Charlene Mattson's Blog - Posts Tagged "teaching"
Those Who Do, Can Teach (or something)
I start my teaching job on Monday.
I feel like I should be nervous, but either I'm still in a food hangover from yesterday or I've actually prepared (nearly) enough to not feel nervous. It's a peculiar feeling as I'm nearly always nervous about new things (sometimes devastatingly so) and this time, other than a slight nervous butterfly and a slight headache (food hangover I'm sure), I'm not very nervy. Oh this will likely change Monday morning when I'm actually going and again when I'm facing 10 pairs of eyes, but at the moment, I'm kind of excited about it. Nervous, but excited.
I finally broke through the wall of editing for Glass Slipper. Man that was awful. Now to put all the pieces together again so that it becomes a coherent story! I was doing well, but this week I was prepping to teach and one of the lessons took me three days to figure out and left me drained and exhausted. Glah. Hopefully I can teach it in the one day it's allotted without falling over! Thursday-as usual-will be an awful day, lol.
It's also a slight peculiarity that I've been fielding questions about Kellan Publishing and trying to set up interviews on the radio for myself and one or two other local authors. So strange, but I guess I've been doing marketing writing for the better part of six years now, so shouldn't I be used to it?
I guess not so much. But it's kind of empowering at the same time.
So I guess the moral for this week is to take control, be prepared and take a chance. Kind of my motto for the year!
What's on the Shelf:
First Lord's Fury by Jim Butcher
2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson
Editing:
Slowed down again. Hopefully I can find a routine soon.
I feel like I should be nervous, but either I'm still in a food hangover from yesterday or I've actually prepared (nearly) enough to not feel nervous. It's a peculiar feeling as I'm nearly always nervous about new things (sometimes devastatingly so) and this time, other than a slight nervous butterfly and a slight headache (food hangover I'm sure), I'm not very nervy. Oh this will likely change Monday morning when I'm actually going and again when I'm facing 10 pairs of eyes, but at the moment, I'm kind of excited about it. Nervous, but excited.
I finally broke through the wall of editing for Glass Slipper. Man that was awful. Now to put all the pieces together again so that it becomes a coherent story! I was doing well, but this week I was prepping to teach and one of the lessons took me three days to figure out and left me drained and exhausted. Glah. Hopefully I can teach it in the one day it's allotted without falling over! Thursday-as usual-will be an awful day, lol.
It's also a slight peculiarity that I've been fielding questions about Kellan Publishing and trying to set up interviews on the radio for myself and one or two other local authors. So strange, but I guess I've been doing marketing writing for the better part of six years now, so shouldn't I be used to it?
I guess not so much. But it's kind of empowering at the same time.
So I guess the moral for this week is to take control, be prepared and take a chance. Kind of my motto for the year!
What's on the Shelf:
First Lord's Fury by Jim Butcher
2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson
Editing:
Slowed down again. Hopefully I can find a routine soon.
Week 1 of teaching down.
I finished my first week of teaching, phew! It was mostly pretty good, but also kinda rough-mostly exhausting because of the new routine.
I'm up at 6:30am to get ready to go so I can walk down at 7:30 to be there by about ten to eight. Then I prep for class until 9 and then I'm teaching from 9-12. 12-12:30 is technically lunch, but since there is no place for teachers to 'hide' yet, I usually spend half that time simply helping the stragglers, answering questions, and then gulping down lunch in 10-15 minutes. Then it's back to teaching from 12:30-2:30 and then another two hours after that of helping one of the students get caught up. I'm hope by about ten to five, make supper, take care of the kiddo and then rinse and repeat for the week.
So exhausting.
But at the same time, there were so many 'ah-ha!' moments when students achieved things, so much laughter and joking to break tension and so many people looking relieved; it was nice. I enjoy helping people learn :D
Week 2 begins on Monday. This coming week should be easier as most of the class will be doing their own thing, but who knows? It could throw me a curveball. That's why I have a frozen lasagna in the fridge.
William has been taking the change in an all right fashion-he mostly behaves for my sister. However, he has been clingy and he keeps telling me he misses me. :/ Hopefully he adjusts.
~
Writing has halted completely. I might bring my manuscript to work on my flash drive so that when I'm not helping students, I can work on it a bit. I've got to get back to it! On the other hand, other ideas are creeping around in my head, so that's nice.
