We’re a little more than a week away from the start of the fall semester. Every semester is an entertaining mix of old and new for me. Sixteen of my 48 students this fall will be returnees – students who have made it out of the intro classes and into the advanced sequence. 

But 32 of them will be new, total unknowns in the two sections of intro to photojournalism. (Okay, I know two of the 32 this year, because they have been very active with the student newspaper and took a Maymester course I taught this year.)

Every semester I make notes to myself, what we did in class, what worked, what didn’t. Stealing a phrase from my AP days, it’s called a carryover and sits on my desktop, a double click away from whatever I’m doing. Earlier this summer, I was asked to review a new (British) photography text book and it had me thinking about the order in which I present information to my intro students. All summer I’ve been rolling ideas in my head – move that assignment up, drop that one, how will not doing this then affect that later?

It’s crunch time now – within a week, I need to generate two new syllabi (which, apparently, I’m not required to hand out on the first day anymore, just post online) and, maybe, rebuild all of my presentations. 

Now I enjoy building those presentations (as a Mac guy, of course I use Keynote instead of PowerPoint), and I think I keep them pretty tight. But I’ve sat through lots of really miserable ones (as I’m sure many of my colleagues are doing right now at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication conference in Chicago right now). This morning, I came across a blog entry that talks about why Steve Jobs’ Apple presentations are so strong.

For everyone prepping this week for the semester, the 10 points are well worth studying. (I probably get seven out of these into my classes, need to work on the unforgettable moments, giving them a show and rehearsing.)

Got an email from a recent student, thanking me for helping her with a little technical problem she was having on her new job. Tagged on was this line:

college may teach you a lot of things but i have found it doesnt teach you everything….like how to find the hour meter or how to send a DHL package.

I guess I have a few more things to add to my syllabi. A brief list, add to it if you think of other things:

• How to buy a reliable car
• Choosing work shoes
• How to tell when you’re being lied to in an interview
• Filing your tax returns (or quarterly payments)
• How to explain you’ll be late for (Thanksgiving) dinner (Again)
• Choosing a cell phone plan
• Setting up a (secure) wireless router
• Building an archive
• Choosing proper tires and selecting a tire pressure gauge 

There’s more, I’m sure … I’m going to go ponder the difference between teacher and life coach for a while now.