Yesterday I had my first day teaching in a new situation. It was really, really good.
Before I left, I was quite anxious about the logistics, which went worse than I ever imagined--I didn't know if I would be able to get in for the first half an hour; I didn't know if my materials would be available or not. But I realized I wasn't in control and accepted that and was very zen. (I wish I could do this in the rest of my life!) Everyone was incredibly kind and helpful and got everything in order.
It was so nice to have students with a range of ages and experiences. They laughed and joked and were open much more than my regular students. It was very invigorating to have a new teaching experience. We read some Oakeshott together, as I always do during the first class and it was amazing: There's a joke that Oakeshott makes that I think is very funny and no one has ever laughed--really even after I point out that it's very funny and suggest we should have some laughter. Yesterday, one person laughed, unprompted, at the joke. This has never happened before.
I can already see, too, what will be tricky--having one person talk at a time.
Also: I've never had a dog in class. Yesterday I had three! The students train the dogs. One whined the entire class (which was totally fine after we all figured out what the high-pitched noise was). This meant there was more energy behind a question I've often brought up but not dwelt too much on--what makes animals different from humans--if anything (that was the direction this class wanted to take it).
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