la rentrée

And so we begin again. I just taught my first class, which was scheduled to go for three hours (noon to 3PM), but which I let go about 45 minutes early because it's the first week of classes. My first impressions never usually pan out, but today's kids seemed like good ones: there was plenty of laughter and, like last semester, a round of applause at the very end of class (probably to celebrate the fact that I was letting everyone out early). This has no bearing on how the semester will turn out, of course, if last semester is any indication. But it was a good start all the same. Hope springs eternal, right?

The kids don't seem as chatty and smart-assy as some of the kids in my lower-level classes last semester. That's a good thing. I ran them through my syllabus, did some partner and mixer exercises, then broke the class up into teams and got them into a "living sculpture" exercise in which one team would strike a pose while the other teams would shout out guesses as to what the tableau was about. Good times. I hope the rest of my classes are just as good.

I can also say that it's nice to be back at work again. Even though I was busy this vacation, mainly because I had to move in February, I can't say I used my free time as well as I could have. Without specific marching orders or some sort of routine, I slump into jelly when I'm on break. My life needs structure; that much is obvious.


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