Comparisons

Two classes of the new semester are done. On Monday I left the class feeling like this was a much better group than I had last semester. I sort of chalked it up to the fact that this group had signed up for an 8AM class - last semester I taught at 3PM. If they're willing to get up that early for class, they must be serious, right?

Well, maybe not. My mother is the one (they always know best, don't they? - it also helps that mine taught at a the college level for many years) who politely suggested that maybe the group seemed better because my confidence going into class on Monday was light years ahead of my confidence last semester. True statement. I had zero nerves going into class on Monday - I had added significantly to my syllabus based on the experience of last semester. I felt ready to deal with the situations and personalities of this semester.

Monday's lecture was an improvement on last semester too. The first couple of chapters last semester were given pre-deciding to handle my Powerpoint presentations differently. For this semester I've gone through those first few chapters and turned them into they types of lectures I was giving by the end of last semester. I was more comfortable with this lecture and I think that also helped me on Monday. In fact, I had a student stop by after class and tell me that she had tried to take the class last semester but had to drop out because she hated the instructor's style. She told me that she loved the way I presented the material and was happy she had signed up for the class again. That sort of made up for the girl who told me I was horrible at teaching after the first class last semester.

Of course there will be those who don't put in effort and there will be those who get upset when we get into serious stuff - like exams - and grades, but overall I feel much better about class this time around.

On a slightly unrelated note - it was truly strange for me to see a new group on Monday. I was so used to my students from last semester that through much of the class I would look out and see, not the new faces, but the ones who used to occupy those seats. I wouldn't go so far as to say I missed my former students, but I supposed I hadn't realized how comfortable we get with a certain group of people.