Oh... to teaching, that's where.
I can't believe that just a few short summer months was long enough to wipe from my brain the time, energy, and commitment that the "teaching" part of my job takes. I don't even teach at a teaching school - this is an R1 school that values teaching. Uh huh. We'll see how that value gets translated at tenure time.
Granted there are always the semester start-up costs (adding and dropping students, dealing with the bookstore, teaching how to use the course management site, plus most of my students are freshman who don't even know where to get coffee on campus), but I haven't gotten anything substantial accomplished since classes began not-too-long ago.
Is anyone else having a hard time switching gears from research to teaching? Has anyone found a way to balance the two? I feel a little like I'm sixteen years old and learning how to drive a clutch. How can I balance the brake and the clutch without stalling?
There are 6 comments
¬ Apricot
# 9/05/2007 12:23 AM
I'm having a hard time with it, too (also at R1 where teaching is "valued"). As far as I can tell, some basically neglect teaching - the ones who care about teaching (like I do) struggle. And struggle. And struggle. I'm not being any help here at all, but at least we're not alone, right?
¬ fraud
# 9/05/2007 12:27 AM
It helps to know I'm not alone, Apricot. I'll let you know if I figure out a trick. :)
¬ Poppy Red
# 9/09/2007 6:06 PM
Yes, I don't have an answer to how to balance either, but I completely relate. I am very excited about teaching this semester -- I always am, but this semester I'm teaching a new class in my actual field -- but I also need to find time to do my research. Plus I've been so excited about teaching this new class that somehow I managed to forget I am also teaching another class! How did I forget? I have no idea how I'm going to balance this semester... aah!
¬ Mary
# 10/02/2007 1:39 AM
Unfortunately (gah) research has to take priority for a while. Sigh.
¬ Unbalanced Reaction
# 11/25/2007 8:30 PM
I'm a grad student at an R1 which also values teaching, but what many, many of the tenured (and untenured) profs do here is just dump more work on us TAs. Not a good solution! :(
...on the positive side, we grad students do get a ton of teaching experience as a result.
¬ Successful Researcher
# 4/06/2009 8:36 PM
Perhaps using some time management techniques could make things easier...
Post a Comment