Hello again
So, the last time I posted on this thing was at the very beginning of the semester. It’s now the week after the end of the semester, so do the math. I’m horrible with blogs; I don’t know why I keep trying to do them besides the fact that I enjoy them when I remember to update. And I’m remembering now, here, what, four months later?
Lets see, what has transpired in the last four months? I took three awesome classes that I really enjoyed and wrote two of the worst final papers for those classes that I’ve done in grad school.
I was a ‘grading assistant’ in two sections of multicultural film. Probably the low point of my semester, mostly because I was shocked at how little the students knew or care to knew. But I have to remember that undergraduates aren’t concerned so much with learning something as getting a good grade; I certainly wasn’t. I wish that I had paid more attention and that my teachers had set higher standards for my work.
Also, I switched from Humanities to American Studies. Switching your major as a graduate student seems a little weird, but knowing me and my inability to make a decision and stick with it, it was really inevitable. I just wish it had been inevitable earlier, so I wouldn’t have wasted my time on all these classes I’ll not really need. I’m switching because Humanities didn’t feel quite right and it certainly didn’t feel inviting. American Studies has a lot of my favorite people I’ve met in my grad studies and allows for not only a lot more freedom in my school work (as long as it’s American, it’s gold) but freedom in my teaching as well.
Probably the biggest thing that’s happened this semester is that I’ve gotten the chance to develop and teach my own course through American Studies, The Modern American Horror Film. It’s been a lot of work and this christmas break is going to be fairly frantic trying to put all of the finishing touches together and finalize a lesson plan but I’m really excited about it. It filled up quickly and I think I will be able to balance fun and learning. I hope I will, at least.
And there’s my redheaded stepchild class, a web section of Multicultural Film. I would really just like to set everything up and let it sort of work itself as the semester goes on. I’ve got a lot to worry about with my other class.
And that’s about it. Kev and I went to screamfest, which was kinda more sad than fun (I did eat the best omelet of my life, though) and Kevin got the idea for a new podcast and movie watching group, the Trash Cinema Collective (hopefully more about this as it develops). Of late, I’ve been trying to clean the house and make it more conducive to our living habits. We were pretty close to moving, but it’s such a hassle and we’d be moving right at the beginning of a new semester, which would be an even bigger pain
I’m hoping that next semester (I only have classes on T/R. Booyah!) I’ll be able to get a part time job, I need the money (who doesn’t, these days) and I’ll have some more free time. I’m still waitng to figure out if I am going to do two or three classes in addition to teaching next semester. I’m leaning towards two, but maybe my schedule will be accomodating enough for three.
So I”ll probably update this thing through Christmas break and forget all about it come Spring semester. You’ve (I’ve) been warned.
