Tomorrow I start my summer class. I'll teach twice a week, with office hours following the class-- so 8 hours a week until August 8.
I love my job. It is the best job in the world.
Summer classes, as a general rule, rock. Students tend to be more motivated. Either they are early-20-somethings with aspirations, or adult learners who understand the value of an education lies in the knowledge not the piece of paper you get for completion. It is amazing how many college students think that the object of college is to obtain a certificate that says they finished. It is a huge complaint among employers now-a-days; the number college graduates that think they are entitled to a job because they have a degree.
But I'll save the rest of that rant for another day. Probably around the start of the fall semester~*
Last summer I didn't teach, I just stayed home & finished my book. Before you overly romanticize that last bit, it was just a fancied up version of my graduate thesis & is mostly academic. But I am a published author so neener.
Anyway.
This summer I have to finish up an article....well to be strictly honest it is complete, all I need to write is a 300 word abstract so I can submit it. For some reason I haven't done it yet. I could write 300 words in my sleep yet I haven't doneit. I move in mysterious ways. And am lazy.
Sigh.
Anyway. Again.
June. Lots of plans for June actually.
Things 2 & 3 are busy bees this month. Thing 2 has opted to take Geometry as a summer class, on our suggestion. Summer classes are smaller, tend to be more light-hearted & he struggles with math so we thought summer school would be a great way to tackle the prob. And he is going to be on campus anyway for track practice so easy peasy. He's a good lad.
Thing 3 is busy gallivanting around with friends and generally being a teenager in the summer. Stretch {her boyfriend} and his family live on a farm & they just got a pony & a mule. She is in farm girl heaven. I will get her to do some pictures of good ole One Eyed Dan so named because the pony has only one eye, the other being lost in an accident with the previous owner. Stretch's family saved him by offering him a home. The mule was purchased expressly to keep him company. Stretch's people are good people.
They have a few backyard camp outs scheduled too. A gaggle of Thing 2's buddies one weekend, a couple of Thing 3's the next. Campfires, incidentally, are a great way to get rid of our tree pruning leavings. See what I did there? Leavings. Ha. Marshmallows & pup tents 100 feet from the house. Nothing fancy. They are teens & it is social death to look like you tried too hard.
My husband is also teaching this summer. His classes are ITV, which means he is teaching at 3 separate satellite campuses at the same time via closed circuit television. The cool bit is that he will be traveling to a different campus every day. One of those campuses is smack downtown in one of the tri cities, and is brand spanking new. We checked it out the other day {look for pics at some point in the future} and it is stunning. I am most jealous. Our classes end at the same time {he is teaching 4 days a week for a month as opposed to my 2 days a week for 2 months} & we have already planned out meeting up to explore.
While writing this I was talking to him & we have expanded the plan. We'll meet up every Tuesday & Thursday in whatever town he is teaching in. A little lunch. A little window shopping. Sweet~*
A wonderful class, places to explore & plenty of off time to work on my long list of projects . Ah summer.
I'm so happy its June~*
I love my job. It is the best job in the world.
Summer classes, as a general rule, rock. Students tend to be more motivated. Either they are early-20-somethings with aspirations, or adult learners who understand the value of an education lies in the knowledge not the piece of paper you get for completion. It is amazing how many college students think that the object of college is to obtain a certificate that says they finished. It is a huge complaint among employers now-a-days; the number college graduates that think they are entitled to a job because they have a degree.
But I'll save the rest of that rant for another day. Probably around the start of the fall semester~*
Last summer I didn't teach, I just stayed home & finished my book. Before you overly romanticize that last bit, it was just a fancied up version of my graduate thesis & is mostly academic. But I am a published author so neener.
Anyway.
This summer I have to finish up an article....well to be strictly honest it is complete, all I need to write is a 300 word abstract so I can submit it. For some reason I haven't done it yet. I could write 300 words in my sleep yet I haven't doneit. I move in mysterious ways. And am lazy.
Sigh.
Anyway. Again.
June. Lots of plans for June actually.
Things 2 & 3 are busy bees this month. Thing 2 has opted to take Geometry as a summer class, on our suggestion. Summer classes are smaller, tend to be more light-hearted & he struggles with math so we thought summer school would be a great way to tackle the prob. And he is going to be on campus anyway for track practice so easy peasy. He's a good lad.
Thing 3 is busy gallivanting around with friends and generally being a teenager in the summer. Stretch {her boyfriend} and his family live on a farm & they just got a pony & a mule. She is in farm girl heaven. I will get her to do some pictures of good ole One Eyed Dan so named because the pony has only one eye, the other being lost in an accident with the previous owner. Stretch's family saved him by offering him a home. The mule was purchased expressly to keep him company. Stretch's people are good people.
They have a few backyard camp outs scheduled too. A gaggle of Thing 2's buddies one weekend, a couple of Thing 3's the next. Campfires, incidentally, are a great way to get rid of our tree pruning leavings. See what I did there? Leavings. Ha. Marshmallows & pup tents 100 feet from the house. Nothing fancy. They are teens & it is social death to look like you tried too hard.
My husband is also teaching this summer. His classes are ITV, which means he is teaching at 3 separate satellite campuses at the same time via closed circuit television. The cool bit is that he will be traveling to a different campus every day. One of those campuses is smack downtown in one of the tri cities, and is brand spanking new. We checked it out the other day {look for pics at some point in the future} and it is stunning. I am most jealous. Our classes end at the same time {he is teaching 4 days a week for a month as opposed to my 2 days a week for 2 months} & we have already planned out meeting up to explore.
While writing this I was talking to him & we have expanded the plan. We'll meet up every Tuesday & Thursday in whatever town he is teaching in. A little lunch. A little window shopping. Sweet~*
A wonderful class, places to explore & plenty of off time to work on my long list of projects . Ah summer.
I'm so happy its June~*
Sounds like you have a great summer lined up! Enjoy it :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like some fun summer plans! Good for Stretch's people for rescuing that pony! I would love to hang out with some cute farm animals this summer. And campfires sound nice too! :)
ReplyDeleteThe one summer class I took was a photography class and I ADORED it. It's the only college class I ever showed up to for EVERY SINGLE CLASS and even went in during extra days.
ReplyDeleteI'm kind of a slacker when it comes to being a student otherwise =-/
enjoy teaching! i work at a college too, but I deal with the financial aid aspect of it and help fill out FAFSA's!
ReplyDelete