--because I am mostly done. I taught my last evening class of the semester tonight. OH the relief I feel, just typing those words! I still have to give three lectures to my undergrads, and I have to write 1.67 final exams along with editing the one that's drafted, but still: phew!
Before I started teaching I had no idea how much creative energy I would pour into class preparation. I should have been able to predict it, I suppose, because I had prepped plenty of short talks and they always took me a long time to pull together. In my first year here I wondered if part of my problem was being new to the classroom. But I think it's just part of the deal: filling 45 contact hours with the right amount of useful information, presented in an appealing way, is a big task.
It is also, hallelujah, a task I have now finished for my grad class this semester. Tonight was not the best class of the semester (wireless hassles and Skype headaches -- we started late, which I HATE doing), but it is over. Over! Huzzah!
I have more thoughts about teaching within my specialty area for the first time this semester (nutshell: I did not foresee the difficulties), but they will have to wait for another day.
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