Thursday, January 24, 2008

Teacher's Notes

I have a new blog called Teacher’s Notes, which is exactly that: notes for my various classes. The entries are basically recaps of each session – like Television Without Pity, minus the snark.

For my students it’s a quick reference in case they missed anything while dozing off in class (beats text or email) or (and I’m hoping this is the case) they want to learn more. Summarizing the discussion includes placing links to various resources that I mentioned in the lecture as well as other relevant stuff I stumble across online. The entry on poetry reading, for example, links to YouTube clips of Slam Poets as well as source sites like poemhunter or poetry.org.

The other thing I’m trying to do is capture the feel of my classes. Any former student will tell you that my lectures (when I’m in the mood) are filled with non-sequiturs, jokes, and weird segues. I am of the school of public speaking that treats lectures as performance pieces.

So check it out. I’ll welcome comments from non-students and alumni. Maybe it’ll result in better discussions.

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