first cold of the semester

And of course, for the second week of the new semester, I have a cold. This is hardly surprising, but is rather irritating.

Other than that, the semester has been going pretty well so far. I'm adjusting to teaching first-year students again and am floundering for teaching-appropriate apparel that won't actually kill me in this 100+ heat.

The first-year students were tough to wrangle that first week. We're in a classroom that's not really built for 22 students. It's a tech room, though, and as I have a few non-native English speakers in that class, the document camera is a HUGE help. But we're crammed into an odd room around a long long table, so that students almost can't stand not to chatter with each other. I've gotten that mostly under control, I think, and am reminding myself, as I remind the new GTAs, that these students were in high school only a few months ago. They're adjusting and learning how to be college students, too. We have a decent rapport, but it's only mildly controlled chaos and I think I need to get a bit more control to make this room work for me. In a more traditional room, it's not much of a problem for me. I like mildly controlled chaos, but in this room, it's too hard to hear, too hard to regain that control, and too hard to keep people focused.

Still, it's going pretty well thus far. Many of them are good-natured and very smart. Better prepared than I was expecting.

My Advanced Expository Writing for Prospective Teachers is chugging along well, too. I gave a kick ass lecture on the history of composition in the U.S. yesterday and got some good questions. Mostly engaged, good natured, and thoughtful young men and women in that class.

We'll see how this cold bodes for tomorrow. I teach, then have a classroom observation, then teach. It'll be about 4.5 hours straight, which isn't so bad except for the cold part. Maybe it'll be gone by then. Hope springs eternal.