of the Hero’s Journey by actually tracing it out in our multiple examples and in group work and in our discussions. They are worried because they don’t have a page of notes on it. So you know what, each morning I”ll give them some notes - but that is it! Plus it will cut down on the late wanderers or at least provide some tangible consequences.
Section Two: Presentations- prep and delivery. For half the sessions this will be independent time in the class or in the library (or the cafe, I don’t really care). They will be doing group presentations and since there is no wiggle room for them getting together, I will provide that time in class. Plus they can then ask me for any input or help. The second half of the sessions will use this time block to, well, present their presentations.
Section Three: Guided activity of some kind (this I’m mapping out in full today). I already have four of these sections done, and they include specific guided questions about the texts due that week, a theoretical approach, a key concept for the study of literature/children’s literature. I have five left to prep and I think I’ll try to find a few good articles for a couple of these. Hand out the article before the break, give them time to read it with their coffee, and then come back and discuss the significance.
Section Four: The carrot and the stick. Or something like that. Each Friday is test time. Three weeks, three tests. The first two are midterms and they’ll have an hour, and the last one is the final and I’ll give them 90 minutes. For what it is worth, this pretty much works out to be how long the final usually lasts in a regular course. It just breaks it up for them (studying) and for me (marking each weekend rather than a huge wack at the end). At this point the plan is to use section four on the non-test-days as a movie time. I think we’ll watch Harry Potter and The Dark Crystal. Or at least watch significant clips of them with time for discussion (I’ll select clips that tie with my discussion that day). Potter is good for the last week as we’re reading The Golden Compass so we can do all the magic stuff. Dark Crystal is good for week two because we’re doing Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH and both have elements of Heroes, Quests, etc.
Now, if I can just get this all mapped out today, finish my sketches of the midterms and final, and firm up my lectures/activities… hopefully by Monday since I start teaching on Tuesday.
Our books are: The Paper Bag Princess, Where the Wild Things Are, Mrs. Frisby, Charlotte’s Web, Anne of Green Gables, and The Golden Compass. The four groups will present on the four novels. I’ll also do lectures on Myths, Fairy Tales, Fables, and Nursery Rhymes.
Class work includes the three exams, presentations, short paper to go with presentation, and 10% for showing up and talking.
Almost sounds like I know what I’m doing, eh?
I have emailed my various gift registries so far to mom and she is going to throw me a shower next month. One friend has asked about something “big” I want. I have no clue what to ask for. Any input? And I never know what is “big” - like a BumGenius 3.0 big or like a stroller big?
