I'm going to go hide in my office now....

They're easy to spot.

They need a few minutes of quiet after getting in to work.  They might love teaching, but after a 60 minute lecture or two, they are drained--mentally and physically.  They might prefer to eat lunch alone to get some more energy before the next lecture or meeting.  They need time at home to recharge for the next day.


It's the introverted professors!!


(Raise your hand if you are utterly drained from your first day of classes....and not just because of your workload.)

Be Sure to Put the "U" in Scheduling

There's one truth about me that pretty much tells you everything you need to know:

I truly, deeply, genuinely enjoy writing up my semester's schedules.

I love inputing all the course due dates into my calendar, and I get a teeny, tiny thrill whenever I get my various courses' assignments to align (which takes just a little more manipulation than, say....getting all the planets to align).


But here is something that no one told me when I first started teaching.  You have to put yourself before the schedule.

Rather than just think about placement of assignment due dates--what is best for the students?-- it is important to think about how and when it is best for you to be grading the assignments (or exams).  The primary scheduling criterion I now consider is when will I want (and be able) to efficiently grade assignments.  Do I want to be grading on the weekend?  Do I really want my two different courses to generate 70+ exams at the same time?  Is it best to grade over holiday breaks, or would I rather get the grading done before my days off?

Perhaps these are really obvious considerations, but I sure wish someone had told me to think about ME when I planned out my syllabi schedules!!

My house, my home

I am seriously diggin' me some Young House Love.  I am not a Do-it-yourself-er, but I really like the idea of making my house my HOME---even by the smallest changes.

YHL helps remind me that big changes aren't required to make a big difference.

Hmmm...perhaps I should apply that same mentality to my office?  After all, I'm pretty sure I spend more waking hours in my office than in my home!

At-bat songs for professors

Unfortunately, I've been watching a lot of baseball lately.  While I find the sport rather dull, I think there is one aspect of baseball that would really benefit our students: the at-bat song.

You know that moment when you first walk into the lecture room at the start of the semester?  Think about how many more orders of magnitude of awesomeness it would be if you were accompanied by 10 seconds of "Crazy Train!"


What would be your classroom at-bat song?