An Extra 25 Minutes

True to my word, I held my students right up until the end of class today. This actually was not enough time. In the Spring Semester I am usually given a class that meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays for one hour and 20 minutes. In the Fall, the switch me to a three day a week class. Each session meets for 55 minutes. Those extra 25 minutes make a B I G difference and I would have really liked them today.

Must of the class was spent going over my course syllabus. I also handed them a survey to find out about their likes and dislikes and how familiar they are with old television shows and movies (Old in terms of being from my generation), ones that I plan on working into my lecturers.

I did not have a chance to talk about my grading policy (and not giving out many “A’s”). I did not have a chance to talk about when they will get my critiques back (They usually like to have the grade the same day they give a speech. I usually get it back the next class session but will let them know it could be as much as three sessions later—one week from when they gave the speech). I did not have a chance to talk about the rules I want them to use when they evaluate a classmates speech. I did not have a chance to have them respond to a question of the day, or even explain to them what this is. All of these things will have to cut into Wednesday’s class time, time I want to use for something else. Still, I will manage.

The truth is, for a first class session, I felt things went well. I think they have an idea of who I am and what I am all about. I even had one student in class who, when I took attendance, indicated he was in the wrong class but he would like to see if he could switch into my class because it sounded more interesting and more enjoyable than the math class he had at this time.

On the whole, this was a good first class and I am excited and ready for the next one.