Fellow Teachers - What are you doing with your day off tomorrow?

[Haven]

I will be finalizing my professional portfolio and thesis so I can adequately defend it on Tuesday. EEEEEEEEEK! I''m so nervous, yet very excited to be done with this graduate program. And so very thankful for the day off tomorrow.

What will you be doing?

 

[marcy]

I teach onilne classes so I never get a day off. Rats

 

[Haven]

Aw, well that doesn''t sound fair, Marcy!

How do you like teaching online classes? I recently had an offer to teach a few for a college but I''m not sure how I''d like it. I''d love to hear your experience with it. My favorite thing about teaching is the electricity that happens in a room full of students thinking about and discussing a piece of great literature--how do I make that happen over the Internet? Do you find that the magic happens in a different sort of way online?

 

[Elmorton]

Our dept secretary looked at me like I was an alien when I said "Huh? We're off for president's day?"

I'm catching up on grading. Bleeeeech.

Yes, Marcy, it would be great if you could post about teaching online! That's another thing I was planning on doing tomorrow - finishing my app materials for an online adjunct position. The hiring process seems a little strange (3 week orientation course so I can be "added to the pool", and supposedly it takes up to 15 hours per week, unpaid - is that normal??). This institution also offers most classes as a 5-week long course. Do you teach on a shortened timeline? How large is your typical class? Do you find that your workload is more or less than in a normal classroom? What about retention? Do you find that it's the same, different, or better? What kind of freedom do you have in planning your course and the material?

ETA: Haven, best of luck with your defense!!!

 

[Fancy605]

We got 2 days off in some crazy twist of fate. I am thrilled. I am going to apply for a homestead exemption, meeting a dear friend for a much needed lunch date, returning some things to the mall (and probably picking up a few new things), grocery shopping, and hopefully conquering some laundry.

Haven, good luck with your thesis. I had to write and defend a thesis for my masters program, and boy was it stressful. It was the BEST feeling ever to have it all over with and to turn in the paper work for that new stamp on my certificate.

 

[Haven]

Thank you Elmorton and Fancy, I can barely wait to be finished with my defense. I think I''ll spend all day tomorrow talking to myself to prep!

Enjoy your day off, gals!

 

[pennquaker09]

Tomorrow is all about the thesis!

 

[Sabine]

Good luck with the thesis Haven! Today is our snow make-up day, so I''m in school about to start teaching in about 10 minutes...blech, I could have really used a day off!

 

[gwendolyn]

Bah, I was hoping to see that you all were going to have lazy, relaxing days! What is all this WORK stuff?!

Fancy, I'm glad at least one of y'all is going to have a fun day today!

I'm not teaching at the moment (although I am a teacher)--doing grad school full-time instead--so I don't have the day off. But I do have to wonder, how do I go about celebrating Presidents' Day when in England?

 

[Haven]

Gwenny, I love the new avatar picture!

Everyone--enjoy your day, whatever it may be! (Can you tell I''m stalling . . . I should be working on polishing my defense statements right now.)

 

[zoebartlett]

Best wishes Haven!

I didn''t have today off, unfortunately. We have vacation next week though, so it''s not so bad.

Gwendolyn, I love your new av. What a great picture.

 

[gwendolyn]

Thanks, ladies. That was taken at the Colosseum when we were in Rome last month!