A Platypusless Day: Day 1

As I predicted, my first day of teaching approached with no nerves to be found. In fact, when I was sitting in my office and noticed that it was 9:20am (the very time that my class starts), I still didn't freak out. In true Jaclyn fashion, I felt the nerves upon me as I grabbed the door handle and entered the classroom.

The lights were off when I walked in, so I cracked some joke about learning in the dark--I can't remember. You see, when I get nervous, I become a standup comedian. It happens at doctor's appointments, during speeches, and while teaching. While most people seem to laugh and make me feel relaxed, my scared little students just looked at me. I saw a few smiles, but no laughter.

And the nerves got worse as a result.

With a shaky hand, I passed out the syllabus and started going over the key points. I made sure to explicitly say that this class is different from what they are used to in high school. That the 5 paragraph essay they have mastered is going to function like training wheels: you can't learn to ride a bike without them, but you also won't win any bicycle races at 18 years old if they are still riding with training wheels. The students were all making eye contact and engaged by what I was saying (or, they are excellent actors), so that helped me to relax a bit. After syllabus time was through, I had them play the baseball game that I learned from Karen.

After the class was divided into two sides, the students seemed uneasy and that scared the crap out of me. I would have welcomed a chorus of crickets rather than the silence that followed me asking the first team what they wanted their name to be. I named them Team Zebra.

Whaddaya know, they thought that was hilarious.
(I pat myself on the back there... mentally)

I asked what the second team wanted to be named and there was more silence. Sigh. So, I named them Team Ostrich. The game seemed forced for the first 3 minutes or so. I started getting scared, but figured I would chill out and let things happen naturally. Lucky for me, things really turned around a few minutes thereafter.

By the end of the class period, I had learned at least half of their names and they (for the most part) looked excited and happy. I hope I can say the same after the Berger reading on Monday.

Over all, I was very happy with how things unfolded and with the energy that was in the room. I feel good about this group of students and I think they feel very comfortable with me. Comfortable, but not so comfortable with me as to attempt to walk all over me. 'Cause I'm a hard ass. And a hard ass has gotta keep up that reputation somehow.