If I only knew then what I know now

When I was in college, I never realized how much work it was for the professors.

Last night, I was reminded of this. My students were commenting about how much work I had assigned. I see them once a week. During the course of the class, they have to write approximately 40 pages double space, typed. About half is informal writing - page or two, limited research. The other half is formal papers.

My students might not realize that I have a calendar where I planned out each lesson, reading and papers to try to keep most work on an even keel. Sometimes things don't work out quite that way - this was one of those week. But, there is a method to my madness. Their first paper is due on Feb 17th. Students are notorious for waiting until the last minute, so they have to turn in parts of this paper in stages. I'm only doing this for the first paper so they have time to work slowly.

Unfortuantely, in order to fill a 2 hour and 20 minute class block, we have to have enough reading material to hold an active class discussion. That means lots of readings.

What I didn't realize as a student is that the professor puts in about the same amount of hours outside of class as the students do - sometimes more. If they spend 5 hours writing a paper and 3 hours pretending to write, I'm spending 1/2 hour grading it. BUT, I have 23 students so, overall I spend more time.

So, your challenge today is to email an old professor or teacher and thank him or her for investing the time in your future. Tell them how they made a difference. I have 2 professors I plan to contact today.