It has been a rough re-entry back to work. Monday and Tuesday mornings were productive, but the afternoons of both those days were shot. I was feeling so stressed Monday afternoon that I chose to take a break. Tuesday afternoon I was so tired that I slept.
(Pic above is of a lily near my house)
Wednesday, I had a work meeting. The meeting was on Zoom, which was just about the only good thing about the meeting. It was meant to update faculty on all the goings on of the college—from new Title IX rules to construction on campus to new processes for dealing with AI infractions—and I know that the admin put it on put a lot of work into it. I just felt really disconnected and weighted down by the thought of new policies.
(Pics of rose of sharons are from my neighbor’s house. I’m trying to figure out if the ones on the left are the blue rose of sharon flowers or if they just look bluer because the ones on the right are red instead of the pinky-purple ones. I hope to grow blue rose of sharons next year.)
Thursday and Friday were a little better. I had some time to plan for classes each day. On Thursday, I also had a meeting with a colleague about co-teaching, and that went well.
Overall, though, I am way behind on my planning for school. I know what I am doing for English 101 for Monday morning. I have Children’s Literature in the afternoon, and I have a general idea of what I am doing, but I haven’t quite solidified the plan.
I also have done nothing other than put a greeting onto my online English 101’s learning management page. Actually, I am wondering if I remembered to do that.
I wrote last week that having things well planned ahead of time will help me have a better year. I am hoping to do some catching up this upcoming week when I am physically on campus. I also have today (Sunday) to do a few things.
So, what happened? Why did the week play out like this? What I think happened was that I kept doing the things I was doing during the summer to hold onto that work/life balance. I knew that if I pushed too hard with work, I would feel stressed, so I took things easy. I also made sure to get my workouts in, and that took some time. I want to start a new-ish exercise routine for the fall semester and starting it this week would help me stick with it next week.
I also chose to stay involved with Prairie School, the school I am on the board for. We had a welcome night for families on Monday and a board meeting on Tuesday. Both started at 6 pm and I got home around 8 for each. Both were fun, but I am sure I got a little less done for my full-time work because I spent some energy there.
(Scarlet snoozing on one of the cooler summer mornings we had recently.)
I am hoping that this upcoming week is better. I expect it to be. First, I plan to get up earlier so I can workout before going to school, and since I have to get to school for classes, my workouts won’t last until 10 am, like this past week. Second, I will meet students. That is often motivating for me. Third, I will be at school, so I should be able to work longer. There are fewer distractions at school. If I do go home, I will at least have the evenings to do some last minute touch ups if needed.
If I leave full time work next year, this may be my last Planning Week working full time. I wish it had been better. It went how it went, though, and next week may be my last first week of the fall semester!
Peace Out (and In),
Julie
(Cardinal flowers from my rain garden).
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