Minnie spent part of her mini fall break organizing her bookshelves
Also going out for tacos
And, of course, enjoying swim practice.
Speaking of enjoying! I restocked out freezer cookie dough stash just in time for Harry to visit for the weekend
And! I am still delighting in the horror movie weather that greets me on my morning runs
Other things:
It is EXAM SEASON. My 250-person class has regular quizzes on the written content and 4 big writing assignments instead of exams. My 100-person class has traditional essay exams, and I spent the whole day on Friday reworking the midterm. My large class that I supervise has exams, too, and writing those (and their accompanying answer key) is basically a job in and of itself. I can finally say CHECK AND CHECK to exam creation season (and have TAs to grade them), which means...
CLASS PREP SEASON is right around the corner. It is essential for my sanity that I start each semester FULLY PREPPED and ready to go with all course content (sometimes I finish exam-writing mid-semester, especially if the course content has recently undergone a change) ready to be delivered. I CANNOT respond to student questions and concerns, grade stuff, meet with TAs, AND develop the course all at the same time. So, I make sure course development is out of the way. Course prep in advance is easier than developing content as you go because it is not really time-sensitive, and I can get to it on a feast/famine cycle if I need to. Content for lecture HAS TO BE READY each week for lecture, and I would be seriously stressed if I were writing it right before class, you know? Content for next semester's lectures? If I have to work really hard for a few weeks and then do other stuff for a few weeks and then get back to working really hard-- that's all OK.
Next semester, I have a large lecture rhetorical theory class and an asynchronous online reproductive justice class, neither of which I have taught in a hot second. I am gearing up (which means staring into space in my silent office and thinking about stuff).
The filthy carpet in here is really diving me crazy. See the color change that looks like a shadow? NOT A SHADOW. Just the traffic pattern. Gah.
Oh, fall. **sighs dreamily**
I would really like to take both of those course next semester. Do you accept remote auditors, lol?
ReplyDeleteGearing up for new (or not taught in a long time) classes can be so much work! Your work load is crazy! I tried staying on top of my classes this term - one a repeat, one I haven't taught for a little but with a new book - and I'm drowning. My goal of having everything up in Moodle the week before has failed - I'm getting tomorrow's stuff ready tonight. Luckily, I'm only part time. So I don't have the committee work. Or advising. I can't do everything the semester ahead because I always fiddle with my notes.
ReplyDeleteThe curse of using previous stuff is it gets boring or out of date!
Good luck with the prep - and everything else.
I actually don't prepare much of my classes ahead of time because I like to pivot if they have questions or we need to spend more time on a subject. For one course I teach, I only provide the students the first module and then they vote on the topics for the remaining modules, so I really am flying by the seat of my pants. No wonder I'm so exhausted in the middle of the semester.
ReplyDeleteEvery time you talk about the classes you teach, I'm so jealous I can't take them myself. Such interesting subjects! Good luck on class prep season!
ReplyDeleteLaughing at the image of you staring off into space when you are planning things out for next semester. No idea how you do it. I'd forget what I wanted to do if I planned in advance (I'm sure there are notes, but still) and I'd be scrambling at the last minute. Tacos and book shelf organzing are great activites to do over fall break.
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