The start of this semester at CSUSM has begun with many points of frustration. I teach an ED 422 class at Cal State University, San Marcos. It's a technology course for individuals seeking a California Teaching Credential. There have ALWAYS been problems and glitches, but this year I'm running into quite a few. I've taught this course for 5 years now. First there are technical problems. For some unexplainable reason, they YahooGroups resource that I've always used each year is having problems. Many students are having problems downloading assignments and readings. Argh! I've started loading the documents directly to my server, as a quick solve, but why isn't YahooGroups "working"?
The other concern at the start of this semester is the ability of certain students to follow directions. Several of them seem to have difficulty following directions. They are turning in things that they do not need to, they are not turning in things that they need to, they are turning in assignments in formats other than what I have requested, they are mis-labeling assignments turned in, they are turning in assignments late, just to name a few problems. My written directions are clear (in my humble opinion) on my website, but some students have not read them or have chose not to follow them. I've given verbal directions in class, sometimes to the point of being comical because I've repeated myself several times, and yet I have still received work that reflects that they did not hear, understand or care to follow the directions.
This year there are also many of them who needed to add the class. I didn't have the heart to turn anyone away this time. So many of them had desperate needs to take this class, this semester. I have a large class this semester. My concern is the amount of attention I will be able to give to each student. Large class sizes were always the thorn in my side when teaching in the K - 12 classroom, the rules don't change when teaching at the university. There is a threshold point somewhere at which the quality and focus of my instruction decreases in direct correlation with class size.
This year my vacation falls on the 4th week of teaching. I will be giving the class an assignment on Ethics and Copyright during this time. I'm really looking forward to this trip. I feel burned out in certain areas. The trip to Kazakhstan was much more of a business, working trip than it was any form of vacation. I kept running into people, once school got back into swing, that had pleasant, restful sounding vacations. When I they asked, and I told them I went to Kazakhstan, they often commented that "Wow that sounds fun, did you have a good time?" Although it was a great experience and I wouldn't have passed it up, it wasn't a break in any shape or form. It was exhausting. We got back on the weekend, had a couple days to recover (from a 13 timezone difference) and I headed back to work that week.
Work at EUHSD is a bear right now. High expectations and low resources. Argh! Sandy and I have been asked to lead a Bible study when we get back. I'm excited but a bit concerned about the time once again. Podcasting is going well, but in the "growing" stage right now takes time to promote and grow the business. We just got back from a fun, but tiring, geocaching picnic event in Los Angeles. We introduced many geocachers to the concept of podcasting. Fun stuff.
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