Spring begins?

Spring semester is here -- how is it possible to call this chunk of educational time "spring"? It's snowing and 9 degrees outside.

But I'm oddly ready for it: not that my syllabi are "done" or anything as exotic as that. But I'm looking forward *very much* to teaching a developmental writing course that I last taught in 2004 I discovered when I went file fishing through old syllabi to figure out how to shape the course. I was in a different office then, a rhombus-shaped closet.

The course will be hard for all of us, I think, since I'm using a new book by a colleague/friend I respect immensely: Linda Adler-Kassner's Considering Literacy: Reading and Writing the Educational Experience. It'll be hard for students because of the extended readings, even though the author's conversational tone should ameliorate that.

Two other exciting courses: I'm back to teaching women and gender studies, the intro course. It's been a while there, too, and the textbook is in a new edition: more good reading to catch up on. And an American Lit for the second time: new editions *there* too!