This might actually be enjoyable!

Since I'm going away to a wedding on Wed. night and not coming back till the day before classes start, I figured I should do some work on my course materials etc.

I'm teaching one course this term and two next term, the reverse of what is usually required of us, but I asked for the arrangement so that I would have time to write those damn exams that are still looming over my head during the fall term. Let's hope I get them written, otherwise, I'm gonna be screwed come spring term!

Anyway, the uni has decided to try and make freshman writing more interesting by creating special topic sections of the required freshman course. So I submitted a proposal and it was accepted. It was a series of sequences that I pretty much already was working with, and all but one I've already tried out and found they worked pretty well.

So anyway, I'll be teaching a freshman writing course in "Constructing Narrative Across Media" which means we get to 'read' a whole bunch of stuff that isn't just books. We'll be 'reading' painting, film, and, you guessed it, blogs! Their final project has them revisiting the work they've been doing all term, which means one option is to create a blog of their own - the last time I tried this with students, most of them 'got' it, though some of them really didn't put much effort into it.

The course is great because I get to talk about narrative, which is something I study and actually know something about. And I get to talk about film and blogs... two things I also know a little about. The only thing I don't know much about is painting, but it's the first thing we do, so it's not like the students are ready to start rebelling yet and usually works out pretty good. It also means we get a field trip to the Museum of Fine Arts across the street (another reason why it's going to be more fun than sitting in the classroom all the time).

I suspected that there might be an added benefit to the class, and there certainly was - when I logged onto the webCT for the course, I saw that I only have 12 students signed up yet! Alright! Now, sure, that could change before the term starts, but a small class would make this an even better course to teach. It's always easier to get students talking, and everyone talking, when there aren't too many people in the class.

I still need to re-read a bunch of the essays and stuff, and write at least one more assignment before the term begins, but it's looking like this could actually be a pretty cool class!