10 August 2009

life update

nothing earth shattering, but enough to keep my mind active in the middle of the night, wondering about all the possibilities, potential problems, and other excitement....

i got asked to teach a section of eng.101 at byuh.
i feel like i should properly punctuate this post, but i'm not gonna.

anyway, i will teach this fall semester, which starts sept.17th. initially i was shocked and flattered, but thought "there's no way" since i have two very young children and i want to be home with them. i dont like to leave them, i dont want to be away from them, i quit my job as a supervisor even when we needed the money so i could be home all day with my kids, teaching them, nurturing our relationship...etc. i dont want whomever i leave them with to be put out, overwhelmed, or annoyed with me.... so i thought, "that's really nice. i would love it. i'm not going to do it."

then i got more information and found out my class is MWF from 7:30-8:30am. hmmmm.... that is doable. we are up anyway, thomas can plan to not leave for work until then, my friends dee and sarah and echo have volunteered as back-ups if my mother-in-law cant be thomas' back-up in the event of an emergency, but really it's only for one hour so that shouldnt even be necessary. i probably wont even have to leave milk for asher. i live 5 minutes or less from campus. i can be back before our day really even starts so it wont interrupt preschool, beach day, play-dates, or any of our other normal adventures and activities. i have an office i can use, but i am not required to have office hours since i am a special instructor and not a professor. it can be by email or appointment if my students need me. and it pays pretty good, oh, and have i mentioned that i love english?

ok, so i'm going to do it.
i really think it was meant to be for us right now and if i didnt do it.... i would probably be really mad at myself.

this morning i got to go observe another eng101 class on campus and i was on fire by the time i left! it was so fun and i just got really pumped to have my own students, class and get to be a part of the university community again three mornings a week!

so now i just have to choose a textbook, plan out my syllabus, and brush up on all the grammar and MLA rules that i tried to erase out of my mind upon graduating! and that's the scary part for me. this is a freshman class and by time they leave they should be able to know all the rules and write at a college level and be able to analyze a text...etc. and so i feel a little inadequate, but i know it will be really good for me and i am up for the task. when i got hired i was told that creating a good syllabus and preparing these students for the rest of their college writing would be a balancing act, but i am going to give it my best shot.

so, yep, that's my life update. i am nervous and excited and really happy about it.

the end. :)

29 comments:

Natalie said...

So cool Steph! I think you will do a great job. I am jealous that you get to make a syllabus. That is the one thing I miss about college. I loved the beginning of the semester and getting a syllabus. Such a nerd - I know!

Unknown said...

that is sooooo exciting! i know you'll do awesome. hopefully you'll have some students that will get obsessed with you as much as we did with certain professors that will remain nameless, but have been known to wear night caps...

Rachel said...

that is soooo cool!!!! What books, peoms and short stories will you make them read? What will be your theme? Are you allowed to choose these things! And how will you make sure that everyone is really reading everything? Will you make them outline each chapter with notes due on blackboard?

Rachel said...

in an english class I took, we would discuss the current literary text we were reading and divide into groups for about ten minutes and come up with a thesis together and where we would be going with it and then every group read their thesis out loud. So every week we were coming up with at least two theses. It was really helpful when we had to write our papers.

Emily said...

Woah! Awesome! I would register for your class in a second! Professor. Nice.

echo said...

i am so glad you decided to take this job. you will have a blast teaching at a college level, i know i did. and you are totally awesome at english and writing and grammar and choosing good books and everything else that english requires. you will be great!

sheila said...

awesome! If I was a smart as you I would do it too.

liko said...

you will be a great english teacher, steph. i know you will! and it's college, so if the students choose to be crappy, they're the ones throwing their money away. haha. and an hour a day - perfect for a mama!!
i am a firm believer that if we are doing what we are supposed to be doing and living the best we can, we will be blessed. this is a testament to that. woohoo!!
i am so very happy for you and your family!

Carrie said...

Wow. That's completely awesome and congrats to you (and your lucky lucky students). You are going to rock it.

Rach said...

HOLY exciting!! how fun...but terrifying..atleast for me. You are going to be awesome. Hey maybe I'll decide to go back to school...now that I know I would have a cool English teacher!

. said...

awesome. i would love to have you as my english teacher. please do wear glasses and look over them at your students when they say absurd things.

Ali said...

Oh man. You have to take a picture of yourself on your first day of class! I love it. Congrats!

Diana said...

oh my gosh, i can't imagine anything more perfect..wait, yes i can. me as your student. yayyyyy!!!

Matti said...

So awesome!....pretty jealous. ;-)

Put me on your back-up list!! You will do great! Hahahahahahaha...you will never guess what my "verification word" is. ESSAYS...too funny.

ashley said...

rad! your going to be such a great teacher. i wish i could be in your class. i had a crasy english teacher my freshman year there, she was so fun to go to class and "learn" from! oh, i am so excited for you, it's gonna be great!

melissa said...

holy moly, steph, that's so cool.

i'd love it if you were my teacher. (ha, you are, in many ways.)

Minister of Chainsaws said...

AMAZAZAZAZING!!!

oh so wonderful! good luck writing your syllabus. i always AGONIZE over a syllabus, and then during the semester i realize that no one really read it. but then i do it all over again.

ah, i can't wait to hear all about it! and i am so glad you took it!

(by the way, i am too tired to figure out how to post this under my name. this is becca, in case you didn't know that)

Brady and Rachel said...

I'd say that's pretty significant. Congrats! You'll do great, and what a great time of day too. Hope it works out great for you and your family. I'm sure you'll be blessed!

Melissa said...

that's awesome!!! and fun! You will do great and have a great time doing it! That's funny that you will do teaching stuff, like grading papers and making tests! It's like everything I hope to do in a year or so! haha
also the times you are in class are perfect!

I was running my buns around Laie today and thinking about stuff, that's when I remembered that you had your race on sat. How did it go!? I forgot on kai's birthday and I'm sorry I didn't ask. Hope yo had a blast!
Did you have fun/

Melissa said...

haha just ignore that last practically duplicate line.

.Ang. said...

That is awesome!! What a fun little adventure! You'll do great!

Audra said...

Yay! Congrats Steph! You'll be great!

Nate and Julie said...

Wow! That is such an amazing opportunity! Way to go!

Brittany said...

wow steph... cool!

lizzie said...

How cool. I don't envy the 7:30 start time, or getting up in front of people, but getting paid to do something you like sounds nice.

melissa said...

don't listen to becca--i always read (and reread and reread) my syllabiiiiiii.

but you'll make a great one. (no pressure.)g

Christina said...

That's so cool! And I am WAY jealous! You're going to be an awesome teacher!

The Pixton Family said...

How exciting! You'll be great!

Tara said...

WOW! CONGRATULATIONS! Now I feel like I better sbell an punkchooate propppperllly. ;)