Trying Just to Find "Normal"
It is very challenging during this time with emotions. Obviously the Covid-19 situation is hard on a great many of us. With there being so many deaths from this pandemic virus (approaching 100,000 in the U.S. alone at the moment, and so many more globally), it can feel selfish to talk about other difficulties, because they *do* pale in comparison to that very immense horror.
But with that said, and with the fact that I also abundantly admit I am damn lucky to have a job at the moment (many do not), and I am also very fortunate that at this point my family appears to be safe.... I do have to say that it is also HARD even though I am currently fortunate.
It is hard in having to work twice as many hours for the same job as before. I keep anticipating it will settle down, and it does sometimes, but then it flares back up.
It is hard having to have every damn thing about teaching have to be online. It is hard to navigate the INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF MINUTIA that must be linked, hyperlinked, uploaded, reuploaded, scheduled electronically, rescheduled electronically, and then double checked, and triple checked to make sure all the navigations work as intended and allow students access as intended.
So much of my double time day is NOT about teaching about a SUBJECT. It is so much NOT about actual content on a subject. I would say that a good 60% of my time is spent at the computer, fixing, finessing, and fussing with the computery aspects of trying to GET teaching and content to students. And another 30% of my time is spent trying to figure out ways to help STUDENTS figure out and understand how to get access to the teaching and content, or in fixing their mistakes. Only about 10% of the double length workday I now have is actually about my teaching and content.
That is the tiring, debilitating aspect of this that I feel. I *WANT* to do this well for the students. I *WANT* for them to have as content rich and inspiring a class as I can muster. But, it is often, SO hard. Again.... not from a content perspective, and NOT from a basic SET-UP perspective. But it is so, SO very hard to deal with the INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF MINUTIA that must be linked, hyperlinked, uploaded, reuploaded, scheduled electronically, rescheduled electronically, and then double checked, and triple checked.
PipeTobacco
3 Comments:
Your comments remind me of what I have routinely heard from friends who as adjunct professors (or adjunct lecturers) have experienced this predicament every semester for several years, and who experience it while being paid $1,500 - $4,000 per course taught. Until this crisis, tenured faculty didn't have to share those particular chores that are standard for junior instructors.
Thinking back on my own experience in graduate school, it was the time interacting with faculty that made all the difference. Losing the opportunity to sit down and discuss topics face-to-face would have turned a genuine learning experience into a mere credentialing. If the education process becomes little more than consuming Web content, I wonder what this will mean for the next generation of faculty? Surely there will be more need for tech-savvy adjuncts willing to work for a fraction of a professor's salary, and less need for researchers unless they can bring in big grants and contracts for the university. But it sure looks as though students will suffer the most as a result of this shift.
I never knew what normal might be. It different for all of us. But I have faith we will all be fine.
I can readily imagine the extra work solely on the technology side, and how tiring it must be. I expect schoolteachers are finding something similar with their jobs. One of my friends is an elementary school teacher and had very little to do with computers prior to the pandemic. It was a steep learning curve for her. We are all having such different experiences during isolation - some are restless and bored and worried about bills, some are working twice as hard, some are juggling work and homeschooling. It's been challenging, for sure.
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