None of us still teaching has ever actually seen a fire horse, but we all know that they responded instantly to the sound of the fire bell. That is how I respond to the coming of the first week of classes. How about you?

Although I am frequently teaching classes I have taught before, I usually change my syllabi somewhat, and I always have a new set of students. I know of course that a few of the students will disappoint me before the course ends, and that some of the readings will not work. But teaching is the triumph of hope over experience (as they say about many other things). I find it exciting to meet new groups of students, and to talk to them about my hopes for what we can accomplish. It helps that my institution is absurdly selective, so my students are bright and motivated. It also helps that all of my courses are small, so that I can teach them in seminar format. I never lecture, and struggle to keep most of the students involved in the discussion. Sometimes I succeed.

I am also lucky to be able to teach pretty much just what I want. This term I am co-teaching a freshman seminar for the first time in many years. It concerns the role of intercollegiate athletics in higher education. All fifteen of our students are recruited varsity athletes. I am both a sports nut and a critic of big-time college athletics, and I will be interested to see what the students make of me. They were a lively bunch last Monday, at our first meeting. My other course is an undergraduate course in my department (the Woodrow Wilson School, a major in public policy) on civil society and public policy. The course covers the theory of civil society, case studies of civil society in America and other countries, and international civil society. It appeals to students who are interested in nonprofit organizations and NGO’s — the sorts of students I am most interested in working with. I have 25 sophomores, juniors, and seniors in this course, and I began by asking them what civil society organizations they participate in. They did not know, of course, until we started listing types of organizations, and then they had lots of responses. Wednesday we talked about de Tocqueville’s take on the instinctive associationalism of Americans.

I no longer give exams (I never learned anything preparing for exams, and I have never learned anything reading an exam), and usually require only a single term paper (on a subject of personal interest to the student). This is a risky strategy, since I negotiate a separate paper topic with each student, and I have no way of enforcing the reading requirements. But the courses are so small that it is clear who has done the reading, which we discuss in detail, and I think the level of preparation is pretty good. The students get feedback in each class, and I encourage them to submit multiple drafts of their papers for comment. Some of the papers will be terrific and most will be at least competent — but I will learn something from them, and so will the students.

We have a short, twelve-week term, and one week has already passed. Too quickly. This week marks my 51st year of teaching, counting my teaching as a grad student, and I am enjoying as much as I ever have. I feel so lucky to be able to continue to teach and to have access to such fine students. Firehorses never had it so good.

(Photo from San Diego’s Public Safety site)