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.

The End, Already?

Wow! I can't believe I haven't written on here since the beginning of the semester. I really want to make this blog a regular habit. Once every 2 weeks at a minimum at least.

This summer flew by. I have had the most awesome group of students. Although I am physically and mentally exhausted, both classes have been a lot of fun. I hope my students feel the same. The end of a semester is always a sad relief. I am always more than ready for the break, but it makes me sad to watch my students walk out of class for the last time.

I know that this is just a literature class, one that most of them admit they dreaded taking, but I hope that it has been more than a dreaded gen ed requirement. Course outcome statements aside, I hope I have made the course have meaning in ways that my students feel is real and valid to their individual lives. I hope that something useful from this course positively changes their lives if only in some small way.

Well, I still have to total scores for the last presentations that were done, so I can return grade sheets tomorrow before the final. Better get back to work. *Sigh.*

Summer! Novels! Yay!

I both love and hate the summer semester. I always elect to teach the novels course during the summer. It is the one opportunity each year I have to actually teach a literature course. I really enjoy the break from composition and ALL THOSE ESSAYS! My students usually have very interesting things to say, but grading 4 essays per student @ 80 students per semester is just exhausting.

The summer lit class is also a source of frustration for me though. Most students who take this class don't want to be in it but figure it's better than a foreign language course. (If I were them, I wouldn't be so sure of that.) I have finally given up on making it a traditional literature course in favor of (I hope) novels, assignments, and topics of discussion that have actual and immediate significance to their lives. This is the first semester I've taught this course where I am happy with the outline I've made. I feel pretty comfortable with the direction I want the class to go. If we can have a little fun this summer and learn something about ourselves and the world we live in that can benefit us in our daily lives, I will be satisfied.

So far, I seem to have an interesting group of students enrolled in the two sections, one on the main campus and one in Litchfield. It's difficult to get a feel yet for how our class discussions will progress as there hasn't yet been much opportunity for that. I understand their dislike for reading and writing (sort of) and feel confident that I have done my best to select novels they will either enjoy or at least learn something valuable and relevant to their lives. I'm incorporating 2 films and possibly a 3rd. I love movies! And I think students do too. We'll see how things go, I suppose. At least they are pleased that I'm not making them read Dickens or Hawthorne. There is value in reading the "classics." Still, canonized literature is severely overrated.

Random Thoughts

As we approach midterm, I can't help but anticipate a huge sigh of relief in the near future. I have managed to keep pace with the course materials and grading, but I would prefer to be ahead of the game. I find myself struggling to keep up. I'm sure my students feel the same way. Hopefully, the mid-semester break will allow me the time I need to get at least a few weeks ahead of my students.

In the meantime, they will be submitting their first essays to me this weekend. I am really looking forward to reading them. They have all been working hard to develop their ideas. I have been really impressed with this group so far and anticipate nothing less as the semester progresses.

I am a day behind with lecture materials this week. Writing provided me a short break, but I need to get these materials posted on Blackboard. I know some of my students are anxiously if not eagerly awaiting the week's assignment materials.

Spring 2010 Semester Underway

Well, I am only teaching online this semester, and I have to say it is going much, MUCH better than last semester. The organization of the course is much more user friendly for my students if the lack of emails I have been getting is any indication. Some of my students seem very excited about the course, a fact that excites me greatly. A few even responded positively to my personality, something I just could not recreate in the online environment last semester. I am so glad that they have gotten a sense of who I am not just as a teacher but as a person.

They are getting ready to dive into the first essay soon. They have all been discussing some really interesting ideas for issues they might explore. I am really excited about seeing their drafts in a couple of weeks.

Several students let me know that they had checked out this blog. I hope some will offer feedback both praise and criticism. Since everything seems to be running more smoothly as I am getting the hang of online teaching, I will try to write more frequently.

I am looking forward to a fabulous semester.

Semester Overview

I don't think I need to tell anyone that this has been the worst semester for me since I started teaching. Revamping the entire course AND teaching online for the first time was not a good idea. The on campus section has gone relatively smoothly if not exactly how I would have liked, but the online class has been nothing short of a disaster. With the technical problems I faced at the beginning of the semester, realizing that the course was organized in a way that was confusing to most of my students, and finding that I needed to revise all of my course materials for online presentation, there is little wonder as to why I am in the predicament I am now with over 100 essays to grade in a few days. I made it through 60 in the last two days and hope I can get through another 40 tomorrow, which will leave me with only the research papers to get through.

I know that most of my online students are frustrated if not pissed. I don't blame them at all. I wish I would have been in a position to better serve them as their instructor. If I were grading myself on my performance this semester, I'd be the first to give myself an F.

With all of the online courses I've taken, I really thought teaching one would be easy. I can't believe how wrong I was. If there is a silver lining in all of this it is that I have learned more about teaching online from my complete and utter failure this semester than I ever could have otherwise. I will be using the winter break between semesters to revamp some of my lecture materials, so that next semester I can focus solely on responding to students writing in a more timely and efficient manner.