Five mistakes I always make the first day back at school

~ Amy
  1. Wearing heels. I don’t care if it’s the most comfortable pair of heels I own, or if I can normally spend hours and hours on my feet in them. After a summer of wearing nothing but sandals and flip-flops, any “real” shoes mean P A I N . And with opening convocation later and the reception afterwards…well, there’s a lot of standing around. Ouchie.
  2. Packing too little food. I don’t know what it is about getting back into teaching, but those first couple of weeks I am constantly ravenous. Today I ate my lunch at 10:30am and was starving by noon. I am on my second post-lunch snack now.
  3. Planning 70 minutes of material for a 50 minute class. 50 minutes goes by so fast. I always overplan.
  4. Planning on doing substantive work on my own the first day. Teaching is exhausting. The first day back, I am brain dead when I’m not in front of the class. I actually have “do paper revisions” on my to-do list today. Ha. Ha ha ha ha ha.
  5. Forgetting how much I’ve missed teaching over the summer. I enjoy the time away from the classroom during the summer, the less-structured time to think and plan. But…when I get back in front of the students the first day, the adrenaline and excitement kick in and I remember all the reasons I love this job so much.

Published by Amy

I am a tenured computer science professor at a small liberal arts college, teaching a boatload of students, raising two kids (one in middle school, one in high school), and trying to have some semblance of a life. Oh, and maybe even managing to get some research done. I have way too many hobbies and continue to add more to my repertoire. I suffer from depression and anxiety. I'm passionate about broadening participation in computing and science and about teaching students to use their computer science skills and knowledge ethically and sustainably.

2 thoughts on “Five mistakes I always make the first day back at school”

  1. I have to remind myself to wear the most comfortable shoes and outfits for professional seminars or else it is miserable. I share your enthusiasm for teaching! Welcome back to school and may it be a great semester. I enjoy reading your suggestions especially about the things that helped you survive summer! 🙂 Excellent blog reading and honest. Thanks!

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