Rejoining the Community of Freshmen English

After being scheduled to teach the introductory English course, then removed to teach a graduate course, then returned to teach the English course to find out all sections were filled, to being offered a course release to continue collaborating with Bridgeport schools, it looks as if I will now be teaching an introductory English course again on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.

OMG. I HAVE TO READ A LOT AND WRITE A LOT BE A WRITER!

This news excites me, although I spent the better part of yesterday scrambling to create a syllabus, organize options for the course, and working out a plan of action with my calendar. The night class works well because it allows me to continue doing my day work with the Connecticut Writing Project .

This semester will be different, because last year I carried over all my students and we already established ourselves as The Crew, a tight community. I'm hoping to be able to reestablish this quickly with the new group of students (the vast majority of them from New Jersey and, from the looks of it, very unlike Snookie). I've chosen to redesign the course with emphasizing community in literacy practices. I'm only waiting for the final confirmation that this is, indeed, what I'm teaching. I should hear sometime today.

PS: I'm thankful to Justine for reposting this cartoon I originally sent the Louisville Writing Project earlier this year.