Surely this can't be right.

As far as I can tell, I actually have everything ready for the fall semester: class handouts, Blackboard set up, my copies of the syllabi to remind me what I need to do on what days... and it's not even August yet. Surely I am forgetting something huge, and will suddenly have a massive jolt of "Oh SHIT!!" anxiety somewhere between now and Sept. 1. Apart from the madness that I know will be going on with schedule changes when I'm back to working with Bruce, of course. Some of the classes are better (including my own, which are now at 7, 6, and 13), but some full-time faculty schedules are still in pretty dire shape. We'll see what transpires in the next two weeks, I suppose.

I do find it curious that there is only one woman registered for SF so far. Last year, there was a pretty good gender balance, but one woman to twelve men may make for a very interesting semester. I know there's still time for more students to register, so I can hope the balance evens out at least some. I'm actually thinking seriously about e-mailing my buddies in Advisement to ask them to try to chase a few women into the class....

Getting back to the fact that I think I've finished all the preliminary work (including at least four times when I had to fix something in the 102 syllabus), my ability to get so much done has a lot to do with the heat wave we've been experiencing. I can't bear to go out of the house for very long (or some days, at all), and much as I love to read or noodle around on the computer, too many days of that can  make me pretty antsy. Work, however, is an excellent narcotic: it distracts me from all sorts of things.

In fact, I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with myself for the next few days. I have some life-maintenance (and life enhancement) stuff coming up, but nothing that will fill entire days. It will be interesting to see.

And I don't suppose I'll have reason to post again until I'm working with Bruce, starting August 17--maybe not even then. But come Sept. 1 and the first day of classes, I'll be back here regularly. Stay tuned!

The endless tweaking of handouts...

I've spent all day at it--again, for the umpteenth time: I've been going through all the handouts I have for the fall semester, from syllabi to essay assignments, and have been tweaking, rewording, adding (rarely subtracting), clarifying... For one brief and rather frightening moment I thought I was going to have to completely tear up the schedule for the 102s--and I'll probably end up wishing I had, as I've given myself zero time to respond to papers before conferences begin. But, because of the imperatives of seminar hours, and my desire to use them productively, I really do want to do conferences. So even though I know I'll be kicking myself and complaining mightily about it when I start getting those essays to mark, I've left the schedule as is. There were a few other options for how to reschedule the process, but I was really hamstrung by the days when campus is closed for the Jewish holidays: there just is no flexibility in the schedule until after the first two essays need to be completed, so, well, I'll do the best I can with it all.

I've made conferences mandatory for the 102s, and I'll make conference times available for the SF students in the week before their revisions are due--but since the revisions are optional, so are the conferences. And we know what that means: the students who really need to conference and revise won't; the students who would do fine even without the conference will meet with me--perhaps multiple times.

But, there it is. I was talking to Ed earlier about how much work I've done over my years at NCC to make the job less stressful, less frustrating, less debilitating. It's still all those things--but not as much as it used to be. I know the conferencing will bring a bit of both into the mix: some stress and frustrations (and thus, some debilitation, in terms of depletion of my mental and physical energies), but also--or so goes the theory--some alleviation of all that, as the resulting revised essays should be markedly better.

I do have to talk to poor Lori when she's back from vacation about how to block out huge chunks of time during the conference weeks so I can schedule those appointments. But that's a worry for another day--as is the setting up of everything on Blackboard. It was enough today to proofread everything. I don't always get a chance to do that, and it felt good to find mistakes and things to improve. I didn't quadruple check the dates and days of the week--which I need to do before I decide everything is complete--but I've e-mailed versions of everything to myself so many times, it's getting ridiculous. (I e-mail to whichever computer I'm not using: if I'm home, I e-mail to work, and vice versa. I also back up on a thumb drive, but I can't count on remembering to get the most up-to-date versions off the thumb drive and onto the correct computer.)

Anyway, how else should one spend a day when the temperatures are in the 90s? Working on school stuff is a good excuse to stay inside where it's at least marginally cooler.

