Did a class feedback form last Friday. Asked what they think they’ve learned so far and what they’re confused about. Mixed answers in general. Some like the lectures, some like the Q&A, some like the group work. Some feel they’ve learned nothing. Some recited the order of the things they learned (Paleolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age). Some were specific about the Mesopotamian (Mesopatopia!) civilizations. Most were confused about that and I don’t blame them. We’re talking about many, many peoples even I’ve never heard of before in a small piece of land over a large period of time. No one has any idea about the differences between Akkadians and Assyrians and whatnot. I reassured them that once we get into more familiar territory it will get a lot easier. We are already aware of the differences between England, France, and Germany; even a first year community college student knows that.
From the feedback, I sensed that some changes needed to be made in class. Specifically, the way I present things. I need to be more clear about objectives and better emphasize the take-aways in class. So, those adjustments seem to be working. Also helps that we’re talking about Greece now, and only Greece, so the geographic and demographic confusion is clearing up fast. Yesterday we read the passage from the Illiad about Achilles (asshole) fighting Hector (dreamy) and then compared it to the same scene in the movie Troy. After finding what was different in the representation and getting outraged at Hollywood, we looked at Classical Greek art that also misrepresented the same scene. Sometimes it’s difficult to tell if your technique is working; you just have to sense it. I sensed that Friday’s class worked.
Settling into my own classes. Great one on Wednesday. I’m reading now for Monday’s class. In both of these, I’m having the opportunity to re-read books I’ve already read since coming here. And in looking at my old notes, I can tell a marked difference in the perspective of the first-time note-taker from the second-time note-taker. A very pleasant and progressive difference if I do say so.
Lizzie is getting bored with all the reading, naturally. Last night she made me get out her toys and play with her. Thing is, the dog-toys were still kind of packed away and I had no idea she knew where they were. But she did. Good dog. We had some good play. I woke up this morning to the sound of her puking. That’s ordinary, especially on days I sleep in. It’s her empty-acidic stomach saying “Feed Me”. That didn’t bother me so much as afterwards when she seemed to be having a bit of trouble breathing. Not bad trouble, but enough to notice. I dropped food in her bowl, went to dress to take her to the vet, and remembered that I thought I heard her making weird lung noises last night and that she had a real bad sneezing fit on Wednesday, which was weird. So I spiraled into a bit of an anxiety fit. I stayed calm—on the outside—and let it ride and before long she was breathing and acting fine. I decided to hold off on taking her to the vet, but the sinking feeling, jitteryness, and worry are still with me. Dog is fine. But I should get her checked in with a new vet here in town.
Rain is not helping. But at least the sun came out a bit. I hear-tell Durham has some power outages. Oh, well. Back to reading.
