Small Victories

I'm not going to make this a long post but I figured that I should post something as today was pretty monumental.  I taught my first class today....all by myself.  On the plus side, it didn't crash and burn....at all....really....I think. 
The good things

• There's only 20 students in my class, so I think I have most of the names down....most.  I'm sure I'll forget who's who by Monday, but I'll be able to plough through it.  
• I didn't make a complete ass of myself....only partially.  I was completely honest with them and was frank about telling them that this is my first class and not everyone can be perfect off the bat.  In fact, I'm using them as guinea pigs to help me build my skills.  "We'll all learn together" is what I told them.  They seemed to be pretty apprehensive at the beginning but they warmed up to me, I think.  Chalk one up for me.  
• I was told by a student: "Your neuroses help make you more human and a little easier to relate to".  I'm taking it as a compliment.  I'll face it, I'm unique, and not unique in a quirky way.  Unique as in "Dude, I hope they let her out on a day-pass" way.  I may or may not have mentioned and exhibited my tendencies for OCD.  
• I had 4 or 5 students participating in a discussion and 6 more cracking a smile.  SMALL VICTORY!  I wasn't expecting them to open up and provide answers so quickly.  I did have to probe them quite a bit, but I think I got everyone comfortable enough to start discussing in a discussion-based-class.  HUGE VICTORY!  The way I see it, this week I have 4 discussing, in 3 weeks I have 10 discussing and by 14 weeks I have 18 of them discussing.  Feel the Win!

The bad things

• The class could easily turn into "Story Time with Auntie Dena".  As much fun as "Story Time with Uncle Terry" was, I actually want to get through some course material instead of ranting and following the rabbit trail to the brown site at the corner of Clarence and 8th.  
• I wasn't able to fill the full 80 minutes, and let them go 10 minutes early.  I don't think they'll mind, and I did warn them that we're likely going to blast through the material quicker than the other classes.  Lesson learned: Pace myself and don't get too excited....so maybe this one is a small victory in disguise.  

I did some "work" at home tonight to compensate for leaving school at 2:00.  I found some journal articles and have a list of books to hunt for tomorrow.  It didn't really feel like work.  I'm sure that will change.  Everything still has the rosy glow.  I like it that way. 

Also, I'd like to thank Grill for the game of "Guess who this is!" when it came to helping me fill my new phone with lost numbers.  I owe you a beer.