I am finding a measure of peace in the overpriced hum of the air conditioner. It is Sunday morning, and while I don’t have F2F classes tomorrow, I am preparing to roll into a very busy week. Most of my in-person classes stack up on Tuesday where I find myself teaching from 7 AM through 2:15, with one break around 11:30. By then I am wiped. The hardest part of the morning schedule is teaching the same subject three times in a row to three different populations of students. Classrooms have a vibe. Sure, the teacher is part of creating that vibe, but it comes from student interaction with each other and the content itself. How do they feel about what they are taking? What is their purpose for being there? What else is going on in their lives?
I have a son who is close to graduating college. He goes to class every day and is almost entirely disinterested in what he is learning… as his profession. He doesn’t see the value of things like terminology. He’s about to graduate. He has had time to consider the worth of such things in his line of work and utterly dismiss them. Now consider a freshman walking into an english class in the age of ChatGPT. What chance do I have to retain their attention in a subject they feel is probably outmoded. Not only will they try to write essays with the tech, they won’t even engage with material that is not entertaining.
So, I’m an entertainer. I try to be on for hours and build toward a general understanding of the process and context of writing, so that when they do use the tech (as they will) they will be able to do so effectively and towards their personal purpose. All of that requires being very prepared and very ‘on’. That requires being in a state of mind where I feel centered, organized, and ready to go.
As the semester wears on, Sunday will be football and chill day. I’ll watch my Giants (which I paid nearly $450 bucks to do) and relax into the new week. In order to get there, I need to get to a place where I know in advance what is happening week to week. I think all teachers at all levels need lesson plan books (with accompanying cueing powerpoints, handouts, games, and whatever else). That is my goal for this week. I intend to build out mine for these five different subjects/formats I am teaching. But hey, at least it isn’t as many as last semester.