Where's a reliable critic when you need 'im?
What have you gone and done now?
okee dokee, bud.
Check my poemish collection of lines thing! ... if you'd like.
I realize this comment is about a month delayed, but the message boards make that type of thing easy right? (I've been quite busy lately) Unfortunately, I really have no experience in classes taught by heavy-weights in their fields. Quite a few of my professors have been young, shortly out of their doctorate programs with only a couple years experience teaching. In all honesty, this has worked for me. And the bright side of going to a somewhat lousy state university is that it keeps me motivated on my own in attempts to make up what I know I'm missing. I'm sure I'll definitely enjoy the history classes I'll be taking. My one regret though is that I've never been able to squeeze in a Philosophy course. Luckily though I've had several textbooks donated to me that I've sporadically been examining, not in much depth. Do you have any recommendations for where to start with more detailed studies of individual philosophers? Plato as an obvious choice? hope spring's turning out well for ya.
I loaded up on history courses too and absolutely loved them. The best history courses I took were on Churchill & Roosevelt and Archives, both taught by Warren Kimball. And this other course on the history of human rights by Richard Falk. Maybe you've heard of them?? Real heavyweights in their respective fields. Falk was so cool he invited several of his classes at the end of the semester to his house. And Kimball met our class at a campus pub for a couple Guiness! The class discussions turned into wars about wars. Miss those days. Sigh. Yeah I tutored for the SAT, AP Language & Composition, and AP US History. I had nothing to do with the math section, obviously. I met students one-on-one between 1.5 and 2 hours per session and used my own materials ranging from full novels to test prep books, like the LSAT and old SAT exams. My emphasis was on critical thinking. The AP commercial prep books are awful. There is no way to "cheat the test" like Kaplan and Princeton Review have students believe, such as the horrible method of reading the first and last sentences of each paragraph and nothing between. I came up with a method for unpacking the reading comp passages that worked really well, too tedious to explain here. The students had to read the entire passage, no getting around it. That you're pushing off graduation, excellent! Defer costs and pay thru the nose later. The banks love you, the economy loves you. Besides, it's so darn American, don't you feel fuzzy in the belly? Oh try a little ice cream. Frozen yogurt, actually. And it has to be churned. Permanent freedom is a beautiful thing, IP. I'm still very interested in hearing what teaching is like when you're 2, 3, 4 years in. Keep me posted, hombre.
It's going very well, minus the fact that I keep pushing off graduation (which I admit might not be so bad if it weren't for the expense thing - and the workload!). I've recently decided to grab a double major while I'm already adjusted to the college life. So I look forward to several more interesting History courses before I can finally get to student teaching. How exactly did the tutoring process go? It was for the SATs right? What methods did you use, basically acclimating them to the format and ways to cheat tests or anything more in-depth? I just finished my spring break (really winterish break) so recently I've been able to enjoy late nights pursuing other hobbies than studying textbooks (no ice cream however). Breaks though are really only good for teasing and make me itch for more permanent freedom, but c'est la vie!
I gave it up not too long ago. For almost three years I managed to live off tutoring and enjoyed it much more than the public school classroom. Unlike traditional teaching, which mandates that you work all day and work after hours for free, tutors can potentially earn a full-time salary on part-time hours. I just felt it was time to move on, do something different. It's 5am. I'm eating some chocolate chip mint ice cream and I don't have to be at work today. Doing something different. How's your teaching certification going?
Do you still do your test tutoring thing? I remember you mentioning it once, and it got me thinking...
I just noticed you left a comment for my Walmart poem. Thanks! The end was just an afterthought in the same way the mind takes violent swings in thought when the person has had one too many glasses of red wine. Now as far as "light" in my poems, I'd like to think that my 'Under a northern constellation' is my ode to light. Okay, it's a fair observation, but the majority of cases it shows up is during those skin-on-skin--lacey-moon moments. But like I said before, I don't write about that stuff anymore. Light out! I'll be posting more new stuff eventually, I'm just in a bit of a funk lately about editing. I seem to be content right now laying them down and moving on, especially those where 'light' managed to creep in.
