Well, the first week of online classes is over, survived, apparently unscathed.
I did confirm what I'd been hoping was the case: the weird disturbing headaches, hot flashes, dizzy headedness, and so on, accompanied by my hearing my voice coming as if from far away and very quiet, etc. etc. etc., was a product of doing real time live online classes, especially ones where the students had their videos off. I made it through the week without experiencing anything like those symptoms, which had been plaguing me ever since the middle of last June or so. My especial worst class for headaches etc. was period 5 Reading and Writing for second year students on Thursdays. The other classes before or after that one didn't seem to affect me as malignly, though they were also challenging often. ANYWAY, in addition to being headache free and undizzy, it was great to see the kids in person again. We are all wearing masks, but their eyes are very expressive. Highlights: 1) Memorizing all the names of my Freshman English Interactive English class for English majors (twenty-one of them), and guessing correctly which girl is called Shiori and which boy called Renta. And having some nice self-introduction speeches from them. 2) Visiting the groups of four, three, and three in my seminar and listening to them talk about the book we're reading, Wonder. 3) Talking about Farewell to Manzanar with one of my Master's students and realizing that it is a great book (though terrible in many ways in relating the awful internment camp experience of the Japanese American author when she was a little girl). 4) Learning most of the names and faces of my other Freshman English Interactive English class, this one for Pharmacy students, and hearing some interesting speeches from them, like one by a girl who said she played point guard in high school and told us about her cute welsh corgy shiba inu mix dog who's "ferocious," or one by a boy who told us about his favorite mystery genre author and books. 5) Learning a few of the names and faces of my Intermediate English Reading and Writing class for Commerce majors, telling them about Botticelli's Birth of Venus painting while comparing it with a picture of Peter Brown's wild robot Roz breaking out of her box/shell as she's born on her new island home (and not getting a weird headache during the period 5 class!). 6) Leaving campus earlier than expected on Wednesday because our humanities meeting including voting for the new dean was shorter than I thought it'd be (I could leave before 6:00 pm). 7) Enjoying telling the American Culture class students about English spelling (i before e, except after c!) and then doing a spelling bee with them. 8) Talking about The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (the part where Dorothy and company find out that he's a humbug instead of a great wizard!) with two of my graduate students. 9) Talking about Anne of Green Gables with my PhD student (focusing on kindred spirits and Gilbert Blythe and so on). 10) Running into colleagues I hadn't seen for a long time! Difficulties: 1) my lower legs, especially the shins, starting to really ache as my work week went on, cause I had become unused to standing and pacing etc. for 90 minute classes, and the bottom of my right foot, below the toes, starting to feel sprained again... 2) discovering/remembering that waking up at 5:40 is too late to be comfortably ready for and on time to my Friday period 1 Culture class. 3) looking out my office window and seeing all these giant construction vehicles as they continue working on this new empty space out there where the old pool was before being demolished in CONCLUSION, I am thinking it's good to be doing classes in person, both for the students and for me, and I'm hopeful that my legs will get worked into condition and that I'll get back in the swing of in person classes soon!
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Jefferson Peters (JP)
Can you find me in the picture above? Archives
December 2023
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