Human Anatomy and Physiology

[Erin from aKNITomy's awesome knit head]

...so, I have never actually taken this class. But I'm going to teach it this summer. Cool, no?

HSSP, as I've mentioned, is an MIT program which has MIT affiliates (grad students, undergrad students, post-docs) teach a two hour long class every Sunday for seven weeks. The topics are varied and interesting:

MIT Hogwarts

Intro to the Solar System

Human Medical Genetics

The Chemistry of Toxins, Explosives, and Space

The Magic of Matrices

What are the Odds? A Practical Introduction to Statistics

Fashion in Revolution: Fashion History from Rococo to the Napoleonic Era

Shouting at the Top of Our Lungs: The Modern American Story

On Being a Writer

Juggling & Math: 3-ball beginner/advanced techniques

Model Rocketry and Related Topics

Introduction to Optoelectronics

Making Manga: Anime-Style Illustration and Comics

Rock Subgenres and You

Social Psychology: Why people do what they do, and how to outsmart them.


The best part? Students get to take three different classes, and the whole program costs $30. That's it. $30. Now, I don't get paid to teach, but $30. That is amazing. It makes me wonder why programs like this aren't going on all over the country...ESP is trying, but it takes time.

My class will focus on the basics of how we work, which is a pretty darn cool topic. I've started working on my powerpoints and outlines, but I'm really lamenting the loss of my anatomy/physiology notes from undergrad...I stored all my things in a friend's basement between junior and senior year, and it flooded. And they didn't figure it out until a couple weeks after the fact...I lost everything except my plastic shelving unit and dishes, which I bleached about eight times to ensure that all the mold was gone. It was a sad, sad day.

Luckily, I found a couple really good resources to help me out--and I ordered an anatomy/physiology coloring book for worksheets and study guides for them. Also, I'll be able to videotape my class session in order to see how I'm doing, gauge my progress as a teacher, see how I can change things up...part of me isn't sure it's worth it to do seven weeks of lecture in advance, because holy cow---I might completely need to change how I'm teaching! But the other part of me wants to be mostly prepared and then change little things. This part of me will win, I daresay. I have been reading up on the things I think students will have trouble with (action potentials, anyone? It took Dr. Hippensteele three weeks to get us through them, and I'm giving them about half an hour. Yikes).

But I am so excited. So excited. I cannot wait for July 11th.