Ok, so tomorrow is my first teaching day. I’m a litle nervous. I know that I’ve been out in the business world and have made many presentations to different work groups, but I’ve still got a few butterflies.

Here’s my lesson plan.
10:00
1. Ask them to rearrange desks in a circle. Leave the empty ones in the middle.
From all of the classes that I have been in, this really is my favorite way to do things. I think it encourages students to talk with each other rather than to the teacher. Hopefully they won’t grumble. One day we rearranged the desks for group work, but as a general rule, the usual instructor doesn’t do this.

2. While they are rearranging desks, write these words on the board: characters, events, themes, style, links — along with the question, “So what?”

10:10
3. Start off with a journal exercise. Write for five minutes about what is going on in this chapter. Pay attention to characters, events, themes, or style, but remember to answer the question, “so what?”. Ask yourself, Why is what I’ve written significant?

It’s not that I think they’re going to write down things that are insignificant, but practicing the answer to the so what question will be practice in making an argument, which with paper deadlines coming up might prove beneficial to them.

Plus, a week ago I gave them an optional writing assignment. This assignment could count instead of one of their quizes (the instructor takes the 10 best grades). By beginning with a journal exercise, it gives them time to (a) get quiet again after moving the desks around, and (b) even if they didn’t do the optional assignment, then they have a chance to participate in the class discussion.

4. While they are writing, take roll by passing a sheet of paper around.
I don’t want to have to deal with getting pronunciations right. It’s not that I don’t want to pronounce their names correctly, but I’d rather just jump right in to the rest of the plan. I’ve noticed that many people here slur their words. Coming from Texas, I’m used to the drawls where every words have at least two syllables, but I’m not used to the words sliding off into incoherence. So, by just passing a sheet of paper around, I’m hoping to avoid stumbling and slurring myself.

10:15 – 10:45
5. Engage in class discussion – Ask people to share what they’ve written – either from the reading notes prepared in advance or from their journal entries.

Probing questions to keep discussion going:
a. why is that significant?
b. what does that mean?
c. can anyone help John/Jane out with that?
d. does anyone see any pattern emerging?

This part is the most ambiguous. We’re reading The Ambassadors by Henry James. It’s not exactly an easy read and while I think it is important to model learning from their classmates, I’m afraid that no one will want to talk. I hope that by starting out with a writing assignment, that they’ll be prepared to contribute significantly.

10:45-10:50
6. Give them a handout on How to Read a Novel.
a. Explain that I find it helpful to have a roadmap in front of me and that I thought this might be beneficial to them too.
b. They can read through this themselves, but draw their attention to the note-taking section.

If they will notice my book, I’ve got passages underlined and chapters marked. But then in my notebook, I’ve also got chapter summaries and important details about characters, events, themes, and style written down. So between the text underlines and the notebook comments, it hopefully won’t take me as long to draft an essay outline.

7. Also point out the chronology section and additional reading section.
I was going to prepare additional handouts for you, but this information is already provided.
8. If they have feedback on the class session today, please don’t hesitate to email comments to me or Dr. Hoberek.

Gosh. Is that enough? Too much? I’m just a little worried about the class discussion section. I hope it goes well. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.