The latest check of enrollment in my own courses indicates no movement since--well, a long time ago. Four in one 102, six in the other, ten in SF. When I look across the department, some sections have turned around nicely; others are still in very scary territory (for some professors, every single class on their schedule is dangerously low). As I've said, I just hope to hell Bruce has a plan, because otherwise, we're fucked.

But that's a worry for another day (says Scarlett). Today, I say, enough done. I'll type up corrections tomorrow--and no doubt find even more things I want to fix--and then I'll take a little break from school work again. That's the "summer off" part: I don't have to work every single day.

Oh, and as a sort of P.S.: I haven't heard anything from the student who needs to fulfill the incomplete in some time, so I have no idea if her final essay is waiting for me or not. It wasn't there when I was on campus last week--and I'm damned if I'm going back just to look for it. If I have another good reason to be on campus, OK. Otherwise, she'll just have to wait until I get around to it--or she'll have to contact me (which is beginning to feel highly unlikely).

There. Done. For today,

"Summer off" my ass

The student who is making up her incomplete didn't show today--but to give her credit, she did try to call me many times, and we finally spoke. She's experiencing a technological melt-down--or so she says, and I choose to believe her--so I don't know quite when to expect her paper. I haven't heard from her since about noon, so ... well, we'll see.

I did, however, make good use of the time in the office. I got the reader for 102 pulled together and sent off to the printing office--several days before the deadline. I very optimistically ordered 40 copies; at this rate, if I end up with half that many students across both my sections of 102, it will be sort of miraculous.

I almost included the online discussion board posts thing for 102, but then I realized I'd have to recalculate the grade weights (which I already had recalculates several times as I remembered assignments that needed to have points assigned), so, well, never mind. I may do it some future semester, but not this time. I think what I'll do is put the kind of leading questions I'd thought of for the discussion boards up on the blackboard (or white board, as the case may be), to give students a little focus for their in-class discussions. (Note to self: this is something to include in my reminders to myself in my copy of my syllabus, which includes information about what handouts I need when.)

In addition to figuring out grade weights for everything--for the 102s as well as the SF class--I actually did type up the schedules of assignments and syllabus changes. (Woot! Woot!) I'm going to take all that mishigas home with me so I can review it at some point--after I finish the book review that I sort of conveniently was forgetting I'd promised to submit by Friday--in order to look for errors (highly likely) and so I can start constructing (or revamping) specific assignments.

There was also a moment of flurry when Lori, the only administrative assistant left to us (as the other two are--sadly--very ill and unable to continue working), found me in the copy room and told me that there might be a problem with a full-time faculty member's schedule for fall. Not the usual problem of being assigned multiple sections of courses that may not run (which is endemic): the problem was that this colleague had been assigned a "move-up" course. "Move-up" courses are designed so students who are doing very well in remedial classes can move out of the remedial course half-way through the semester and spend the second half of the semester taking a speeded up version of the first credit-bearing comp (i.e. 101). Because we can't be assured that those "move up" sections will fill enough to run, we generally don't assign them to full-time faculty--because, obviously, if the course doesn't run, the faculty member won't have a full-time schedule. However, in this instance, the faculty member in question has been having health problems and really needs a two-day on-campus week, so she really needed two online courses (the only way we can allow a two-day schedule--and even at that, they're supposed to be three-day). Bruce decided to give her the move-up section to accommodate her need for fewer days on campus--but now we have to hope like hell the thing runs.

So in that last piece, it is the same problem we're having with virtually everyone's schedule: we have to hope like hell things run. Really, truly, seriously scary shit right now. I do not know what kind of magic we might have to resort to. Our newest faculty member lost her position (her line was not one of those to be renewed), and although I feel bad for her, I wish we could persuade a few folks who've been here a long while that it's time to retire, as having fewer faculty would help us handle this ridiculous dip in enrollment.

I probably shouldn't say that out loud, though (or on a platform that I use at work). We do not not not want to lose any more of the new and as-yet untenured faculty, because they're fabulous--but if more faculty are let go, it's the ones at the bottom who'll get the axe. This is one instance in which tenure is not always a good thing: if we could ditch people based on how good they are in the classroom, it would be great--but we do need the protection for the faculty who espouse unpopular or politically incorrect points of view: that's the primary purpose of tenure, and that is why I still support tenure, despite its obvious problems.

