Entering the first week of my schools ‘pre-season’ I’m clearly rusty. I haven’t gotten the syllabi or content to where it ought to be at this time and I need to move it in that direction quickly in order to have the time to relax and reflect on the upcoming 17 weeks.
I’m not talking about sports here; not in the traditional sense. This is more about the way I try to hype up for what is essentially a mindsucking experience. I have to be ready to deal with the complaints and degradation and overall nonsense associated with student learning. Here’s an example of what I’m talking about. Today I had a student begin the process of filing a grievance against me, because I failed to grade an assignment she resubmitted. Two things here: 1. I let her resubmit the assignment though I clearly state in the syllabus how assignments ought to be submitted (she did it wrong) and late work will not be accepted. So, I was a nice guy and got screwed for it. 2. She earned an A in the class and still is pissed about the one assignment. Now add in a diverse group of students ranging from those with mental disabilities to near genius intellect and you get my average day.
For those who think teaching is easy work that anyone can do, I say try it. For those who think teachers don’t work hard or have a cushy job, I say try it. I admit we get a lot of time off but the time on is really about being on–like on stage–for a legitimate period of time every day. The time off the clock is still about grading and handling other responsibilities of a residential faculty outside of your limited office hours.
I’ll climb off my high horse. Yeah, it looks easy the way the good ones present it because we make it look that way. In other words, we put in the hard work when you aren’t looking and calling us lazy.