My Tuesdays are motherfucking murder this semester.
My schedule is this: Arrive at campus at 9 AM. Teach three classes back to back to back with no break. Half hour for lunch. Three hours of office hours. One hour for dinner and prep. Teach for three more hours.
On the plus side, I’m stoked about my classes, and I think that the order of them is good. I begin the day with comp, which is a good way to start the day because it’s so student-centered and so not me-centered. And I like the theme of my comp class this time (food – who doesn’t have something to say about food-related topics?) and I’ve got a student who followed me to this class from another gen ed who is just… a character. In a good way. And I’m happy to teach this student again. I might need to convince this student to minor in English, actually. And after some negotiating, I’m happy with the classroom situation for that class. (But actually, more on the classroom situation after I talk a bit about the classes.)
After comp, I teach my one lit class of the semester, which is really the lit course I’m most proud of developing since I started working here. It’s not that I don’t love the other lit courses I teach – I do – but this one is my baby. And it’s filled with smut! Huzzah! And I’ve got a few “frequent flyers” in that class, too – one who followed me from gen ed, two who followed me from the intro to the major, and one who followed me from another upper-level class. On the one hand these students are excited about the topic of the course – which is awesome – but also, they’re excited about me as a teacher. Nothing makes a classroom dynamic better right off the bat than having a few students who already trust you and who already know that they can expect to learn something from you and have a good time doing it. That sort of enthusiasm is contagious – just as it’s opposite is contagious in a class that gets off on the wrong foot.
Then I teach the theory survey for the undergrad majors. It’s going to kick their ass, and they will likely hate me for about the first six weeks, but I’m good at teaching theory. I’m good at making it accessible. And I’m good at kicking ass. And it’s not like I didn’t warn them. I told them about the student who wrote me that letter last spring who said she thought I was the biggest bitch for making her do the theory – really do it. And then who thanked me for it. So they can’t say they don’t know what they are getting into.
This then leads into the night class, a grad theory class. See above about my talent for teaching theory. I hope I don’t sound like an asshole for tooting my own horn about this, but I’m actually really proud of myself that I’ve learned how to do this. Teaching theory requires a whole other set of skills from the other teaching that I do, and I’ve put a lot of work into thinking through my theory courses and figuring out how hard I can push my students without pushing them over the edge. And I’m really proud of the fact that I trust my students to do the work that I set for them, as I think (not to be unkind, but this is a sort of bitchy thing to say) that historically in my department instructors in theory courses have aimed low, assuming that students can’t or won’t do the work.
So I’m stoked about my courses, even though I’m going to be a zombie by semester’s end with this grueling schedule. (Thursday is nearly as bad – only difference is that in exchange for the night class I have committee work in the afternoon.) Now, the good news is that I don’t teach on Wednesday. And I’ve set up my schedule (like, my posted schedule on my office door) to note that I will be doing “off-campus research” on Wednesdays and so I won’t be in. (Welcome to Workwatchers, motherfuckers). I’ve also set it up so that I have stated “research time” on my door on Monday and Friday afternoons. Mondays and Fridays I’ll be flexible if necessary, but it would take an apocalypse for me to go to campus on Wednesdays after the 12-hour Tuesdays. I think that’s entirely reasonable.
Now, the one thing that was a pain in the ass related to teaching was my classroom assignment for my three back-to-back day classes. Originally, I’d been scheduled to be in the same room for all three of my day classes. The same stupid room. Why stupid, you ask? Well, because it was too small for any of those three courses, all of which are maxed out in terms of enrollment. I discovered there was a problem with the middle course at the end of last semester, when I realized that I couldn’t admit a student to the course, even though there was ostensibly a free space, because the fire marshal wouldn’t allow the room to have that one more student. So I got that room changed at the end of fall semester, which screwed up the “three classes back to back in the same room” thing. And then, my comp class didn’t make its enrollment (total fluke) so I was switched into another full section that was supposed to be for a part-timer, in another building. That wasn’t that big of a deal, except the room was a computer room, and the layout was such that it would be impossible for me to have my students interact in the way that I need them to interact. (Look, I know that some comp instructors like to have a computer classroom, would kill for it. But I don’t like for technology to mediate the way that I teach writing. I think writing is about conversation – not about staring at a screen. I think technology gets in the way of good and easy writing. I know that this makes me an old-fashioned ninny. Whatever. It’s my way.) So I asked for a change from that room. And then I first saw that original room, the one in which I was supposed to be teaching all of my maxed out classes, this afternoon, for my last class. Did I note that this class was maxed out (at 25)? And there were only 18 chairs. And only desks for 18 students. Um. So, happily, by the end of the day, all of my classrooms were switched to adequate space, and while in different rooms, all in the same building. I am pleased.
Now, what annoys me though is the fact that I attract motherfucking students. My courses fill up. When they don’t, it is either a fluke (that comp class was a bizarre thing), or it’s because I’m teaching a brand new course without any word-of-mouth (like what happened to me last spring with an upper-level course). WHY would they put me in a room for three freaking classes that only sits 18 students? Especially when we are now in a world of SCH/FTE targets so that we are penalized if we don’t have butts in seats? Give me a room to seat the students who enroll, dammit!
