A little student gratitude goes a very long ways [teaching]

This semester I have been recording those pre-lab videos for my Animal Physiology course. Friday's video was really hard to record because I couldn't even manage to get underway with recording it until after 5 pm.

Before I can start recording, I have to go through and remember everything that's involved in orchestrating the lab, assemble the major pieces, and think through how to explain things to the students. I didn't have time to even edit the video until Saturday afternoon.

But then what the videos mean is that when students show up at the start of lab, they are prepared. They are so much more prepared than students were in the past when they just got a lab handout and were expected to read it in advance. Not only that, they are grateful for the videos, even when the videos aren't particularly entertaining.

The videos have also made it possible for us to be much more focused during our time together in the lab, so the labs run more smoothly.

What a relief.

Tuesdays are still very long, though.

WE FINALLY GOT TO RIDE BIKES FOR BIKE CLASS!

It was sunny and 64 degrees (F) out.

I am SO GLAD our first bike day involved hot laps around campus. A perfect moment to make people try out different kinds of bikes, adjust saddles left and right, lubricate chains, and whatnot. One student just got a bike recently where the front fork was backwards, so we got that fixed up, too. The two girls in the class got in a good 4 miles and were totally pleased with themselves.

One student has a downhill bike but I think the disc brake rotors are bent - is that a thing that happens? I took his bike for a quick test spin and quickly redlined on it.

Time to go home.

We were DUE for a riding day.

*ka-whumph*