Monday, July 16, 2007

Summer Teaching So Far

My assessment of summer teaching so far . . . it's tough, but in a different way. Spiritually . . . psychologically . . . I'm in a "me me" space, but I'm finding it hard to get into that space when I've got poems and lectures to read and prep. Usually at this time in the summer I'm reading books rather voraciously. I'm finding it harder to get into the rhythm of sustained reading. The one good thing about the quarter system, though, is that I still have two months of summer vacation ahead of me (we don't start the normal academic calendar year until late Sept.).

There's a misconception about summer sessions among students. Many perceive that the shortened quarter will be more lax. This, however, is extremely false. Think of it this way . . . you're compressing 11 weeks of education into 6 weeks. It's far from lax. I remember when I took summer classes as an undergrad. It nearly killed me.

Anyway, I'm already looking forward to my second vacation in August.

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Needless to say, my writing has been slowed, though I've been engaged in a postcard poem project with other Kundiman folk. That's been pretty productive . . . it's a kind of writing. I've gotten some gems which I'll post later.

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A colleague of mine in the English dept. has slipped a book into my mailbox. Is he trying to tell me something???

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During the second weekend of August, Mere n' I will be here.

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Jake's cut is closing up.

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Last August I attempted a poem a day, similar to the Napowrimo event that took place all over blogland. I think I'll try it again this year. About six of the poems from that assignment have gotten published, so it was reasonably productive. Should be fun.

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Lest I forget, Mere and I are on to the next project: landscaping. More to come.

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