OK, it's confirmed: I'm an idiot

I've been slogging through all the material for the 102 today, getting things ready to hand out and putting them up on Blackboard. I think I may have it all pulled together, but I won't be surprised to encounter more than one "oops; let me fix that" blunder.

But as for the "I'm and idiot" part: it wasn't until yesterday, I think, that I realized I could have chosen to adjust my classes so both my 101s met on the same day--either Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday--instead of having one section on M/W and the other on T/Th. The advantage to having both sections on the same day, of course, is that the assignment schedule doesn't need any adjusting, and given the bumpy start to the semester brought about by the Jewish holidays, it would have been very nice to have them both in lock-step. But because of the way my schedule kept changing--and, honestly, because I was more concerned with making sure the adjunct scheduling was under control--I just didn't think, "Oh, that M/W 101 that I chose as a back-up for the Native American Lit, so I'd have a four-day schedule: that doesn't have to be a 101. I could have my 102 on M/W..." Nope. It was just about the moving target of what was available and what we needed to have covered.

So, well, dammit.

However, that is not the end of the idiocy. It was not until about ten minutes ago that I actually paid attention to the dates for essay submissions in the 102, and, oh, goodie: I am getting essays to grade the day before my birthday. Not final versions, either: the first versions, which always require the most work. Let me say that once again I am counting blessings about the cap on that class--and I hate to admit it, but I am rather hoping there will already have been some attrition by that time in October (which is entirely possible and hardly unprecedented).

But seriously, Prof. TLP: how could you not notice that date--and adjust something, somehow, to avoid that situation?

Still, as I keep reminding myself, it's only sixteen weeks, thirty class meetings, and then it will really be a wrap. What a bizarre thought. I still absolutely do not believe that I won't be teaching at NCC in a sort of Groundhog Day time loop for the rest of forever. But I won't. Weird, weird, weird.

The only thing I didn't get done today--and it really isn't all that urgent--was to do some research so I can formulate essay topics for the final paper for the 102. I will focus primarily on socio-historical context for that one, though I will allow an option that focuses on literary criticism--but the Library website was experiencing a glitch, so I couldn't get on the databases from home. This seems to be happening a lot; I need to check again soon to make sure my 101 students won't encounter the glitch when they have to start research (which will be very soon). But obviously I can't do anything about that today. The librarians are, I hope, taking a much deserved holiday today and not doing anything that looks remotely like work.

As for tomorrow, when it all begins: I'm going to get in as early as I can stand it, so I can pull together the needed handouts for the 102, which will be the first class I meet. Normally, on the first day, I'd have a big chunk of time in which to do that sort of thing, but my Advisement schedule requires that I go in on Tuesday mornings. I'm doing two hours on three days instead of my past practice of three hours on two days. I just couldn't find the three-hour chunks around my classes (not without going in way earlier than I'm willing to do). No cause to fret unduly, however: my class meets in Bradley Hall, as I believe I've mentioned, so getting there is a simple stroll down the hall (to the left on Tuesdays; to the right on Thursdays). So that's copacetic.

And I've written myself into a veritable stupor here. It is definitely time to turn my brain off in any truly functional sense and vegetate as much as I can before bedtime. And tomorrow: clash of cymbals and confetti cannons! The start of a shiny new semester!