Wishing and Hoping

It's hard to believe, but summer vacation is finally coming to an end. Where did the lazy days go? Between family travel, visits to various doctors, and taking a huge step of faith, I don't necessarily feel like I got a lot of time to rest. At the same time, I'm really looking forward to getting back into the classroom. Surprising, huh?

After so many semesters of being micromanaged and told what to teach, I'm really looking forward to going into a classroom where I've been told I'm in charge. My job is to teach the material to my students in the way that will best benefit them. I wasn't handed a pre-formulated syllabus that told me how many points the course had to contain and what types of assignments I had to give. It's refreshing to be offered the opportunity to teach what I know by an institution that acknowledges my competence and trusts me. What impact does this have on me? It means I'm busting my butt to do a good job and I'm excited to teach. That excitement is contagious and my students are going to benefit because of it (even if they don't realize it immediately). There's a lesson to be learned there about stifling employees, I think. Too bad I don't expect that those who most need to learn the lesson will do so anytime soon. C'est la vie!

Now I find myself holding my breath, wishing and hoping. I'm hoping for a good semester. I'm wishing for classes filled with students that are ready to be engaged with the content. I'm hoping those students are found in all six classes that start next week. Actually, I'm hoping that the Saturday class doesn't have enough students enrolled to make. (How did I get conned into teaching a class on Saturday morning again?)

Oh well......we'll keep our fingers crossed and see what happens. In the meantime, I'll keep my eyes focused on the light at the end of the tunnel. The end comes sometime in early December!