Today was a fairly productive day. After I got up I had an amazing breakfast of pop-tarts and peanut butter (Mmmm...so tasty). After breakfast I started to look at the information for my class. I set a blackboard page, uploaded my syllabus, made a page for homework and added an introductory message. In Blackboard students have an option to not receive email updates when there is an announcement. But as an instructor I have the ability to override that. I would feel like such a jerk if I ever did that..
I took a shower then got lunch. Then I worked some more on planning my class. I spent the majority of the afternoon planning my Tuesday session. I think I've read more of this text book than nearly any other math book I've ever had. But I think I have Tuesday all planned out and I've started on planning Thursday. Each Tuesday I think I want to give the students a notecard where they can write their name and a question (or a couple questions) for the day. Just as a way of getting to know my class. On Thursdays I want to read a story from the Book of Virtues. I'm hoping that things like this will take the edge of the whole "ewww...math!" business.
Dad and I had an early dinner then went to go watch a soccer game in Ottoville. That was...something. Neither team was very good. The Wapakoneta defense had one tactic: kick the ball out of bounds. Every time they had the slightest pressure they would kick the ball out. At half time between both teams there were fewer than 10 shots on goal... but probably at least 40 throw ins. It was nuts. So dad and I were less than impressed. Hopefully his team does well.
When we got back dad made spaghetti and I worked some more on my lesson plans. I like preparing for this a lot more than when I made lessons in my undergrad. These are so much less rigorous. I feel like I have the freedom to teach what needs to be taught and I'm not constantly in fear of the evil State Standards. Then I chatted with some people on Facebook for a while, catching up with people's lives and such. Laura and I discussed people, which is always one of my favorite topics. She's been working at a summer camp and has had first hand experience of how the general public treats customer service like dirt. So that got us talking about how everyone has a story... and how sad it is that we will never hear very many people's stories. In fact, I find it interesting how little we know about the people we see on a regular basis and consider to be our friends. At Mount Vernon I hardly knew anyone's back story. And it's not because I didn't care or didn't ask, it's that people don't like being vulnerable. Oh people...
In other news, I've started to use Google Analytics to analyze the data from my blog. I like that it breaks down how many people are from each city, along with a lot of other cool data. I wish there was a way for me to know who each person is... but the ISPs can't release that information. Oh well!
Dad and I talked with mom some when she got back from work. And now I'm about to go to bed!
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