school means being a grown-up

So in theory I've been working during this month off to make a syllabus for my summer class (hopefully one I can translate easily into a fall class). The reality of course--as you know if you read my blog regularly--is that I'm in incredible slacker. So here it is three days before I go back to school and I'm finally sitting down to work on it. Granted, it doesn't need to be ready until the end of the month (the class I'm taking starts on Monday but the one I'm teaching doesn't start until June 29) but I had thought it would be smart to finish it before I started getting all kinds of homework from my Japanese class.

Let me tell you, creating a syllabus is a lot more daunting than one would think. I pull up that Excel spreadsheet and I just think "Eeerrrrrgggghhhhh." You'd think I could just put down what I did last year and call it good, but no, I had the bright idea to order a new textbook because I hated the one we used last year. Now I'm not sure if I like the textbook I ordered any better, I have to (sigh) read all the stuff I want my students to read, and I have to make assignments that are actually worthwhile. I know (if my usual teaching style is any indication) that a lot of stuff will change as I get to know the class personality and as current events/recent articles lend themselves to our topic easily, but I've still got to have a pretty solid idea going in what I can expect--and in turn, what my students can expect. I just don't have the patience for that kind of stuff, though. I prefer the brief lesson plan + flow of the class technique. Who can plan two months into the future?

I'm making progress, at any rate. On the plus side, I got departmental permission to audit the first half of my Japanese class (which means no tests until July, baby) so maybe things will turn out all right anyway.

Speaking of jobs, check out these guys. They've got some good stuff in here. All you office workers, I think of The Cubes when I think of you. (I've been there before, and in all likelihood will be there again this time next year). And I'm buying my aunt a Librarian action figure for sure. Good for a laugh or two.

Finally, all the comments on yesterday's post prompted me to do some exploring on Napster. Out of that I've got a couple minor bands that might be interesting to check out: The Beta Band (I'm pretty sure this was the band from High Fidelity, and if you haven't seen that movie yet, shame on you. It's good times), specifically the "Heroes to Zeros" CD. Also, I'm listening right now to this band called Kasabian. A little beat-heavy (is this club music? hard rock? what?) in some places, but I kind of like the sound. I think they could develop nicely. I'm thinking I should put together a playlist on here to recommend. Maybe that will happen. But don't hold your breath.