The Summer Chills
How I am feeling today: Great. Thanks for Asking.
What I am listening to today: Feng Suave – Warping Youth (Full EP)
What I am reading today: Not Elegy, But Eros by Nausheen Eusuf
***
Today ends a five-day gauntlet of teacher trainings via Zoom. It has been a lot of new information and my brain is fried. Beginning the Fall completely remote is a gift to be sure, but also it requires an entirely new way of conceiving of education and the classroom.
For instance, as a teacher in a zoom classroom I cannot require my students to turn on their cameras or the microphones. In theory, when classes start next week, I may be teaching to a couple dozen black screens with student’s names on them. And the task is doubly precarious given that I teach many introverted writers with an aversion to public speaking and class discussions. I love class discussions, though, as a teacher. I enjoyed them as a student as well in college, but in high school, I do not think I would have been as brazen in front of my peers.
All I can do is stay up to date on the technologies and prep my curriculum as much as possible. Only time will tell, I suppose. In any case, I am excited for the semester and look forward to having students I have had before, as well as new students. I found out this morning that I will have seventy-five students total between my four classes. Sixty-nine of those students will be 9th graders. I’m still processing that. I usually have a mix from 7th-12th. Tis should make for an interesting semester to be sure.
I will be teaching…
Core Short Story (the fundamentals of crafting short fiction)
Environmental Perspectives (the relationship between humanity and the natural world)
Travel Writing (two sections of this class exploring how exactly you tell the story of a place)
That is it for now. I leave you with a picture of me after my morning walk the other day looking all happy and like the relaxed and squirrely morning person I am.
Nick Dante 