I'm also feeling a little burned out right now when it comes to teaching. This semester has been particularly bad in the getting-off-schedule department, because trying to coordinate between 4 teachers is hard enough without adding snow days to the mix. One of my classes is in a squashed, overcrowded classroom in the boondocks of campus (from my perspective, centered on the far reaches of the grad campus); the chalkboard there is 8 inches higher than standard, which means I have about half a chalkboard to work with, which because of angles is only visible to half the class at any given time, and there is a creepy diorama in the corner. I have an unusual concentration of mechanical engineers, who really do not care a bit about electric fields. I also have a crop of students who came untrained in the art of taking in-class weekly tests, so grading is more frustrating than usual.
Does any of this diminish my desire to be a teacher after graduation?
No, not really. But it does make me long for smaller class sizes, and being in control of things like textbook choice, and schedule. Working with 1 other person would be fine. Trying to work with 3 in an insanely complicated schedule is exhausting (no one seems to actually know when the students are supposed to do what assignments, for example).
Mostly it makes me long for days when I tutored, and could concentrate on teaching to a specific understanding and not the near-lowest common denominator. If I could start a from-home tutoring business I would almost be happiest, I think. But I am not charismatic enough to go build a customer base.
I think this will get better as we move towards midterms and some of the students make the final decision to drop the class, and we get into we-must-stay-on-schedule mode.
In the mean time, I'll just have to keep calm and teach on.
~AMPH
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