Character Building

It's been a long, cold, but good summer. Things have been stressful at chezIrishRed as we try to weigh several options about what we are doing next year. L is coming to the end of his PhD and we're trying to decide in which direction the next steps will be. We're down to two offers and should have a final decision within the next week or so. It's been a grueling process and I'll be happy when I have a sense of what is coming next. I do know that it will include us, the cat, cooking, and possibly more time to blog(!); especially if we are more... uh... remote than i have been previously.

I've also been teaching my very own grown up class this summer. Ok, that's more self-depricating that I should be at this point. Let me just say to those who have not lectured a chronological history class - start way in advance with your lectures. It's much harder and more time consuming than you'd expect. Also, give the people whose lectures you sit through a break. After my seemingly constant grumbling about TA assignments over the last few years, I feel like I'm eating a slice of humble pie. This shit is hard.

What have I learned? I do well with power point. And I suck at lecturing social history. I know, the stuff I love and love to talk about puts my kids to sleep. I think I'm doing too much description and  not enough narrative or illustration (examples, etc), but I'll worry about it for the next incarnation. I also really miss section. Yeah, seriously. i'm pretty good at scaring the crap out of students so that at least read something for class and generally do well with discussions - and I miss getting to hear them talk. I actually don't like just hearing myself talk for an hour+. And i figure if I"m tired of hearing myself, they must be exhausted. I'm also getting a following of outspoken women. It's cute, they remind me of me. And if anyone who reads this blog remembers my college years, I'll just say that if I can even for one second be to an undergrad what Darcy was to me, I can die a happy woman. Wow, that sounds really sexual, but it's actually about the professor who got me to where I am today. Which also sounds vaguely sexual... But I'm definitely learning that I MUCH prefer lecture/discussion combinations. Preferably in 2, 2 hour chunks - so 45 min lecture on context, and then 45-60 min discussion of readings in relation to context. Sort of a blend of seminar and lecture. it is totally NOT what I'm doing in this class (not enough time, wrong readings), but definitely how I want to structure my classes going forward.  But, I love this. Even when I'm tired I love every minute of it. It's how I manage to teach for 3 hours straight and then jump right into 4-5 more hours of solid work for the next class.

The only other thing going on in my little life is that I'm trying to increase my running mileage to train for a 1/2 marathon. So I made it to 8 miles. Or better, I dragged myself along for 8 miles. It may be b/c I was coming down with a cold, or b/c I managed to (as my friend H said once) make running a "full contact sport" between myself and several feet of asphalt, but it sucked. I'm sore, my legs were dead and I'm not so sure I'm going to be able to build the endurance for a 1/2. At least not w/o being really miserable. So, I'm going to keep going (try another 8 miler next week) b/c I certainly said the same thing about a 6 mile run which I now run easily, but something about the 8 miles was really killer.

Ok, enough of my cold med ramblings - just felt the desire to update, even if only for myself.