Morning, how I loathe thee. Let me count the ways. It's the end of the first week of the semester, and I am quickly (begrudgingly) having to relearn not to reset my alarm in the morning. Sleeping in that extra half hour just makes dragging my almost lifeless body out of bed unbearable. I walk into the bathroom and just kinda stare, mind empty, eyes unseeing, for about 10 minutes. Slapping my face a few times to wake myself up, I finally make it through my routine of getting ready for work just in time to realize...I don't have time to eat breakfast. (Note, I haven't realized yet that I teach from 9:30 to 2 straight through, so I'll be skipping lunch too.) I toss a yogurt cup, a granola bar, and a piece of fruit into my purse, not because I enjoy eating healthy foods but because it's all I can find that I can just toss in my purse in hopes of having time to sneak a few bites between classes. (It won't happen. It will be at least 2 o'clock before I steal a moment for myself, so I can aleve the gnawing hunger that has taken up residence in the pit of my stomach. I work through my last hour in the Writing Center, mostly sorting out the mess of papers I have collected from my 3 classes. By the time I make it home, I'm so exhausted I can't think, can't move. I sink into my papazan-style recliner, and find myself staring blankly at whatever program my daughter is watching on Teen Nick until my muscles unknot themselves and my mind relaxes. I want a nap. But there is no time. I'll be up until at least midnight prepping for class. Then up again at six.

This first week of classes has been exhausting! But exciting. I am very happy with the 3 classes I'm teaching this semester. You never know what you're going to get in the way of students, but I think I lucked into 3 awesome classes. My morning 111 class had me psyched from day 1. They really seemed to like the intro I presented. I don't remember how the idea struck me, but I know that it was very late the night before. I wasn't sure how'd they'd react. I thought the idea might be lame. But I figured I'd give it a go anyway and see what happened. The 2 afternoon sections of 112 and 111 didn't respond quite so enthusiastically. In fact, they pretty much just sat there in silence, staring at me. Maybe it was lame. I'm choosing to believe they were just so dumbfounded they didn't know how to react, didn't know what to make of this woman who was supposed to be their instructor. Mostly because I thought it was awesome. It got a great reaction from one class, so I'm counting that as success and will try it out again next semester.

First days are always odd because everyone is nervous, unsure what to expect. By the second day of class, though, I think everyone had lossened up a bit. Just about everyone was actively participating. It's really challenging to make that happen, but I think we have good group dynamics. I'm trying to holding off making any definitive judgements about how the semester will progress, but the first week bodes well for those to come. I hope my students are excited about an awesome semester as I am.

On the Verge of the New

As I put the final editorial touches on my fall syllabi and course calendars, I find myself getting very excited about the upcoming semester even though it's still two weeks out. After three years of teaching, I finally have these three courses I regularly teach just about where I want them. Exploring teaching styles and finding a comfortable pedagogy takes time. But I have arrived. Thanks to the help and input of all my exceptional colleagues and former students.

I'm hoping to get all my course materials linked to my newly published website, so my students have full access to the site this fall. I'd like to start moving away from Blackboard, having students access my website directly instead. All in good time. All in good time.

Tonight, I hope to finish up these syllabi and course calendars and get started on my lesson plans. I'm supposed to be sharing my assignments and lesson plans with a new adjunct tomorrow over lunch and need to get as much revising and editing done tonight as possible.

Writing was a pleasant respite, however brief. But...back to work.