School starts again today for me. Teaching in college gives me something elementary and high school teachers don't get: two first days of school. There are both pluses and minuses to having two first days.
On the plus side there is the positive excitement that comes when starting something new. Enthusiasm levels are high. On the first day it is possible to believe that everything this term will be 100% "perfect." This will be the term that every student walks in motivated and eager to learn. This will be the term that everything runs smoothly, from textbooks being delivered in the promised two days to assignments that will be turned in early but for sure by the due date. This will be the term that all the lessons coalesce and form an exciting whole. This will be the term when no one, myself included, will get sick or have problems outside of class that impinge on what goes on in class. As far as I am concerned, every new student I will meet tonight will be coming in with all the skills and background necessary to do well in the course. It's going to be a perfectly wonderful term, for my students and for me.
On the other hand, having two first days means having to be nervous twice during the year. My family has figured out that leaving me strictly alone on the first day is the sane way for them. It means having to be able to put names and faces together almost immediately. It means worrying about which students will be the ones that will need the extra help, and will I recognize this early enough to do them some good. And because the college has late registration, as most colleges do, it means that the first day will be there for some students through the second week, causing me to sound like a VCR stuck on a constant loop, repeating while still moving on.
Someone once asked the actress Mary Martin what she felt the difference was between acting in a play and acting in a movie. Her answer was that acting in a play meant that every night was opening night. There were first night jitters and tension each time she went on the stage. A movie allowed for "do overs" out of sight of the audience. I know just how she felt. Tonight is opening night and I hope the critics will be kind. I know what the script has in store for the audience. I hope they will be receptive to the "play's" contents. I hope they will be involved. I hope they will come out of their experience feeling it was money well spent. I hope that the play will follow the prepared script, but I'm prepared to improvise if need be.
Excuse me now while I go rehearse my opening monologue yet once again. You can never be too prepared for a first night.
6 comments:
i always found the first day to be a waste of time and i generally didn't go.
the teacher spends an hour giving out a syllabus and other materials and then reading through the syllabus and reminding us about basic class responsibilities.
a waste of time.
Lion--I'm speaking from experience with Prof K's class, she doesn't work the way you describe. Sure she gives out all the class materials for the entire term and then she told us to go home and read the syllabus because there would be a quiz on it the next meeting, which she gave and which she counted. And she taught the first night. Not a teacher whose class you wanted to skip at any point in the term. Also one of the few professors I had who didn't read the text book to us. She thought that was our job. See ProfK, some things you never forget :).
Jake--I'm pleased you remember something from class, although I'd rather it was the actual class material.
Lion,
You didn't actually hear this from an instructor BUT there are better days to take a "day off" than the first class. For one thing, you actually need to have the class materials given out. For another, I'm not the only instructor with an attendance policy--a certain number of cuts and you fail the class. There may be a wedding, an illness, an exam in another class that just might be a better reason than "boredom" for taking a day off. And yes, Jake is right; I start teaching from the first day. I surely cannot be the only instructor to do so.
"there are better days to take a "day off" than the first class"
let's just say that the first day is not the only one i think is dispensable. :)
One term when our oldest was still in college he kept getting home earlier then we knew he should be. When we asked if he had dropped his last class he told us that except for the midterm and the final nobody was showing up for class. Basically the teacher was reading the book to the class and then letting them out early, so why bother going at all. What's with that?!! As the parent paying his college tuition I was not happy, although he was. Since when did attendance in class become optional?
"there are better days to take a "day off" than the first class"
LOZ - let's just say that the first day is not the only one i think is dispensable. :)
There are definitely some professors that don't make good use of the class time allotted. However when I was in school, I tried to miss as few classes as possible just in case something interesting would be presented. Basically I only missed days that were unavoidable, chagim, and major smachot. But I didn't consider any of the time wasted because when class was boring, I would study the material instead. Even on the first day, which I agree was often boring, I would start reading the textbook. Usually by the end of the first week or two, I had read most of, or the entire, textbook.
Mark
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