As ready as I'll ever be, I reckon

The enrollment for SF still isn't settled for certain; it hasn't been changing much or rapidly, but students can potentially add the class all the way through our second class meeting, so there is the possibility that the numbers will increase--either a little or a lot. The class is capped at 32 (which is absurd, but that's a rant for another time), and currently 16 students are enrolled--so potentially the class could double in size. That's highly unlikely, however. This is the first time that I've taught the class and not had it fill in record time, so I can only assume that students are being scared off by RateMyProfessor.com. I wouldn't mind having a few more students--20 is a nice, round number--but if it holds at 16, that's fine. At the moment, I've made 20 copies of the first-week handouts; if more students are registered by the time I walk into the room on Tuesday, at least I won't have to monopolize the copiers for very long.

(And of course, the copiers are starting to break down, as everyone is trying to get their first-day handouts ready, and even though the department has shrunk alarmingly, there are still a lot of us and not only are we academics--who tend to verbosity--we're academics in the English department, so words are what we do. Not everyone is quite as bonkers as I am about ... well, about anything, really, but specifically about trying to cover every possible contingency as fully as possible. I mean, my syllabus for 101 is particularly ridiculous--but man, are my bases ever covered.)

Paul was in the office today, too. He was in an understandable lather about his online course. He's not taught online before, and there is a steep learning curve having to do entirely with the factory work aspects of setting up an online course, never mind the conceptualization angles. One has to know which widget to use for what purpose and where to put it so students can find it easily. He asked me if I'd be willing to show him some of what I'm doing--and of course I was, but as it happened, he wisely went to the Distance Ed "open house," at which the computer folks are available for whoever drops in with a particular question or request for aid. He came back from that much more calm and centered, reassured that what he has in place is enough to start with--and that he'll be able to implement the things he wants to do as he goes along.

I offered to share with him some of the stuff I raided from another colleague, one who does a lot of online teaching and, in fact, who has offered a mock online course that professors could "take" to get a feel for how online pedagogy works from a student perspective. Based on what she showed me and what I've gotten from my DE mentor, I'm building a lot of redundancy into the online Nature in Lit, as I don't want students to say "Oh, I never saw that piece of information." Anything important is everywhere. But we know that I overdo things. Yo, dude, that's just how I roll.

It didn't take me very long to get the copying done, but between making sure I was here if Paul needed to peer over my shoulder while I did some work with my own online course and taking advantage of the fact that, well, I'm here, I did a lot of the organizing that I'd normally do on the first day of classes. I have handouts already in folders, ready to schlep to each class. I've pulled together the next batch of copies to send off to Printing and Publications--who, I hasten to point out, got the last batch of things I sent to them done way before I said I needed it, and beautifully done at that. (Another gift basket may be in order.) I still have more organizing of copying to pull together--especially for the SF class--but I want to be sure I know how many copies I need before I run off any more. I am responsible for the death of enough trees as it is.

Oh, and a nice little moment today: I got an email from a student from one of the 101s, asking for the ISBN for the textbooks for the class. However, her email didn't say which class she is in--and she addressed me as "Miss." I wrote back to ask her what class she was in, and I gently explained that teachers in college should routinely be called "Professor"--and that some may even insist on being called "Doctor." She wrote back, profusely apologetic, and I responded with reassurance (and the information about the book). I haven't heard back again, but I like the cut of her jib already. I hope she sticks.

Now, however, I'm about cooked for the day. My social plans for this evening fell through, so I have time to do a little life maintenance (including getting some office supplies, for both here and home). It will feel very good to have that done. I probably won't post between now and Tuesday, but then we'll be off to the races. I'm happy to report that the dread I was feeling earlier has abated, as I get caught up in the simple doing of the work instead of anticipating it, and that I'm ready to meet my classes with equanimity if not happy enthusiasm. So, stay tuned, faithful readers, for another season in the trenches.

Until Tuesday...