For the last two successive classes, we've had a
guest speaker. One of M.'s grad students has been
instructing us on Creative writing.
Tonight's class was a blast!
To the right are a few photos of those of us who showed up to class tonight.
Although M. was absent (along with half the class, what's up with THAT??) we dug right into the mechanics of writing poetry.
Apparently, this exercise usually takes about
thirty minutes before most students become
distracted and off-topic.
Not us.
Before we knew it, we'd spent an hour and a half writing poetry together!
We're a pretty happy bunch, and I'm impressed with how closely we've bonded as a class. I expect class size has a lot to do with it, but I didn't get the same sense in the English Lit. class I took in September. (42 students to start, 21 by year-end). There may be some truth in that the students who sign up for Spring semester truly do want to engage.
Some find poetry dry, but we English students can ham it up some...
Some of us appear to suck our thumb...
...some of us can be conservatively silly...
...while still others of us clearly march to the beat of our own drum. Here we see C. truly engaging with the assignment: getting a 'sense' of the subject matter.
Here is K., who has spent the last two classes teaching us the Creative Writing aspect of poetry. She was a truly delightful addition to the curriculum.
In closing, here is a shot of our class 'Just' Jar. It's our version of a 'naughty word' jar, as M. has a particular dislike of the word 'just'. Over the weeks we've added 'sorry' and few other well-chosen, mis-and-over-used words. The money collected will contribute to funding our year-end party at the Grad Lounge.
More photos soon as our in-class presentations take place over the next week or so.
(tech note: Blogger is a bear when it comes to
justifying text around photos. I finally gave in to
a few inconsistencies... I'm sure it will drive A.C.
crazy - he's so very great with posting wonderful
pics around beautifully constructed text!)
9 comments:
Glad I'm not the only one having problems with blogger and text.
I'm having problems viewing pics too.
For example, maybe 3 or yours appear as a small square. It's happening everywhere I go, including my own blog.
Strange.
Can I officially add "seems" to the Just Jar?
One of the first things to strike me when I started teaching was the unpredictability of group dynamics. I could teach the same lesson to two groups on the same day with remarkably different results. Every now and then the mix of students and teacher produced wonderful results, but I'm not sure if there was a formula except that class size can really help.
About you pics: they work really well with the text. :)
ok - now that is dedication. Although I have no interest to go back and do more than my fair share of writing that I have already done in school...
But if you were to give me a css, php or advanced web design class, I'd geek it up and go!
Things are fine, finally landed immigrant and going on vacation soon!
'Just' because I can, I'm going to say it here too, Jeremiah:
You certainly CAN, but more to the point of your question, yes you MAY. ;)
I just want to just say that um.... sorry, I just lost my train of thought, sorry... Oh, I just remembered - I just wanted to say that I just love to write poetry.
Your class sounds fun.
Enjoy!!
loverly pics! I think you should add the word "like" to that jar!!
JD - Even at two-bits-per, I think you're buying me a pretty nice, top-shelf tequila shot!
Isn't student life fun?
Be careful though... it can be addictive. :-)
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