Humpday, My Brain is Doing The Chicken Dance Day, and I Am Looking for Days Ahead To Think

This will be a tradition for me on Tuesday nights as I come home from one class and prepare for another class in the a.m. - both of them extended. I get home, think about the conversations that were just had, then instantly jump into the instruction that has to happen 12 hours later.

Of course, this used to be the way my brain had to work 6 hours a day, 5 days a week, with back-to-back high school classes.

Developmentally, the planning at the graduate and undergraduate is a little more intense than it was for 9th-12th grade, but it is always taxing. I sometimes sit back and remember what it was like to have a 130 students a year, hour by hour, 30 hours a week. Now, it is a fraction of that number in my courses and teaching is also only a fraction of that time. The planning and assessments, however, are just a taxing. Then there is all the other work - work I love, but that makes me go bonkers at certain times of the week.

Tuesday nights to Wednesday mornings are such moments. So much is packed into that short period and my brain goes bonkers. Actually, it does the chicken dance. Perfect metaphor.

Meanwhile, when one leaves the University at 8 pm and it is pouring and it takes an hour to get home, and then the dog follows every step you take because she wants to go out, but won't because it's raining, it makes for a frustrating evening.

Why? Because as you try to dot t's and cross i's (intentional) she's whining, and begging, and crying and doing everything she can to get attention because she wants to go outside, but won't because it is raining.

I simply want to make it to 2 pm today so my brain can stop the dance of making sure everything is set. It will still be working, but it won't be so immediate. That's the pattern as it goes.

Yes, I'm whining. Yes, I realize that K-12 teaching is intense all the time. Yet, I'm recognizing that teaching in higher education has its moments, too.