By The Pricking Of My Thumbs...

Things are starting to roll now.  I’ve met with Youngish Prof, for whom I shall slave as TA this time ‘round.  I’ve seen the syllabus and the texts.  The schedules are set.  Oh, that’s ugly though.  I got three sections in the late-afternoon/early evening.  One.  After. Another. So I’ll get the folks napping after a late lunch or starving before an early dinner.  Joy.  I much prefer the early morning classes because students just sleep in – problem solved.

The especially fun thing is that the other TA is something I haven’t seen here.  She’s a 17-year veteran of the high school wars.  She just this year went back to school to get her PhD.  She said that one of the main reasons she knew she needed to get out of teaching high school was the arrival of legal teaching standards from on high.  Very interesting.

She is wonderfully full of experience and wisdom about teaching, but more interestingly, she’s got a refreshing dose of idealism and awe about getting back into the university world.  I’m afraid Youngish Prof and I kind of surprised her when talking about all of the CYA stuff we have to do – keeping detailed grade lists, attendance, percentages and ‘> x absences = F’ kinda stuff.  It sounded as if she had hoped she had left all that in the high school realm.

Youngish Prof explained that when the students come to argue, we have to be able to defend the grades they received.  She said, “So much for learning for learning’s sake, eh?” and “I thought this would be more like a community of scholars.”  I didn’t really know what to say.  Youngish Prof and I just sat there for a bit and then both tried to tell her how good her seminar classes would be.  I hope she’s not too disappointed.

Another interesting piece of the puzzle – she’s never taught or studied Gruub.  She’s got a background in the broader studies to which Gruub belongs, but she’s never dealt specifically with the topic.  She seems extraordinarily diligent, so I’m sure she’ll do fine, but it’s going to be a whole lot of work to get up to speed.  

The two of us came up with a good deal.  I’m going to rely on her expertise in teaching, and I’ll answer all the questions I can about Gruub.  

Badly written, badly written, but no time to edit, I have to get back to fixing wedding photos!