What, Me Worry?

Today Mrs. F told me that I'll be teaching all three blocks starting Thursday. I'm covering chapters 4 and 5 in the HUGE book (class joke...HUman GEography). I said "sure," but I'll admit it...on the inside I was running around in circles shrieking. I'm still putting together my WWI lessons, so it seemed overwhelming at first. Thank goodness I've planned ahead and know what my schedule will look like for the history blocks...I'm starting WWI on Friday, I'm thinking (my lesson plans aren't beside me, so I can't say for absolute sure, but I'm pretty certain). I'm doing sections 2 and 3 tomorrow and section 4 on Thursday, so chances are I'll launch into the Great War on Friday. Anyway, I went ahead and finished my section 2 lesson, then started a PowerPoint for HUGE chapter 4. It's strange--I went from "eek!" to "woo hoo!!!" very quickly. This stuff is awesome! I know this material already and I'm coming up with all kinds of fun ideas. Chapter 4 is about local and popular culture, which really excites me. I love popular culture! I'm a total nerd when it comes to it...one of the first things that I thought of was the adaptation of language from culture to culture. Then I thought of an article from my International Politics class called "The Man In the Baghdad Cafe." It's perfect! Then there's the Harajuku district, cosplay, and anime/manga culture, all of which involve the exchange of Eastern and Western culture...it's uniquely Japanese, but at the same time there's a blending of foreign influence.
I knew I could handle it, but I didn't know I'd like it so much! Well, maybe that isn't true...I do want to teach Anthropology, Sociology, and Human Geography. I'm not too keen on putting together all of those lesson plans at once, but I can take whatever's thrown at me.
Now, if I could just figure out what to do with M.P. in 4th...argh! He acts like a third grader!