Got my teaching assignment! I’ll have two sections of pre-calculus recitations. At 8AM & 9AM on Tuesdays & Thursdays. And I know I said in the last entry that I’ll be just a TA, but I’m pretty sure that I’ll have to do lectures for this class. Actually, my responsibilities are not clear at all at this point. I won’t find out more until next Tuesday morning at the course coordinator meeting (two days before the first class!). But I bought the book for the course, so I’ll start going through that this weekend and familiarizing myself with the material in the book. There is a syllabus outline and a course outline on the department website (what you HAVE to cover, what you should cover if you have time, how many exams to give, how to handle homework and quizzes to make it uniform with the other sections of the course, etc). It is actually a super demanding course for such a low level. The students have to attend two lectures per week (someone else does those, they are 2.5 hours each) and two recitations per week (there are 19 different sections of recitations, I am responsible for two of them, they are 50 min each). So essentially these students are in almost 7 hours of class each week for this class, and they’re expected to do a lot of homework and studying outside of class. I looked at my course rosters and among the 60+ students I have in the two sections, there are about a half dozen juniors/seniors and the rest is pretty evenly split between freshmen and sophomores. Should be interesting!!!
So, now my schedule is set. I am taking 3 classes, teaching two classes, and I set my office hours. I have Fridays off!!! How did that even happen?! As a first semester grad student, I was expecting to have the worst schedule ever, but it’s actually really awesome. I don’t start until noon on Mondays & Wednesdays, I’m off on Fridays, and Tuesdays & Thursdays are long days but I have a nice lengthy lunch break. It’s going to be a rough semester with all the work I’m going to have to do, but I can definitely do it. I am actually getting really nervous about teaching. It’s my first time and I know I’m going to fuck up. And I was totally prepared to be mean so that the students don’t take advantage of the fact that I look really close to their age, but I forgot about the fact that I’m also going to have to be nice enough to care about how well they’re doing in the class. I can do it. I’ll just feel a lot better after the meeting next Tuesday so that I have a better idea of what I’m expected to do so that I can plan and over-prepare for the first day of class.
It’s really amazing to me how different large universities are than small colleges. It’s an adjustment that I was anticipating, and I’m glad I gave it some thought before I got here. I’ve always been part of smaller communities. My hometown is small (8,300+ in 2009 according to city-data.com) and rural. My high school was very small (graduating class of 69 students). My college was very small (300ish in my graduating class). Even for a large corporation, the company that I interned with/worked at for 2+ years was small. I knew most of the people in my department and they knew me. Plus I knew a lot of people throughout other areas of the business and in other locations. UNT is huge (last year 28,400+ undergrads and 7,600+ graduate students). Each year the math department has 15,000+ students enrolled in its lower level courses (1000 and 2000 level) and 1,000+ students in its upper level undergrad courses (3000 and 4000 level). And the graduate population in the math department is pretty big. There are close to 60 grad students, I think. Maybe more, maybe less. What do I know? Ha.
At any rate, I’m really excited for the semester to get underway. I’m excited for the classes I’m taking, I’m anxious to get teaching my first class under my belt. I’m excited to become a part of a new community, larger and different from any other I’ve ever been a part of.
Oh, AND I’m almost done unpacking! Pictures of finished, unpacked apartment to come soon, probably this weekend. I just have two boxes left to empty… and one pile of stuff on the floor that needs taken care of (at least it’s not in a box anymore!). And some clutter to clear up on my TV stand, the bar, and my desk. I hate clutter. It’s driving me crazy that I’m still not unpacked, so it will be done soon. I also think I’m going to attempt public transportation tomorrow. Gotta get some groceries, and as most of you know, I don’t have a car down here. If I don’t go tomorrow, I’ll have to wait until Wednesday… (Buses don’t run on Sundays, and I have meetings Monday & Tuesday.)
Anyway, I think I’m sort of getting used to the heat. It doesn’t bother me so much anymore. And I’m getting used to walking around everywhere. I actually kind of like it. I used to feel terribly lazy, but now I feel like I’m really doing well with my life. I am living completely on my own. My own apartment, my own bills. I’m cooking for myself (well, I’d hardly call it gourmet, but I’m getting fed 2-3 meals per day). I’m entertaining myself. I just have a really good feeling about this whole situation. (I’ll feel even better when I have paychecks entering my bank account again. Haha.)
So, how’s PA treating y’all? (The “y’all” was intentional there. Hehe.)
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