Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Back to Work I Go

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Today, I met my first group of new students for a class that's also brand new to me this semester. It's been a busy month -- almost exactly a month, as a matter of fact, since I gave my last final -- and it hardly seems time for a new semester to start. But, I spent yesterday putting the final perfectionistic touches on my first day plan: pursuing a just-right syllabus, a clear online interface and an engaging kick-off of the plan for the semester.

Today started with snow as icing on the cake of nerves that always accompanies the first day back to class. My husband had trouble getting to work in his all-wheel drive vehicle, leaving me to fret over what my trip to school would be like. Although most of the county's schools, along with some businesses, were either closed or opening late, my school maintained its start time for the first day of the new semester. Luckily, as the morning wore on, the snow stopped and the plow made passes up and down the street, assuring that my drive would be on wet roads rather than snow-covered ones.

Before I left, I ran through my brief slide show one last time. Sure, I could riff on the syllabus without slides, but I thought my students deserved a visual.

Yeah, so much for that.

I arrived early, but the class before mine still occupied the classroom. Not entirely bad, as I got to catch up with a student who, much to my delight, was on my roster for the third time (three different classes -- she's an excellent student).

Once inside, I took out my laptop and set it on the podium, where there was no HTMI cable to be found.

No problem. I logged on to the desktop computer and prepared to download my slides.

Problem.

Long story short (too late, I know), I ditched the slides, riffed on my syllabus and delayed the TED Talk I'd planned on showing -- all responses that would have freaked me out a few semesters ago. After class, a new group of students filtered in behind their professor, ruling out the tech trouble-shooting I'd hoped to do after class. From my car, I composed an e-mail to IT on my phone and summoned my optimism for better technological cooperation on Friday.

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Bad first day? Not at all.

My students were a treat. Awake, alert (it's an 11:00 class, after all) and there by choice rather than because they had a requirement to fulfill, they spoke, they smiled, they shared. The class might not have gone as planned, but the main ingredient was just right, and I think we're all excited to explore what comes next.

And so a new semester begins. Nothing like a little flexibility to get the ball rolling.