September 29, 2015 - 20:53
Today I modeled for everyone the need to have a back-up plan, when planning to meet outside doesn't work out. Last night, I'd had the lovely idea of our gathering in the Cloisters. Today I belatedly realized what a terrible idea this was, since the towers of Thomas Hall are being re-pointed, and there's lots of grating noise being created by this repair work. Creighton suggested that we re-locate in the the Quita Woodward Room, verified for us all that it was open, and guided us there. (Thank you, Creighton!)
The space really worked very well, I thought: we seemed comfortable, were able to stretch out, re-configure into small groups, then back into a large one. The conversation seemed to me to flow more easily than it had on Thursday, with fewer distractions from our being outside, but in a more casual setting than our classroom. I didn't feel that I needed to shout quite so much, and I also felt that we could hear one another better...
And so now I'm really looking forward to where else we might go this semester, and what difference it will make! Thanks again to Grace for suggesting that we vary our location!