I went back to teaching this week. I do really like teaching. I like the students. I like getting to talk about what I know. And I realized that I can't make everyone happy.
I'm teaching three classes this semester. On Tuesday, I had my graduate students. I've never taught grad students, so I was kind of excited about how this class would go. I had two students I already knew and eight others I don't. I have ten students in this class and we sat around a table and talked for a couple of hours. I'm helping them figure out their thesis projects. So this really just feels like I'm guiding them through their final projects. The students are great. The biggest challenge is that the administration hasn't really been giving me enough information about what's required of me. Some students want to do full-length projects. Some want to do a short script that they then will have to film. I have one student who says he's done with his thesis and is going to film it next semester, but he wants to work on this script with me and with the advisor he's already working with. So I'm trying to figure out how to streamline the process so that I'm not teaching four different classes in this one class. The good news is that I don't think I'm getting any documentary students. All of these students are mature and have some experience, so it feels like it will be a lot of fun to work with them.
My Intro to Screenwriting and TV writing class is a hoot. First of all, I had to turn several of them away from trying to add my class. It was sad because I had three students who really participated that I can't add unless someone drops out of the class. I had one student who's not even registered at the school who really wanted in - and I just couldn't do it. My cap is 25 and to add any more than that is jeopardizing the rest of the course. I had 27 last Fall and it was tough. It affects the dynamic. I did something really great this time that I think made a difference. We just started talking about what we're watching. And we talked about what makes what we're watching interesting. They also have really great taste and it's cool to hear what they're into that's both part of their generation and not part of their generation. It's an Intro course and it's big, so it will take them a minute to warm up. But I like opening up the course with that exercise of spending about 45 minutes shooting the shit about what we're into. And because it's a big class we had a big list. It got them talking a lot on that first day and it drove home the point that participation is a big part of their grade. They seem like a vocal group. It also reinforced what went wrong last semester. Last semester, I was working on the show and I had to miss the first four weeks of the term. So I had my friend David take over for me for the first four weeks. I realize that I need to set a tone to make the semester successful. I'm a tough professor. I don't take it easy on them, even in an intro course. And when you don't get my passion right away and get used to how it's going to go, I can come off as an asshole. My delivery counts for a lot. It felt good to be there with them from the beginning. Now if I go and get a writing gig some at some point during the semester, that feels like it would be less of an issue. But not being there from the beginning was tough.
Then I had my Advanced Students right afterward. That class could have been five students if I hadn't let in a bunch of people who technically don't have the prerequisites. Five students would have been crazy small and crazy fun in a lot of ways. But it looks like we'll be somewhere around 11 or 12. And that's a great size. These students seemed lively right away. We got into what we're all watching and it was good. And having a smaller class size helps. At the end of the class, a bunch of them hung around to ask some questions and a student asked me if I knew that I had bad reviews on "Rate My Professor." I had no idea. And he worried that he totally blew it for me. I became intrigued that I had bad reviews on "Rate my Professor." I looked it up and the people who wrote reviews HATED me. Someone said it was the worst class they had ever taken. And another student didn't like getting called out by me for not doing the work. Yeah, that sucks that you got called out for not doing the work. One student erroneously said that they got a D- in my class, which I don't think was true. Unless that student had to drop out. The other student stopped showing up and I had to fail them. I suspect that student signed up for my Advanced Class and didn't show up because they knew it was me. That student hasn't dropped yet, but I suspect they will drop. I kind of like that I have a reputation for being a hard ass. I say it at the top of the class to all of the students. I don't mince words. It's not an easy course. It's a lot of freaking work. So if it keeps my Advanced Class Small - the other class has reached it's cap and then some. I only will have 10-12 students. That's perfect. I hope students don't figure it out for awhile. And I hope people are discouraged from signing up because they think it will be too much work. Because the students who want to be challenged will be there. And really, the feedback I mainly get from students is that they love the class. Even students I've had issues with. I have students that I thought were totally difficult and they still dug it.
I also was really impressed with both undergraduate classes because they got into the conversation. I do have three grad students in my Advanced Class and they're great. I think that helps elevate the conversation just a bit as well. I'm hopeful about this semester. There's a lot of work to do as there always is. And I have to remember that I need to keep doing my own work. I've got a new pilot I'm playing around with and I want to get that done. But it's another semester to learn more about myself and my teaching methods.
My intention is to learn.
My intention is to grow.
My intention is to question.
I am grateful for the chance to fortify my knowledge.
I am grateful for the money.
I am grateful for the opportunity to meet new people.
I am grateful for another year with many jobs.
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