student introductions--fiction writing

"My own self-doubt and need for perfection will eventually make writing impossible, so I hope to begin to fix that issue in this course."

Oh, student. What if I told you that this course was only the beginning of your self-doubt? That the more you are able to talk about the strengths and flaws of writing, the more fuel you will have for your perfectionism?

What if I, your teacher, was somehow able to prevent that? What if I could help you both see your writing for what it is, and have the courage to keep on doing it? Sometimes all it takes is one person who sees your flaws but also believes in your abilities. (What if I told you that any person that has the power to give you courage also has the power to deflate you?)

Slippers and Stoles

Joining Ginny over at small things for another yarn along.

Over the next six weeks while I teach a summer course, I will be living half in the city, and half an hour north at my parents' house. This weekend was my first up there, and I was able to give my mom the slippers I knit her for mother's day. Luckily our feet are the same size, so I was able to shape them appropriately after felting. Although they came out looking slightly different, once I sewed on the straps, it was less obvious.

Over the weekend I also got a good chunk of the last bridesmaid stole done. I'm hoping to have it finished in two and a half weeks. We'll see!

My blocking wires and pins came in on Saturday, so I plan on pinning out a stole on my bed next time I leave for home and letting it block while I'm gone.

In the meantime, most of my reading has been for this Intro to Fiction class. (Yes, I lugged ALL of these books up to my parents' house with me.) Here and there I've been snatching some moments with Stephanie Pearl-McPhee and two short story collections--one by Jhumpa Lahiri and one by Laura van den Berg. So far I am enjoying both. But even then, I am eying the collections for potential class material.

When I walked into the classroom for the first session last night, I have to admit I was initially intimidated. Which is saying something, because I had steeled myself against intimidation before walking in. I knew that 1) most of the students would be male, and 2) half of them would be seniors, and thus three years younger than me at most. But I did not expect a good third of them to be grown men. I'm not the best at judging ages, but a couple of them are certainly older than me.

I look young for my age, am pretty short, and can have a pretty dorky sense of humor when it comes to teacherly monologues. (I've found that "cool" doesn't work for me in the classroom, so dorkiness it is.) I wouldn't say that I have anxiety about maintaining authority in the classroom, but it's certainly something I'm aware of. And the first five minutes with a new class are vital in getting their respect and attention.

I had those first five minutes pretty well planned out, and I realized that I was going to have to switch registers. There was no way I could talk to men my age and older in the same way I had planned to talk to college students four and five years younger.

But it worked fairly well, I think. I maybe talked a bit too much, but they talked a lot too. Which is wonderful. And they responded to each other, which is great. I'm hoping that the rest of the session follows suit.

Yarn Along

Joining Ginny for the first yarn along in the new apartment!

This week is slipping by at a relaxed pace, which is nice. I've been getting ready to teach a summer class that starts on Tuesday, so my reading has been mostly from the textbook. My knitting has mostly been on a Secret Project that I can't describe in detail this week--although I have learned Navajo knitting and felting because of it. But in the meantime you can see the pretty color of the yarn, which is called "Fairy Tale."

The red yarn is a ball of Malabrigo lace, which is ... delicious. It was gifted to me by a fellow knitter who I met at a friend's bridal shower on Saturday when another friend, Christine, and I explored her knitting room in awe. :) (Well, I was in awe, at least! Christine had been looking for the bathroom, walked into the knitting room by accident, and knew she had to came back to get me. She's a good friend. ;) ) I won't be knitting it for a while, what with all this wedding knitting, but I am starting to make plans for it. It's lovely and squishy and soft, and I made my old roommate squeeze it so she could experience its amazingness. (I think she ended up being more amused than amazed, but that's okay.)

I feel that this is an appropriate time to mention that I've moved within walking distance of a yarn shop where they already know me. I may come to regret this. (Or more accurately, Keith may come to regret it. ;) )

Arguing with dead people.

One of my students just wrote in his essay evaluation that he didn't include quotes from the text he was writing about because he didn't want it to seem like he was "arguing with a deceased person."

I could go on about how we've discussed writing as an opportunity for "conversations" with a text/author ... but the fact he said this is pretty funny on its own.