NOW IT CAN BE TOLD:

the answer to this question:  Who in their right mind would spend three hours every Friday night and five hours the next morning (starting at 8:00!) for six weeks, taking a course in English composition and literature?

I've puzzled over this ever since I agreed to teach the class.  It's a first.  No professor at this community college has ever tried to cram 16 weeks into six.  "We need the SWAT team," said the Dean who knows I'm susceptible to flattery not to mention desperate for work, "so that's why we're calling you."

I festered about how to structure the course--an introduction to fiction, poetry and drama--three genres, six weeks . . . two weeks on each?  Logical, I guess, but the more I thought about it, the surer I was that I would rather drive carpet tacks into my gums (David Sedaris's image, not mine) than take--let alone teach!--a course that plodded along so predictably.  I mulled and contemplated; I tossed and turned.  Then somehow, last Monday morning, I woke up with The Answer:  do all three genres at once!  At each class meeting, a chunk of poetry, a chunk of drama, a chunk of fiction (interrelated if I can manage it)--the time will fly!

I've been feeling brilliant about this all week except for worrying about whether the students would be able to handle it.  Whoooooooo would they beeeeeee?

I needn't have worried.  They are smart, supermotivated adults, most of whom plan to enter the helping professions--teaching and health care, mainly.   The one who wants to go to law school wants to do criminal defense.  A brother and sister team are teachers married to teachers, and are themselves the offspring and siblings of teachers (it's a teaching dynasty!).  A librarian at a continuation school.  An EMT (always handy to have in the classroom!)  Half are parents of young children; almost all work full-time.

Culturally, they are a poster class for diversity:  of 15 students, maybe a third are Hispanic, plus a fullblooded Native American woman from one of the local reservations, an African-American woman, a Pilipina, and a scant handful of Caucasian women.   Everyone settled in immediately, got right down to business, worked with each other, worked with me, and never let up for three solid hours except for the 15-minute break we took to go to the bookstore and load up on supplies. 

Many of them who are parents are in school for their children's sake, because they want to give their kids the best lives they can by being, themselves, as educated as possible.  This chokes me up.  Is there hope for the world, after all? I wonder.

I can barely wait to see them again, ten or so hours from now. 

And so--good night!

Comments

[dale]

Oh, that sounds wonderful!

[Trey]

I would be interested in seeing your syllabus.