Well, enough of that. Depressing. Erase, erase, erase.

I'm sure there is something else I was going to record that's fun or interesting--or at least more positive--but my mind has gone blank. I'm simply going to put all the stuff I've been working on the past two days into my tote bag and tote myself on out of here. As I continue to dip back into work mode, I'll post--sporadically, but there will be at least a few communications from me between now and September 1, when classes start. (On a Thursday. I'm already taking bets on what percentage of the students who have registered for the course by then will actually show up on that first day--and yes, they have an assignment due the next Tuesday. Nothing like shooting them out of a cannon to get the semester off to a good start.)

Until whenever, y'all. And let's give a big cheer for air conditioning (for those of us in climates that need it).

P.S.

Oh, yes, and I did get that stipend to produce the online version of Nature in Lit. So that's something else I'll be working on this summer and into the fall....

July post

I came in today to meet with the Mystery Enthusiast, an interesting and typically unfocused meeting: he has a gazillion ideas and finds it very difficult to focus on anything long enough to finish it (a feeling with which I empathize, especially when it comes to creative writing). But after he left, I thought I'd take advantage of the work time--in part because Friday is the last day on which we can submit print orders and be assured that we'll have them on the first day of classes. At this point, the only thing I'll need to print will be the readers for my 102s--but I have sincere doubts about whether I'll be teaching 102. One section has six students in it; the other still has zero. Zero. And it's mid-July.

I don't know what Bruce is going to do. I imagine he's in a low-level state of ongoing panic about it: there just aren't a lot of the options we've used in the past. In the past, we've been able to "level" classes (take students out of a highly enrolled section and move them into another that meets at the same time) or cancel classes with low enrollment and move the students into another section that meets at the same time--but so many sections are running very low we can't do much leveling, and there just aren't that many sections, so there are almost none to cancel, as the only sections we can cancel are those not already assigned to a full-time faculty member.

I really feel for our adjuncts; a lot of them are going to be without work. If we can't fill full-time faculty schedules, we sure aren't going to have classes left over for adjuncts. As it is, full-time faculty may have to teach evening and/or weekend sessions of comp--which are usually reserved for adjuncts--just so they have full loads.

We've seen this slow-rolling disaster coming: as enrollment slips overall, there are fewer new students enrolling, so fewer taking 101, which means a smaller pool of students eligible to take 102--and some of our discrete degrees don't require 102 any more, as it adds credits that are not directly applicable to licensing requirements, for example. Many of SUNY's four-year schools and universities don't require a second semester of comp (even though I can't imagine that their students don't need it almost as much as ours do--and our students can take two semesters of comp and still not know how to write a real college paper).

But all that aside, the other thing I was working on today was trying to figure out the reading schedule for the SF class--and I'm still making them read a hell of a lot. I know, I know, I know: I should ditch Atwood's Year of the Flood--but it fits so perfectly with the ecocrit focus of the last readings that I can't bring myself to do it.

And I can't count how many times I started working through the schedule--chapters Y-Z on X date, that sort of thing--only to realize I was running out of semester. I finally did a rough estimate of how many "reading" days the students have and added up how many pages total I'm asking them to read, then divided the latter by the former--and the total was approximately 23 pages of reading per day, counting weekends but not counting class days. But that had to be pretty flexible, not only because chapters didn't neatly fit that structure but also because, as I looked at the pages, I realized that sometimes pushing a little further would help--and other times, slowing down a little would probably be wise.

The slower readers will struggle. Those who read more quickly--and well (both are required, not just speed)--will do fine. And of course I'm making myself all sorts of promises about setting books up to make them easier to read, but I'll forget, or won't have time: nothing ever works like I think it's going to.