And yet, I refuse to enroll students in my courses over the stated cap (except for when I don’t). I felt like a bit of a jerk today when I told some students that I wouldn’t sign them in to my lit course, but then I thought, um, you don’t need this particular course! There are many, many lit courses that have seats (even if they are adequately enrolled, and some are under-enrolled). You know what? No, I’m not willing to increase my workload when colleagues of mine are barely pulling their weight. Not with the way that I push my students (and myself). Fuck that.
Now, that said, I did do some things with my syllabi to be kinder to myself, given the workload issues that I face. I have eliminated small graded assignments from my comp courses, which I know is shortchanging my students, as I really do believe that those small graded assignments that lead up to major papers are important to teaching the writing process. But the reality is that I can’t be a superlative teacher of comp, and a superlative teacher of literature, and a superlative teacher of undergraduate-level theory, and a superlative teacher of graduate-level theory. And I organized the assignments in my lit course and my comp course so that I don’t have anything major coming in after week 13. (They have some small things at the end, but I’ve switched both so that I’m not slammed come finals time.) I’ve eliminated a journal assignment from the undergrad theory course (though this will probably hurt them). Basically, I cut some corners, as an experiment, because I know now that my workload is my responsibility (according to my administrators) and they would rather I shut up and cut some corners than go at full speed and be filled with rage and complaints. I think I’ve accepted that I teach a 4/4 load and not a 2/2 load. But it makes me sad, because my students really deserve better than that and need better than that, even if they are at – and maybe especially because they are at – a regional university.
The only other bullshit thing with teaching is that apparently the university bookstore has yet to procure the books for one of my courses – even though I placed the order in November. This is only a problem for a small handful of students who must get their books from them because of financial aid. But it is totally, and completely, unacceptable. Fuck corporate fucking university bookstores with crappy fucking records. Fuck them.
Ok, on that note, I need to end this post and collapse into a pile of goo onto my couch. Tuesdays are motherfucking murder.
Reassigned Time 2.0 
Wow. I’m tired just thinking about your Tuesdays.
I hear you on the requests to over-enroll your classes. Happens to me regularly as well. And when I was at the SLAC I was teaching classes of 30+ while I had colleagues who had classes of *3* And no one figured out that all they needed to do was lower the cap to 20 or so for all classes and the workload would be spread much more evenly, without losing any student seats. Argh…
I’m very jealous that you can schedule your office hours in chunks like that. We are not allowed to have more than one per day, but we have to have at least 4 total, and we have to teach 5 days a week. We also can not work for more than 4 hours at a time. So I have days where I have huge blocks of time where I’m not teaching, can’t have office hours but am stuck at campus because I have classes later.
We aren’t allowed to over enroll either, which is alright, but I did get put in a classroom where there were only 17 seats and I had 35 enrolled. I actually had to fight with administration (who just wanted me to “deal” with the situation–how? Where do the students sit?) I finally pointed out the max. capacity of the room was posted right there on the door and like magic, I was given a new classroom.
RL – I actually remember my five-day-a-week teaching schedule from my first few years on the t-t fondly. Really, it would be my preference to teach five days a week and to spread my office hours out. The reason my schedule is all loaded up the way that it is has to do with things beyond my control. First, I took on this night course as a favor to a colleague – under normal circumstances I would have my night class on another day. Second, my schedule is loaded up the way that it is because of service commitments. This is not at all how I would prefer to work. That said, it sounds like your place micromanages your time in a way that is really not helpful – either to you or to your students.
Sympathies there and I hope that you stand firm on your “I don’t come in on Wednesdays”. This term I’m reaping the reward of overextending myself last term, teaching four courses, five days a week, plus a grad student’s directed readings. Now it’s two courses, three days a week, along with several grad students piled into directed readings!
Letting go of the grading load has also been a theme of mine. I abandoned my beloved journal assignments in western civ. They did a lot of good for the students but devoting most of my TA’s hours to marking only those left me floundering to assess the work of the other 100-120 students! This term I ditched the research essay in my sophomore survey in order to retain short response papers. I’m not entirely happy but these are the trade-offs we make.
Wednesdays are going to be hard on you. I hope that you cut yourself some slack as you stay away from campus!
Yeah, it feels like micro-management. The short office hours bother me because that hour (50 minutes really is what most do) isn’t enough time. Sometimes someone comes in during the last 15-20 min and I can’t do as much with them as they need. I’m not allowed to hold office hours durring certain times of each day because meetings “might” be held during that time, but if I don’t have meetings, then I’m stuck with this dead time. It’s also discouraged to hold office hours in the evening (despite the fact I teach late). Because admin micro-manages, the chairs micro-manage and they want the faculty to as well (They want to pass a no eating anywhere but the dinning hall for all people rule.)
Hopefully you’ll get to sleep in on Wednesdays!
(1) Can you explain what the difference is between “literature” and “theory”?
(2) When I was in college, my cronies and I loved the once-a-week three-hour evening classes, and loaded up on them. Because a class hour was really fifty minutes, we’d get a half-hour break in the middle, and we would rush over to the bar, pound a few cocktails, and then spark a fattie on the way back for the second half of class.
That’s one motherfucker of a Tuesday. I did that a few times in my 30s (back at my old job, although I had a 3-3 not a 4-4 like you) but I’m too old for that shitte any more.
The good thing about your motherfucker Tuesdays is that you’re one down, only 14 more to go, right?
[…] to no recognition (and, for my efforts, I actually was punished), my schedule was brutal (remember the Motherfucking Tuesdays?), and basically, I was in a sort of holding pattern personally. Things did not appear to bode […]