Battle
stations, Red Alert, Action Stations. Whatever the terminology, it’s a call to
action, but in order to even get to the point of action, a certain amount of
readiness is needed. When I took over
the classes for my colleague, my teaching load went up to 5 courses. This was a
considerable load of classes, compounded by the fact that I had to play catch
up for two of them by figuring out what they knew, what was scored, and what
was left to do in the courses.
A normal
adjunct teaching load is 3 classes a semester, and I was nearly double that,
plus the extra work of teaching classes in progress. I wouldn’t have been able
to handle the new load if it weren’t from the fact that I had my own classes
in-hand.
I also tend
to structure my classes in a way that makes the very end less eventful. I try
to get all of the major projects done before the end, then offer a chance to
rewrite if they wish. This makes the situation easier on me as all the major
grading is completed before the end, and on the students as well who will be
swamped with other projects.
For me,
this kind of structure and preparation is what keeps me at battle stations.