First classes

So I've had my first in-person class since we moved to zoom last March, and my first zoom class since we moved back to in-person this week. For the first year seminar, 18 of us in a favorite old classroom (and one in dorm quarantine, joining us through my laptop) yesterday morning early - 8am! For the Job lecture, 43 of us at my dining table this morning, at the rather more civilized 10:15. The commute is rather less stressful than the one to school, too! Each format has its pleasures, though the nostalgic charm of being in a zoom gallery may just be a passing phenomenon. 

In person is definitely more dynamic, and not just because we're moving through shared space, fully embodied (though masked!). You never have to shush a class in zoom! Indeed zoom has all sorts of delays built into it, like it or not, with people frozen in their usually muted squares, so you can't get the joy of repartee. But there is the tumbling cascade of the chat! And you see people's faces! And more interactions among students are possible than in a large lecture hall. Good to be amphibian!