Where did the day go (Wed.)

I see that one of my blogging colleagues is also tracking work. Today will be about 10 and a half hours in the office.

8:30 Get to office. (In the parking lot I see Sonia, a former worker in my office, and chat a bit as we walk toward the building.) Already I have thought about the 1st day of undergraduate class, while taking my shower. I write up the plan of what I'm doing in class in 10 minutes. Of course, I wrote the "lecture" part already. I also write answering an invitation for an MLA panel next year. I come up with a title and a brief description of what I would do. Then I start this post. I practice Shakespeare.

9-10. Ok. I am going to do research the first day I teach. I know what I want to do in both classes, so over-preparing will not do anything for me. I write some good paragraphs and then start blogging about them, and also blogging about theory course. Now I need a coffee break.

10-11. Now I am going to look at my undergrad material a bit so they are fresh in my mind. I also do a little posting on this blog. I am getting a little nervous for class. I have many repeat students so that will be good. I raid the office supply cabinet for postits, dry erase markers.

11-12:15. I teach undergraduate course. It goes very well. Many repeat students, 8 from previous courses (out of 19). That makes it easier to break the ice and to learn names. Students learn that we will spend an entire class period on the word "mierda" in comparative analysis with the word "shit."

Early afternoon. Email. Decompression time. Work on an article. Lunch. Walk to bank in the union to cash a check. Work some more on the article. Efficiency is high today. I love my job. Saw two people I know on the way to the Union.

2 p.m. A little nervous. What should I do with two hours to go? I xerox my questions. Go to facebook to debate whether it is possible to write a great public occasion poem. I think it is, but nobody else does. I still am looking for that one extra idea or two for the course. I'm nervous because it is 3 hours long. Maybe I'll use that question: is it possible to write a great poem for a public occasion? Why or why not? I have never taught this particular group of students before, except for one.

Here's another idea: literature could be seen as a branch of rhetoric, philosophy, the arts, or history (Perloff).

I go to Clarissa's blog for inspiration. Teaching literature is possible. That is nice to know.

Reading Language Log I come across a book The F Word that will be useful for teaching my idioms class.

4-7. I teach Graduate theory course.

7. Dinner, spend some time with my amiga.