Now that I am wise and all-knowing... :)

I'm probably going to sound like I'm just echoing what the rest of you have said, but I agree with so much of what you've written.

I wish I had been less timid and apologetic at the beginning of the semester. This is always the case with new situations--I want to glide in and do everything confidently and smoothly, but I usually start out shaking in my shoes. I was sure they would see through me and know what a fraud I was, but they didn't! (Or at least if they did, they never called my bluff).

I also wish I had agonized less about grading those first few reading responses--I pulled a couple of all-nighters to get them done because I was trying to be so thorough. It was a learning experience, though, so in a way I don't regret the time spent.

I also wish I had known better how to guide class discussion in a way that made them think more critically about the reading material. I definitely got better at that as the class went on.

I wish I had known how many I would "lose"--like you guys, I was shocked at how many people just stopped coming to class, or stopped turning things in, or didn't take advantage of opportunities to make things up. Somehow I thought they would all pull it together in the end.

I wish I could go back and teach some things more thoroughly, and not stress so much about others.

Finally, I wish I had known that some people were actually *enjoying* the class--I felt that they were all muttering under their breath about things I was asking them to do, but many of them actually appreciated learning the things they did. I had one student come talk to me in the Writing Center yesterday and tell me this was his second time taking 1010, and that this time around he learned all the things he wished he had learned the first time. Another student gave me a hug and told me she appreciated the time I had spent with her outside of class, and that she felt like now she knew how to write this type of paper, where at the beginning of the class she didn't have a clue. These students really made my day (especially after a 7-hour shift of craziness and stress in the Writing Center!).