I am very, very jet lagged. I’m not entirely sure what it is, but there’s something that knocks you on your ass when you travel in the middle of the week. I think it’s that everyone’s a *little* tired on Mondays so the world feels like it’s running at a slightly slower pace. Oh well. Short week anyway, and I’m off to Boston on Friday, which is a much shorter flight than heading back to LA.
I think the fact that this is a new course I’m teaching this week – I taught the previous version, but the slides have all been changed and the content moved around. I try to get into a flow with the classes I teach, and build up entertaining stories and adages and whatnot- try to be the kind of teacher I liked when I was in school- and it takes a while to get that going with new materials, I think. Maybe I’m just hyper sensitive, but the first time I teach a new class, I never feel like I’m doing it well enough, even if it seems to be going well. I’ve kept myself up re-reading the slides and my previous notes and trying to see if there are any issues by re-doing the labs, but I probably won’t like where it’s at until right before this class gets retired and a new version comes out. Oh well – I guess if it felt perfect the first time though, I’d be bored out of my mind. I really do like teaching, it’s probably one of the most fun jobs I’ve had.
It’s also fun coming up with notes for the classes. I tend to go all a little nuts with supplemental materials, but I think it’s a fun thing to do. Right now I’m on a career development kick- I supplemental to find things that tie into the classes but also help the students do things like put together Business Continuance Plans and pull together requirements for other groups – get visibility w/in an organization and whatnot.
Anyway, time for sleep. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be awake enough to go try and find some cuban food. mmm…. plantains… 🙂