During the first days of classes among the traditional syllabi discussion and run-down of the course I discovered a few things:
- No matter how many times I get asked, I will always find it amusing that students ask if they have to give speeches in a public speaking class. It's also equally if not more amusing to watch their eyes widen in horror at the fact they also have to write papers in addition to giving speeches in my class.
- I am going to have to just set aside a whole class period to talk about Aristotle, Plato, Cicero, Quintillian, and all the great philosophers who developed the art of public speaking. I get way too geeked out and find myself talking about them the whole class period every time, no matter how much I tell myself I'm gonna cut it short.
- Having a position where my job is to advocate for student rights and encourage them to challenge the system is bad ass, and I love that I still get to teach on top of that.
- The two weeks culminating up to the start of the new year and first week back is exhausting, and I need to take a long vacation before this craziness starts next year.
- Teaching an 8 a.m. class has been both brutal and rewarding. I also now find it impossible to sleep in on the weekends. I'm not sure how I feel about this yet.
I really enjoy British humor. I've been watching a lot of Dr. Who lately and forgot how much I appreciate both the brits' dry sense of humor and their television. So, I thought you should enjoy some of their humor too.
And now that I've made you laugh, I'm gonna leave you on a more somber note. Sending out positive vibes to all those on the East Coast and hope everyone has been safe from Irene. I have some friends out there, so I was tracking it all throughout last weekend. Not everyone came out of it O.K. and the following image and story is kind of heartbreaking. Click the link of source for the full story. Stay safe all.
