tired of lesson plans
I hate lesson plans. This is the only time that I just wish I were using a textbook to teach. There is just so much involved in this. I started by creating a timeline--well, two: 1 for world history and 1 for british history. Then I went through and started inserting literature where it belonged. But I'm still compiling. I really wish I would find some good literature written during/about britain's roman occupation. I have a couple of poets from the a.d. 500s, but that's post rome. It just seems really over-sight-ful to skip straight to Beowulf (800s) when the roman occupation was 400 or so years of history. Hmmm. If anyone has any idea, let me know. At any rate, I'm deep into determining which books the students will have to buy. That's the hardest, really. Some book are obviously necessary: if we read Morte D'Arthur, then obviously they need to have it. On the other hand are the unsure ones: how many Shakespearean sonnets do I want to study? Will it justify them buying a book? On the whole, my idea is to photocopy whatever I can so they don't have to buy 20 books (I'd like to keep it under 10, and hopefully the dover thrift editions will have the right translators). Ah well. I'm also having a hard time deciding what to do with world lit. I mean, there are some really obvious pieces that need to be covered, The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Aeneid, The Iliad, etc. But what about other, smaller pieces? I want to expose the students as much as I can to many cultures/styles. But. . .you can try to cover too much. What about Africa? South America? Do I try to cover those cultures? I do think a major thrust of the course should be western in nature (because that is the foundation for American and British lit), I think it's a mistake to not open the literary windows to as many view as possible--especially in America where so many cultures have amalgamated. And, of course, there is always the length/accesibility of the literature to be considered. Like which Dickens book to read, which parts of The Aeneid are the most necessary and which can be skipped? Don't get me wrong, I have a very good idea of the answer to most of these (esp. as I have taught World Lit before), but it's in the details that I always overanalise. I wonder if what I've decided is good enough. I wonder if I should add something. I wonder if. . . .Sigh. Normally I would just get a rough idea and then wing it as I go, but I have to have a book list. And there's the rub. And that is why I'm busting my chops to get this fairly slighty cemented. And top of that, tomorrow is the second summer basketball clinic. I missed the first. And with this new situation (being assistant), I'm not sure what all that means in application. What exactly is my input and philosophy counted for? I guess there's nothing to do but see. . . .