Comfortable

Although I did express that I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to choose a place around campus (and in retrospect I probably could have found an appropiate and interesting indoor locale), I still found it interesting to watch the class in the space that we are usually in. Us going back indoors also presented some comparisons to meeting outside on Tuesday.

I definitely saw some of the energy Anne was talking about in her post, about us being "glad to be together again." Even as we waited in the hall outside before class, everyone was greeting each other and chatting--small talk that wasn't small at all, because it seemed like people weren't just being nice, they were generally interested in talking with each other about the week, the class, the weather. We came into the room and went immediately to rearranging the furniture into our usual circle, everyone doing their part to strike a table or move a chair (some without even taking their backpacks off). It felt comfortable, like a tried and true routine. 

That was something that I noticed throughout the entire class--how comfortable people seemed. Lots of relaxed, slouchy positions or casually crossed legs, resting heads on hands, not that that stopped people from using physical motion or energy to help explain a comment or make a point. One thing that definitely differed from outside though was the number of laptops out. I think some of us brought laptops outdoors on Tuesday, but I can't remember anyone who used them. I found this interesting, because laptops are portable electronics--they would definitely still work outside, even though you might not have internet. Yet none of us chose to open them. To me at least, outdoors are a weird place for laptops; some part of having a laptop open and on outside just feels a little wrong, a little off--which is odd since I'm perfectly comfortable using a phone or iPod outside. I'm not sure what other people think about this, but I'll be interested to see if when we go outside again, more laptops do come out. 

The effect of the laptops while in the lecture hall as I observed seemed to be that people would look at their laptop screens and just listen to where the discussion was going. Outside, I felt like I made a lot more eye contact, and there was a lot more pressure to be very present in the immediate conversation (perhaps because listening over the wind took effort at many points). In the classroom, this pressure was lessened a bit. Because the classroom was so familiar, I think that we trust that someone is still listening even if they might not be looking at you. In that space, it's more comfortable, because it's easier to keep one eye on the conversation and maybe look something up or jot down some ideas, but not have to worry about appearing engaged. And I think that often that can be good, because the routine and the comfort gives us the luxury of knowing what to expect sound wise, set-up wise, format wise, so that we can take the time to think and work through ideas and chime in when we're ready.