I've got a digital stack of 70 papers to get through. And then 90 more coming in the next two weeks. What happened to this semester?
But the thing that's most intimidating? Organizing a class that I've been teaching for 4 years into modules.
I love the idea of modules; particularly the idea that they should make my class scheduling more fluid. (I'm totally someone who freaks out about having to switch from a MWF schedule to a TTh schedule.) And I do like to organize things: I used to work at a coffee shop/laundry mat/video rental place and organizing movies was my favorite aspect of the job. I like a good spreadsheet. I love index cards (see the bottom of the page for a great Anne Lamott take on index cards). In fact, I'd like to map the course out with index cards, but I left my trusty pile in my desk and I'm in Grand Rapids at the Faith and Writing Festival (ducking out at lunch to blog).
The actual sitting down and doing thing is what I'm not looking forward to. But the time is here, right?
"I have index cards and pens all over the house—by the bed, in the bathroom, in the kitchen, by the phones, and I have them in the glove compartment of my car. I carry one with me in my back pocket when I take my dog for a walk. In fact, I carry it folded lengthwise, if you need to know, so that, God forbid, I won’t look bulky. You may want to consider doing the same. I don’t even know you, but I bet you have enough on your mind without having to worry about whether or not you look bulky. So whenever I am leaving the house without my purse—in which there are actual notepads, let alone index cards—I fold an index card lengthwise in half, stick it in my back pocket along with a pen, and head out, knowing that if I have an idea, or see something lovely or strange or for any reason worth remembering, I will be able to jot down a couple of words to remind me of it. Sometimes, if I overhear or think of an exact line of dialogue or a transition, I write it down verbatim. I stick the card back in my pocket. I might be walking along the salt marsh, or out at Phoenix Lake, or in the express line at Safeway, and suddenly I hear something wonderful that makes me want to smile or snap my fingers—as if it has just come back to me—and I take out my index card and scribble it down." -- Anne Lamott
I appreciate your honesty about the challenges of being organized (or disorganized) and I hope you're able to navigate this course planning to overcome some of the disorganization. I think I will struggle with some of the same issues and being "forced" to do this planning in May will hopefully decrease the chaos when the course actually begins on May 19.
ReplyDeleteOrganization is definitely not my strong suit either and while I like to have a fairly well-organized syllabus at the beginning of each semester I also like to have some flexibility within that structure. I'm a major procrastinator and therefore finding motivation to organize this class when it's not technically starting until July 7 is difficult right now (not to mention I have a 20-page paper due next Saturday and an 18 page paper due next Tuesday). But sometimes I find I'm actually more organized when I'm busier. I don't have time to be disorganized and that's when I actually get the most done.
ReplyDeleteOn a completely different note, I love Anne Lamott and her book, Traveling Mericies, is one of my all-time favorites. I would have loved to be at the Faith and Writing conference, not so much because I love to write, but because I would have been awe-struck by the immense talent at such an event. I'm sure it was a great conference!
I smiled at the MWF --> TTh challenge you mentioned. I did the same switch this semester and I'm finding it difficult to cover the same amount of material. My Business Computer Literacy course involves daily homework and I get the impression that students expect the same amount of homework for a day whether it meets three times a week or two. I'm really curious how the six-week courses will go this summer as far as time allotments.
ReplyDeleteI think I've been moving to a module mentality without even realizing it in this class. I think of them as "units", but maybe that's just showing my age. :-)