Let the Summer Vacation Finally Begin!
I'm finally done working for the summer. Both of the schools I teach at ended their last summer sessions this week. Final grades are in so this means I get to enjoy the whopping three weeks I have off.
Now before you sit there and go "well, I'm lucky if I get a week off," let me explain. Teaching is a very mentally stressing job. Not only do we have lesson preps but tons of grading. And trust me, grading these days is not the easiest of tasks. While I get a few good papers, a majority of them are written poorly with bad grammar and paragraph styling. On top of that, I always get a handful of students that think "text speak" is appropriate for papers. This truly hurts your brain when you read them. On top of that, I taught three classes this previous session which also meant that I went from 8am to 9:40pm on most days. The time spent between those classes was devoted to school related stuff (i.e., preps and grading). I graded somewhere along the lines of over five hundred papers in six weeks. After all of that I really need some extended time off.
So how am I going to spend these days off? Guess what? Prepping. I have to revamp all of my classes at one college because my illustrious technophobic chair has decided he didn't like my teaching style. He constantly complains about my use of PowerPoint--how am I supposed to show maps, graphs, and artwork if I don't use it?--and doesn't like me using the college's Learning Management System for assignments and exams. I use it because it saves a ton of paper. Now imagine if those five hundred papers mentioned above were handed in physically. Do you know how many trees my students would be killing? Not to mention the fact that my tests tend to be a minimum of 10 pages each. More waste. Also, I don't think he's allowed to tell me what to do. I'm pretty sure it's a violation of academic freedom. On top of that, the school is pushing faculty to use online resources, including our LMS, so I don't know what his issue is. It's not like I'm holding classes online rather than meet in person, but this is something that will be discussed one day with my union rep. In the meantime, though, as I do need the job and don't have tenure, I have to comply at least when it comes to the online exams. If I did have tenure I would tell his guy to go fuck off.
At my other college, they are switching department chairs so I'm nervous about that. My old chair was great, a laid back ex-hippie type. The new person has been complimented by my students but I'm not sure how she is with faculty. To say I'm nervous is an understatement. But at least I don't have to reprep those classes. Just some minor adjustments instead. There are some bright things out there.
This might all sound rather boring and tedious but I will manage to get some real vacation time in. I'm going up to Cape Cod, Massachusetts with my brother's family. Bear will be voluntarily staying behind (he's not a big fan of sand) to take care of the kitties while I'm gone.
I do want to take one of the kitties with me as we rented out a pet friendly house. Originally I was going to take Chloe but she freaked out so badly on a recent trip to the vet that she bloodied herself up. She's OK now as she's sitting on my desk purring. Still, I don't want to put her through a six hour drive and have her injure herself again. I'm thinking of taking Stiggie with me as he needs pills twice a day for his heart murmur and I need to put a lotion on his paws at least once a day as he has "pillow pads" (it keeps the skin from cracking and ulcerating). Bear offered to do it but it really is a pain in the ass to do. Also, I know that Stiggie travels well as he went up to the Cape with us last summer.
And don't worry, I'll be keeping an eye out for any Great White sharks. I'll be staying away from any seals as I don't want to become something's snack.
Now before you sit there and go "well, I'm lucky if I get a week off," let me explain. Teaching is a very mentally stressing job. Not only do we have lesson preps but tons of grading. And trust me, grading these days is not the easiest of tasks. While I get a few good papers, a majority of them are written poorly with bad grammar and paragraph styling. On top of that, I always get a handful of students that think "text speak" is appropriate for papers. This truly hurts your brain when you read them. On top of that, I taught three classes this previous session which also meant that I went from 8am to 9:40pm on most days. The time spent between those classes was devoted to school related stuff (i.e., preps and grading). I graded somewhere along the lines of over five hundred papers in six weeks. After all of that I really need some extended time off.
So how am I going to spend these days off? Guess what? Prepping. I have to revamp all of my classes at one college because my illustrious technophobic chair has decided he didn't like my teaching style. He constantly complains about my use of PowerPoint--how am I supposed to show maps, graphs, and artwork if I don't use it?--and doesn't like me using the college's Learning Management System for assignments and exams. I use it because it saves a ton of paper. Now imagine if those five hundred papers mentioned above were handed in physically. Do you know how many trees my students would be killing? Not to mention the fact that my tests tend to be a minimum of 10 pages each. More waste. Also, I don't think he's allowed to tell me what to do. I'm pretty sure it's a violation of academic freedom. On top of that, the school is pushing faculty to use online resources, including our LMS, so I don't know what his issue is. It's not like I'm holding classes online rather than meet in person, but this is something that will be discussed one day with my union rep. In the meantime, though, as I do need the job and don't have tenure, I have to comply at least when it comes to the online exams. If I did have tenure I would tell his guy to go fuck off.
At my other college, they are switching department chairs so I'm nervous about that. My old chair was great, a laid back ex-hippie type. The new person has been complimented by my students but I'm not sure how she is with faculty. To say I'm nervous is an understatement. But at least I don't have to reprep those classes. Just some minor adjustments instead. There are some bright things out there.
This might all sound rather boring and tedious but I will manage to get some real vacation time in. I'm going up to Cape Cod, Massachusetts with my brother's family. Bear will be voluntarily staying behind (he's not a big fan of sand) to take care of the kitties while I'm gone.
I do want to take one of the kitties with me as we rented out a pet friendly house. Originally I was going to take Chloe but she freaked out so badly on a recent trip to the vet that she bloodied herself up. She's OK now as she's sitting on my desk purring. Still, I don't want to put her through a six hour drive and have her injure herself again. I'm thinking of taking Stiggie with me as he needs pills twice a day for his heart murmur and I need to put a lotion on his paws at least once a day as he has "pillow pads" (it keeps the skin from cracking and ulcerating). Bear offered to do it but it really is a pain in the ass to do. Also, I know that Stiggie travels well as he went up to the Cape with us last summer.
And don't worry, I'll be keeping an eye out for any Great White sharks. I'll be staying away from any seals as I don't want to become something's snack.
Comments
I hope you have a wonderful trip!