Back At It

Last semester, I decided to take a break from teaching to rest, spend time with family, read, take a class, and “recharge my battery.”  The break has been great especially since it afforded me lots of time to rest during the first five months of my pregnancy.  Tomorrow, the fall semester begins at Queens, and my break officially ends.  I’m looking forward to being in the classroom again.  I’ll be teaching three classes: Introductory Statistics, Calculus II, and Abstract Algebra.  Since the Calculus II and Abstract Algebra courses are 4 credits each, I’m teaching pretty much a full load even though I’m considered part time. 

Two of my classes have a Monday-Wednesday schedule, and the other one has a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule.  The courses meet back-to-back, so I’ll be in the same classroom teaching practically non-stop from 12:00 to 4:40 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays.  I’ve never taught three college-level courses back-to-back before, so this semester definitely will be interesting (especially since I’ll be in the third trimester of my pregnancy for most of it).  I don’t think I’m even going to carry my Statistics and Calculus books to class with me because their combined weight is 10 lb., and I don’t have office space in the building where my classes meet.  I’ll be giving my last final exam the afternoon of December 14.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to finalize grades before going into labor (the due date is December 23).

I do feel like my battery is recharged, so I think this semester will go well.  Let’s hope my pregnancy brain is able to jump from Calculus II to Intro Stats to Modern Algebra without difficulty and that my pregnant body is able to survive being on my feet for several hours a day.  Let’s also hope that I make it through the semester without my water breaking during class. :)