My First Class as Dr. Pendergrass

 

These students were an awesome first class in that they welcomed me to Vanderbilt and loved me through my steep learning curve. See, I was hired the day before classes started. Did you catch the magnitude of that statement? THE DAY BEFORE CLASSES STARTED. I knew teaching at Vandy was a possibility; I mean I had interviewed and everything seemed positive, but one never knows.  Well, I was cruising the streets of Atlanta on a Tuesday afternoon, when I received a most fantastic phone call from Vanderbilt. I was to be the newest faculty member of the Department of Teaching and Learning. YAY!

"Oh, my, class starts tomorrow. I will be there." I worked frantically to put together a partial syllabus so that I would have something to share with the students the first night of class. I didn't want to be completely unprepared. Vanderbilt is my dream job. Not only was I going to teach at the #1 Education/Teacher Prep School, but also I was returning to Nashville (that is another story).

And then came Wednesday, the first day of class.

I arrived in Nashville around lunch, found the Wyatt Center where the department is located, found a place to park, and filled out tons of new hire paperwork. It was a whirlwind of activity, and I still needed to make copies, find Payne Hall where I would teach, breathe, and find the bathroom!

Back to reason for this post... The students in the picture (L to R: Margaret, Lauren, Erica, Chen, Alec, Alex, Kate, Emma, Katie, Sarah, Jeuel, Libby, Zach, Dan and Raef --Tori must be taking the picture). They rolled with an unsteady syllabus; they smiled when I stumbled; they worked super hard, and they will make amazing teachers! Five of the masters students graduated in the Spring of 2012 and have jobs for this fall. The others are preparing to be seniors in English Education where they plan on finishing up their student teaching in the Spring of 2013. I am proud to be a part of their teaching, and I am proud of each of them.

Thanks, ENED 2320/3400 Fall 2011 Class!