It's Already Week Two
I meant to blog last week--I really did. As all faculty can undoubtably agree: it was the first week of classes, so something has to give. And blogging gave. Missed writing I did. Sadly, it is almost the middle of Week 2 already. Hard to know where time is slipping. Still, I am having more fun and less stress than I did during Fall quarter. Fall quarter thugged me. Better said, I put in for a thugging...
That amazing learning curve
The thugging I requested was taking on program coordination for our MSEd program at WOU. There are a lot of folks in the program, and many of them deal directly with my excellent colleagues who directly advise ESOL, Reading, and InfoTech students. The rest of the MSEd students--aside from Health--come to me. Last quarter meant that I went from the rare advising session to four or eight advising sessions a week. Plus the emails--and this is only for graduate students.
Side note: I'm not currently advising undergraduates. Just want to be clear that I know that advising undergraduates is a whole different deal with its own unique problem set. Challenging it is!
Back on track: When I'm not advising, then I am figuring out paperwork with the graduate office, sorting out class schedules, answering student questions, and learning lots of stuff about the program. There is so much that information overload is inherent in the task. Fortunately, it is project--or problem--based learning. A problem shows up, you have to solve it, you get advice, and you learn how to do it. So that's pretty cool. I like that, but it is exhausting. Was exhausting.
I'm better now than before because my colleagues have helped me build a network of experts. Or, better said, the network was there and I managed to comfortably land and get settled in that network. Figuring out the network, paperwork flows, communication processes, and order of things is--for me--quite interesting. I like it. Most of the time. Now, I don't struggle to build or see the system and network; instead, I am moving through the system to solve the problem. At the start, I was unable to see or feel much of a system.
Awesome colleagues
Big up for having multiple colleagues and resources to rely on. In the past, I've been able to draw on people here and there--and sometimes I got big support from one or two people. In my current situation, I know I have about eight to ten people with wisdom and experience that I can get support from. Similarly, I offer them support and help. It's one of the great things about working within this community: you give, you get, and folks are nice throughout the process. So so much to be said for collegiality.
Great students
I keep enjoying the students I meet--especially through the MSEd advising. Normally I would not meet most of these people; I teach mostly in the InfoTech program which has limited overlap with MSEd students. So, I meet a larger pool of folks and it is a good thing. It's great talking to and hearing from working teachers. It's amazing what so many of them do with their students, and I like my student population. They are good folks, most of them are kind, and they are almost always interesting people. No boring conversations. Invariably they have good questions, too.
Teaching face-to-face
Finally I get to teach face-to-face again. It is a research and writing course, so I love that. We meet once a week for three hours, and I like that as well. My students are quite diverse: about one-third or half are international students. The gender split is uneven; less than five men in a class of nearly thirty. This is normal, though, for most Ed courses from what I have seen.
Tenure or not
About a week ago I received a letter from the Provost. I passed my second year review, so I'm still on the path to tenure. That's good. I know what I need to do, too, so I feel pretty focused.
A while ago I read or heard about going up for tenure early--it is part of our union contract. After a bit, I finally sat down with colleagues on the tenure binder review committee (it has a different name, but I like this name better). Today, actually. We chatted, they explained the contract, expectations, and related information to me. We talked about my work. And it was a good conversation.
In short, I could shoot for the moon, opt for a stressed-out, anxiety ridden push to get tenure a year early and run a chance of not getting it--a sprint for the point of sprinting--or I could do what I'm doing, improve my work, publish a bit more, and probably get tenure [there's never a guarantee]. While listening to Atari Teenage Riot
I figured that my ego was not that hungry. I didn't need that kind of stress. When I got home, it took about five minutes with D and a chat to confirm that going up early was not necessary or interesting. Nope, knowing what I know now, no thanks. Appreciate the knowledge, though! It helps reframe my perspective, that's for sure!
Otter image source:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Fischotter%2C_Lutra_Lutra.JPG
