I cannot believe we’re already halfway through September. Time is moving so quickly.
My weeks are just insane. They feel like they’re about two or three weeks long, most likely because every single day feels like two or three days crammed into one. I knew I was in for a rough semester, but this is — and I really do mean this — the toughest one I’ve ever had. *Ever.*
There has been a major change in power in my department at UTD, so things are a bit less gloom and doom now. Whereas before I lived in perpetual fear of the persons (well, woman) in charge finding out what I did when I wasn’t on campus, nowadays I am not afraid. I haven’t been blabbing around how much work I do outside of school, but I also haven’t been obsessively concerned about who might find out.
Anyway, so let me just run down the list for you. Maybe this will feel liberating?
I am teaching three — count ’em! — classes at Richland this fall. This is my third full semester there, and my classes are all developmental writing classes. In the past two semesters, I had two and one classes, respectively, and when I had the two, they were back-to-back (a true blessing, I know now). My classes in the past were also about half full. This fall, the three classes are not only packed to the gills, but they’re all at somewhat random times. I have my standby — the one I’ve had since I started teaching, which begins two days a week at 8 a.m. That sounds somewhat unpleasant until you factor in that it takes me anywhere from 30-45 minutes to get to Richland at that time of day, meaning traffic is a constant concern. My first semester I pushed my departure time back a couple of times, only to arrive as much as 10 minutes late to class. I quickly gave that up… now on those days, I leave the house at 7 a.m., which means I get up at 6 a.m., and that’s just that. It sucks.
The other two classes are three days a week (which means I’ve had to give up my self-imposed day-off Friday, and I’m none too pleased about that). I should stress that the students in my MWF classes are absolutely fantastic… and really, all of them are wonderful. But, I’ve got 60+ students this fall, whereas in the past it was more like 10-12, and that means more copying and more … well, A LOT more grading!
But it’s good. I mean, yes, going to Richland five days a week and handling 60+ students is a chore, but I’m doing what I love (teaching) and I enjoy the students. It really does split my day into at least two days, because being there is really like taking a flight somewhere — it just makes the day feel like it stopped in the middle somehow. But I’m not complaining… I was (and am) thrilled that I’ve got three classes this semester.
I’m also trying (with some success) to clear out some of my tutor students. My other previously top secret job is working for Kaplan, both as a tutor and as a classroom teacher. I work almost exclusively with high school students (the exceptions are younger, not older), and I really love that job, too. I just wasn’t anticipating having three classes this semester, so I’ve got too many students/classes to try to juggle. Thankfully, two of my longtime (6+ months) students are taking the ACT this Saturday, so I am done with them, and that’s good. I’ve got two or three more students taking the Oct. 1 SAT, and then I’ll be down to a more manageable group of kids to coordinate with. Again, I want to stress that I adore this other job of mine, and for the most part I adore my students, but there have been a couple of times during my Kaplan tenure that I’ve felt the strain of my inability to turn new students down, and this is definitely one of them. I want to help everyone, and unfortunately, when you’re a tutor, that equals a whole lot of extra time and work.
So I’ve got three writing classes, six or seven tutor students, a couple of SAT classes, and then… oh right! I have my *own* classes! How could I have forgotten?
By all accounts, the classes I’m taking this semester (with one possible exception, but it’s a bit too early to judge just yet) should be fantastic. One, in particular, is my dream class. However, these pesky professors have strong expectations of me actually doing *work* for their classes. Pfft. The dream class has a 21-page syllabus with an average of six or seven different reading assignments weekly. This week, for example, I’m reading two scholarly articles plus around 12 book chapters (spread over three books)… roughly 250 pages for one week. One of the other classes, my methods (data analysis) class, is an extremely challenging approach to cutting-edge methodology. It is a great class taught by a great professor, but the prospect was so daunting that only four of us in the poli sci program signed up for it, and one of those is the professor’s research/teaching assistant. It has proven to be worthy of the rampant public fear, although I am learning a lot and the guy teaching it has been more than willing to help us out.
THANK GOD — and I cannot stress this enough — we are leaving for a mini-break to Vegas next Wednesday. I dismissed my classes for the 3 days we’ll be gone and told them to enjoy the opportunity to sleep in and miss the crazy traffic. There was always a possibility that I would come to see this mid-semester break as a slight annoyance, a distraction from what I should be doing (reading/working), but honestly, I’m just so desperate to spend some quality time with my poor, neglected husband that I cannot wait for the flight to take off. I will be lugging a couple of books and my laptop along, but I am determined — yes, *determined!* — to have a great time while there.