Classes started on the Tuesday after Labour Day, and so now after a week I’ve met all my students. I’ve definitely already made a few rookie errors — I let too many additional students into my academic writing classes, for starters, so I’m hoping a few drop or I will be regretting that all semester! But the students, on the whole, seem motivated, energized, and excited. Three really good things to see over four classes!
There’s nothing quite so exhausting as a first week back, I have to say. I think there are a few causes for this. For starters, while I’ve always worked and had a lot going on in addition to school, teaching full-time is an entirely different beast. I’m used to having a fair amount of quiet alone time to work, given that the research half of this profession is so solitary, but teaching four courses means a heck of a lot more time being “on,” as does a week full of meeting new people. Over my four classes I met 120 new students this week, plus all sorts of faculty and staff members I hadn’t yet met! It’s obviously going to be an overwhelming experience, but I was not quite prepared for just how overwhelming it would be.
Someone once told me that they didn’t remember doing anything but sleeping and teaching for the first month of their first job out of the PhD. I believe that.
I think new faculty members should clear their plates before classes start more than I managed to. Because of the timing of our move, our things arrived the Friday before Labour Day, and we’ve got all sorts of details related to the out-of-province registration of owe car looming large. I’m not sure I could have cleared the decks any more than I did in my situation, but it’s definitely advice I would pass on to people with more flexible relocation schedules than my own. Move earlier, get settled, and rest up.
It’s good fun too, though. I’ve loved meeting my students this week, and because of the college setting they all have really interesting stories to tell about why they’re here — much less the default position for middle class kids that a four-year university has a tendency to be. I’m really jazzed by the diversity in my classrooms because I think it’s going to allow for some really interesting class discussions over the semester. I’m just so excited to see how my students will use their varied experiences in the classroom.