A New Challenge

The new semester officially starts on Monday. Just this afternoon, I had my class masterlists printed. I'm ready to roll!!! :)

I'm hoping my classes will be as interesting, if not more interesting, both for me and my students as the previous semesters. I am handling a major subject for the first time and, while I am a little bit nervous, I can't wait to start. English 150, whose course description is Survey of World Literature, was one of my favorite subjects back in my undergraduate years. I remember how exciting it was for me. We discussed Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey, Virgil's Aeneid, Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy (I remember our reporter almost fainting when she found out that we were to discuss all three books: Paradiso, Purgatorio, and Inferno!), Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote and some other famous literary classics of world renown. And, of course, how can I forget my report-- One Thousand and One Nights, or The Arabian Nights as it is known in the English-speaking world.

I remember looking forward to every meeting in that course. There were around 15 of us in class and each one was assigned one work to do a report on. And, I remember having so much fun reading all those works, albeit having headaches caused by some passages I just couldn't get or some situations I just couldn't imagine at the time. It was a wonderful experience for me to be in that class and, now that I'm handling the course, I sure hope I'd be able to give my students the same exciting and wonderful experience I had as a student.

There's one little glitch, though. Back when I took the course, it was relatively easier for us to understand what concept or "ism" the other was talking about because we were all English or Literature majors. There were three Philosophy majors enrolled in that class, too, I remember. They were also quite familiar with the concepts and "isms" discussed. The classes I will be handling, though, will be composed of students taking up Bachelor of Elementary Education, majoring General Education. Their background in Literature, I am told, is lacking compared to their English major colleagues. The only other Literature course they have in their curriculum is English 4, Introduction to Literature.

So, the challenge is to be able to cater to these students. I have to come up with a new reading list, as well as a new course syllabus that is more suitable for them and their needs. In fact, I'm instructed to "simplify" the course. This is not, of course, to underestimate the students, but if they lack the background, adjustment has to be done. Extra effort, too, should be given so as to make the students interested in the literary works. I remember that, as a student, my teacher's excitement in discussing the works would always do wonders in keeping me excited and interested in the discussions. So, I'm thinking, I hope that my own excitement about all the works I can't wait to discuss will also boost my students' interest in our class.

I can do this! My students can do this! Hell, yeah, we can do this!!! :)