In any event, I'll be back tomorrow. I'm meeting the student from the poetry class who has one more paper to submit to fulfill her incomplete--and I plan to get a bunch more figured out in terms of schedule tomorrow. It would be really nice to have the class schedules worked out soon so I can figure out whether it's realistic to have required online discussions for the 102s, for example. If I do, this time I'm going to pose very leading questions geared to the paper topics and have the discussions stem from my prompts, instead of having the students just post whatever. (Note to self: do that for future 101s as well.)

Well, it will all be whatever it will be, and will work out however it works out. I do find it interesting, however, that since I've been in the office working, I almost couldn't leave without writing a blog post. It's like the way I have to hear a musical phrase all the way through to a resolve if I'm going to learn to play it: without that resolve, everything turns to mush in my head.

But speaking about learning music, I want to get home in time to practice the violin before it's late enough to drive the neighbors bats, so off I toddle.

I'll probably write more tomorrow. Compulsive blogger, that's me.

Clean-up continues

I came in today primarily to meet with the helpful person from Distance Ed, operating under the assumption that I will be granted a stipend to create an online version of Nature in Lit--for which there are several bells and whistles I need to know about. What I found most interesting about that meeting was the ways in which I realize that I need to know why I want to create X-and-such assignment before I can choose which online tool will work best to accomplish what I'm looking for. There was one tool I didn't know about that could be very interesting: it's a function whereby I can post something (anything from a video or voice recording to a document) and students reply with voice messages, not in writing. It's not quite class discussion, but it's an intriguing alternative to discussion board posts--and a chance for students to participate without having to write all the time. Of course, my particular prejudices lead me to believe that students should write all the time--the more the better--but it is good to remember that some of them do better orally than in writing ("different learning modalities"), so as long as the overall goal is being addressed, it doesn't really matter what the "measurement" is (that is, the actual task that the students will do to show they get what they're supposed to get).

I hate it when I slip into Assessment-Speak, but like any other jargon, it is sometimes useful, as it provides specific names for the concepts or distinctions that we need to consider.

After that, I came back here to the office and have been cheerfully sorting through stacks of paper to decide what to file, what to discard--and where to file whatever is getting filed. I've started making individual folders for specific poems (unless there are two on a page), so it's easier to mix and match for future courses. Organizationally, that's great--but what's kept me from going any further tonight is that I ran out of folders (and I bought a huge box of them not too long ago). I also have started sort of looking at the old materials from 102s, deciding what I can keep and what to ditch. I'm still not all the way there in terms of the keep/ditch decisions: I'm going to have to do a lot of reconsidering, restructuring, reconstructing--and building new.

I'm actually looking forward to that process--but my first focus for the 102s needs to be deciding on the readings and getting readers out to be copied. I have no idea how many copies to get, of course (and I may end up not needing any, if my 102s don't run at all and I end up with 101s again), but I figure it doesn't hurt to have a bunch on hand.

I find that prepping a new semester is always difficult fun, if that makes sense. I find the process a grind, but it's also immensely gratifying. I have to keep reminding myself to prioritize: I still have another book to read and review before the end of June, so I might ought to take care of that first, before I get completely caught up in prep for September.

I have a doctor's appointment in the area tomorrow, as it happens, so I may well come back to the office after that appointment to do more clearing of the decks--and maybe even to embark a bit on that prep, just for giggles. Work truly is one of my narcotics, and I rather like that I'm not going cold turkey off it this semester but am rather gradually weaning myself off.

That said, if I'm in tomorrow, I'll post--perhaps briefly, but hey: I'll be in the office, and somehow it doesn't feel right to leave without posting to the blog.

Not what needed doing...

We went through the final check on scheduling today and managed to make some people's schedules less dreadful, which is a good thing--but I'm still concerned about how many problems we may have created and not caught. There's always something, but William is now the Emperor of Scheduling, so any complaints or problems go to him, and then (God help her) to Cathy, who is stuck with the whining and complaining and trying to make schedules for which the courses do not exist.

Well, we did our best. And it's done.

