A lot has happened since I last wrote, yet it also seems like nothing has happened. I mean I pretty much get up, plan class, teach class, coach soccer, and then do something else (meeting, dorm, sleep). Yet each day feels new and exciting. At least once a day I think, I should write about this on the blog and then the day goes by and another and I’m overwhelmed by all that I want to write about. So here goes a fly by of my last two weeks of teaching:
(last) Monday: So I wanted to make sure my students were understanding the basic religious jargon, you know symbol, ritual, myth, monotheism, def. of religion, but I didn’t want to just stand at the board, BRAINWAVE – crossword. They have these awesome website where you put in word and definition and then it create a crossword. Internet you ROCK! The night before I put this plan into effect I get an e-mail that my boss is going to come observe me and I start to worry. Will he think the crossword is a bad idea? Is this too middle school? But he really loved it. Score.
(last) Tuesday: The morning began at 5:15 am when a student came to our door asking for a ride to the infirmary. Thankfully this is a quick trip, but I couldn’t get back to sleep until like 6:45 and my alarm goes off at 7:15. Sleeply Sarah is no good in the classroom. I’m pretty sure we all looked at our watches more than once. Sleepiness, hormones, and a bad teaching day are a great way to psych oneself out. For the next two day, I began planning my new career as a knitting goddess.
Friday: We spent an hour in both classes talking about the Upanishads (a sacred text of Hinduism). They were so engaged. They were wrestling with the text and this is saying a lot because it is a tough text. What does it mean that Atman is Brahman, but Brahman isn’t Atman? No kidding, I lost track of time, I was so into the discussion (hopefully, they felt the same way). Nice way to end the week.
Monday: They had a test in the paired class. Despite this they were still pretty engaged for an hour, but the last 20 minutes they started to fade. I think one student even put his head down on his desk, which is bold in a class of 14 students. It was a good lesson, that I need to find ways to get them active on days when they have quizzes and tests, because they often focus more on the studying and less on reading for that specific day.
Tuesday: Bhagavad Gita day! We actually started the Bhagavad Gita on Monday, but we didn’t start discussing until the last 20-30 minutes (see above for why that didn’t go well). Today I took a different approach. The ole, give ’em questions (in this case theme words), have them write silently and then start discussing. It went a lot better. With a little prodding they made great connections between the key themes.
Wednesday: Debate day! So when I was in high school, I pretty sure I was one of the students I’m about to complain about, but here goes hypocrisy. For so many of the students, debate meant winning the argument, proving how the other person was just wrong. While that can be the point of debate, my goal is for them to see the complexity of the issue, that in truth neither side is all right or all wrong. The experience has really made me sit back and think about how I want to have the students do debates in the future so that they walk away both understanding the issue better and how to communicate better. Of course this will probably require me learning to communicate better too.
So that brings us up to today. Well, sort of…I’ve left out the most exciting part of my day. Coming home to hear a little bell jingle as Calvin runs to greet me. It’s really sweet. I get home from class and rush to change for practice and he follows me from office to bedroom to bathroom to kitchen and back to office. Bell jingling the entire time. Right now he’s napping next to me with his paw on my leg. I may be verging into the crazy cat lady phase. Thank God that I have a crazy cat man husband who doesn’t think I’m crazy.
Happy Homecoming Calvin! Here’s to many more years.
Just Casting On 