I just sent off what I hope is the final draft of an essay for publication. It's been a long process, and I hope it's done.
Revision is my greatest weakness as a writer. It really is.
One of the difficulties was that the editors didn't get back to me with revision suggestions until after the semester had begun, and needed it by, well, last Saturday (I emailed and got an extension until Wednesday, and sent it today, so not too bad). But this semester I've been swamped with stuff, especially since I'm teaching two lit courses that are pretty much totally new, and my comp course is somewhat new.
I think folks who teach 2 or 3 lit courses a semester don't see the work of teaching comp the way someone who teaches comp does. And just as I, teaching 11 credit hours a semester don't quite see the work of someone who teaches 15 credit hours. And so on.
Resolutions.
1. I need to be less willing to teach new preps, and instead teach the same basic prep again, as most of my colleagues do.
2. I need to use my time better.
3. I need to use my time better in oh so many ways.
I'm now way behind. I have a book to finish rereading (I've never taught it before), a play to finish rereading (again, one I've never taught before), a stack of midterms to grade, a stack of lit papers to grade, and a stack of comp papers to grade. And I'm supposed to turn in midterm grade reports for all my first year students (50+) by Friday.
On the other hand, a couple I'm friends and their child are having the official adoption court date soon, and I'm thrilled for them all. It's such wonderful news!
I hear you on the overwhelming amount of work. This is why I'm usually so reluctant to change books in Humanities, since it's such a nightmare having to do all those stupid PowerPoints (required by my peers -- I never use them in any other class). But I really screwed myself the last time I lectured. I didn't have time to carefully reread Dante, who actually bores the shit out of me, so I just relied on my past lecture from last year to get me through and skimmed the argument at the beginning of each canto. Well, a student stopped me mid-lecture and asked what happens to Adam and Eve in Dante's version, and I couldn't remember. So one of my most hated colleagues (whom I hate mainly because he always is very condescending to me and acts like he is God's gift to the universe) yelled out the answer about the harrowing of hell, which I'd forgotten about because I (like the students) didn't really do the reading. And guess what? The Dean was there, and he said afterward that he was holding his breath when the student asked and I had a brain fart. (His words.) Ugh. It was SO embarrassing. Terrible. And now I have to lecture on Dante again tomorrow, and I am so tired and overwhelmed that I don't know if I'll get the reading done again! UGH!!! I keep trying to read between my meetings and I keep falling asleep. :(
ReplyDeleteBut YAY for sending in a paper for publication!! Good job! It feels good to get that done!
Congrats on finishing the essay. The semester always gets so crazy, that doing anything during it feels like an awesome accomplishment.
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