Right, so I had three partially written posts for last week. But I never got to finish any of them.So for this week, I think the most important post to do first is the one that explains how summer school is kicking my butt.
I was looking forward to it: I'm only teaching one 3 credit-hour class and working a few hours as a tutor. This is less than I've worked ever since I've started teaching. Plus, I'm teaching ENG-101, which I've already taught once, and I thought that summer was going to be a relaxing semester. Almost like I'm still on break.
WRONG. So very, very wrong. Smooshing a 16-week course into 10 weeks sucks. I'm constantly grading, planning, creating assignments, reading ahead ... there's NO downtime in the summer. Plus, 7 weeks into the 10-week term, another professor became ill. So I got one of his ENG-101 classes, complete with different syllabus, different reading and writing assignments .....
I've had a lot of night lately where I've only slept 4 or 5 hours, because I just don't have the time to do all the planning and grading that needs to be done. I've hired some extra childcare, I've once again become a complete slacker on the house cleaning front (which is a luxury in itself, since we're not worried about lead paint anymore), and I'm still feeling overwhelmed.
So yes, sorry about the sporadic posting. The good news is that the summer semester ends next week. The bad news is that, between now and next Friday, I will have about 300 pages of student writing to read and respond to.
If I make it through all that, my posting habits should become a bit more predictable. Fingers crossed!
3 comments:
If it makes you feel any better, it's not any easier for students trying to cram 16 weeks' worth of learning into 10. I've even taken 3-credit-hour courses that were smushed into 5 weeks!!! While working full-time!!!
Hang in there! I'm sure Eleanor will pick up on a good work/study ethic from observing you as she continues to host fabulous tea parties. :)
And here I was thinking teachers just sat in the staff room eating cookies all day :)
I bet you're a great teacher...
Cat: I do have a lot of empathy for the students. I think that most of them have no idea what they're getting themselves into!
And Eleanor already talks a lot about me going to work; she told me the other day that I type. That's what I do when I'm at work;)
Jonathan: You can make that kind of comment because I know you're joking;) But my mom is a teacher and she's always had a hard time because everyone has experience being a student, so many people assume that means they know what it's like to be a teacher. And of course, those people are more than happy to share their opinions about teachers and education (never positive ones) with the teachers themselves. Joy!
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