I have to confess, however, that in my blissed out state of being off campus yesterday, I completely, utterly forgot two things. One, I had an appointment with a very patient woman from the faculty training arm of distance ed, which I remembered about five minutes before I was supposed to meet her--as I was driving home from silly, happy stuff having nothing to do with work. Two, I was supposed to at least offer to help the office staff set up the books for the adjuncts (desk copies, for the perusal of). I didn't remember that one at all until I was here in the office today--but bless their hearts, they'd done a perfectly fine job without me. I owe them many times over for rescuing pearls before they fall through the floorboards. There is no repayment that would suffice.

After we finished with scheduling, I started to do a little organizing--and that's when I got sidetracked by a "project" that really wasn't important, but it felt good and was fun, and there will be plenty of opportunities for me to do the work that really needs doing (filing away all the stuff for 101s and the Poetry class, digging out what I have for 102 and SF so I can start thinking about those). Instead, I filed all the grade cards for my students going back to probably 2009; I started dating them in 2012, and I know I was filing stuff older than that. I've had the file boxes; I've had the cards all stacked up ready to be filed. What I haven't done, until today, is simply to do the filing itself.

I suppose I should explain what those cards are. Rather than keeping a book with grads and attendance, as I used to (and as Paul still does, very efficiently), each student in each class has an index card. The student's personal information goes on the front (address, phone number, previous courses in the English department, major/career goals if known, that sort of thing), and on the back I track attendance and record grades. Students can look at their cards at any point in the semester to see how they're doing, and they often do ask (though whether they see what they should be seeing--such as a proliferation of zeroes--is another issue). I keep the cards--far longer than I need to, I know--for two reasons. One, if I'm asked to write a letter of recommendation, I can return to the card and remind myself how well the student did. Two, if I'm ever called to give a reference, again, I can return to the card.

That happened once, but it was a cool thing: a former student who'd gone from here to the Naval Academy in Annapolis had graduated and was going into something that required a security clearance--so I got a call from an officer from the JAG bureau. I don't know why that struck me as such a nifty thing, but it did. I remembered that student very well, but in any case when my memory is more tentative, instead of having to remember what semester and class the student was in, the card is filed alphabetically and therefore easier to locate.

So now the cards really are all filed alphabetically, and the process was fascinating. Not because alphabetizing cards is wildly exciting (the office aides could do it just as well), but because of the memories and realizations. I came across cards from some of my favorite students from way back when. I came across cards for students I'd almost forgotten, but as soon as I saw the name, I clearly remembered the student, sometimes with a sense of pleasure, other times with remembered anger or annoyance.

But what struck me most was how many students took classes from me more than once--often the same course (repeating a 102, for instance), and often, I'm sorry to say, with the same result (usually a withdrawal). I know I've had some fans follow me from one class to another, which is always neat, but I truly didn't realize how many students bombed with me the first time and still wanted to come back for more. I'm not sure if that says more about them or about me, but I'm choosing to take it as a sign that there truly are students who are hungry for a challenge (even if many are not).

And I just did something I haven't done in a very long time: I looked at my "Rate My Professor" ratings. The most common complaint? I assign too much work and am too demanding about my grading, and my explanations are confusing. Most common praise? I'm helpful, the classes are interesting, and what the students learn will last. (I'm sort of sorry that the older comments are not readily visible. My favorite, from ages ago, when my 101s used to be based entirely on environmental issues, was "Hates people. Only likes trees." I'm thinking of getting a T-shirt.)

Having written that, my brain immediately went to trying to plan my fall classes--even though I have no mental energy left at all. I truly believe I will feel better prepared to start that work as I clean up and organize all the detritus from this semester--and since I have to be here on Monday anyway, to meet with the student who failed all three of her Poetry papers and is going to redo all three, I figure I'll do more clean-up then. And I have to be here on Wednesday, to collect the revised paper from Miss Incomprehensible--and to meet, finally, with that poor, long-suffering woman from Distance Ed. I could tell when I spoke with her yesterday that her patience was wearing thin--and quite rightly. But I'm going to stop beating myself up about that. I'm usually the good Do-Bee, so if this time I was the bad Don't-Bee, well, I figure I've earned a little credit. But I won't do it to her again--good lord willin' and the crick don't rise.