The whole week is kind of a big blur at this point. I have to mark finals next week and total everyone's grades for my boss. Hopefully everyone passes! But for now, I'm mostly...
What's on the Shelf:
I had to take 2312 back to the library today because I know I won't get to it until it's due. Sigh. I'll have to take it out later.
The Devil You Know, by Mike Cary
Passage, by Connie Willis
Editing:
Stalled due to work. We'll see what happens next week.
I'm up at 6:30am to get ready to go so I can walk down at 7:30 to be there by about ten to eight. Then I prep for class until 9 and then I'm teaching from 9-12. 12-12:30 is technically lunch, but since there is no place for teachers to 'hide' yet, I usually spend half that time simply helping the stragglers, answering questions, and then gulping down lunch in 10-15 minutes. Then it's back to teaching from 12:30-2:30 and then another two hours after that of helping one of the students get caught up. I'm hope by about ten to five, make supper, take care of the kiddo and then rinse and repeat for the week.
So exhausting.
But at the same time, there were so many 'ah-ha!' moments when students achieved things, so much laughter and joking to break tension and so many people looking relieved; it was nice. I enjoy helping people learn :D
Week 2 begins on Monday. This coming week should be easier as most of the class will be doing their own thing, but who knows? It could throw me a curveball. That's why I have a frozen lasagna in the fridge.
William has been taking the change in an all right fashion-he mostly behaves for my sister. However, he has been clingy and he keeps telling me he misses me. :/ Hopefully he adjusts.
~
Writing has halted completely. I might bring my manuscript to work on my flash drive so that when I'm not helping students, I can work on it a bit. I've got to get back to it! On the other hand, other ideas are creeping around in my head, so that's nice.
The whole week is kind of a big blur at this point. I have to mark finals next week and total everyone's grades for my boss. Hopefully everyone passes! But for now, I'm mostly...
What's on the Shelf:
I had to take 2312 back to the library today because I know I won't get to it until it's due. Sigh. I'll have to take it out later.
The Devil You Know, by Mike Cary
Passage, by Connie Willis
Editing:
Stalled due to work. We'll see what happens next week.
The Odd Time Dilation Feeling
Time is relative.
Everyone knows that. It's not that it's literally moving slower or faster, but it certainly seems that way at the time. It really likes to 'telescope' on me so that a day can feel as though it's been zipped in my brain by the end of the day. (Yes, zipped, like a computer file, lol!)
The last two weeks have been like this with work days seemingly 'zipped' by the end of the day so that it feels like time went by quickly and I'm exhausted, but I still feel like I didn't *do* tons of stuff. I know I did, but since it was all going along at a regular pace and nothing odd happened or stuck out, it all feels like it got compressed and shuttered so that time went quickly.
I had a great two weeks teaching and knowing that I only have one more week (for the foreseeable future anyway) feels distinctly odd-though my son is happy. After that, its back to Strong Start, therapy and sorting out William's prep for Kindergarten. Don't get me wrong, I'll be glad to do that with him again (though taking him to a child psychologist for an exam for the school will be stressful-apparently our only psychologist in this stupid city is fond of medical jargon and likes to sound intimidating. Must put stomping boots on!), but I will miss teaching and working. The money is certainly nice too!
Of course, being too exhausted to play video games or keep up with my fiction is problematic, so I guess in that sense, it's a good thing I have some time off coming, lol.
***
Editing is kicked back up again: The Glass Slipper Conspiracy got some more work done on it and I'm working on the outline for Book 3 because I'm just that obsessive, lol.
Books on the shelf:
Vicious Circle by Mike Carey for work. Nothing for home yet-library trip tomorrow.
Everyone knows that. It's not that it's literally moving slower or faster, but it certainly seems that way at the time. It really likes to 'telescope' on me so that a day can feel as though it's been zipped in my brain by the end of the day. (Yes, zipped, like a computer file, lol!)
The last two weeks have been like this with work days seemingly 'zipped' by the end of the day so that it feels like time went by quickly and I'm exhausted, but I still feel like I didn't *do* tons of stuff. I know I did, but since it was all going along at a regular pace and nothing odd happened or stuck out, it all feels like it got compressed and shuttered so that time went quickly.
I had a great two weeks teaching and knowing that I only have one more week (for the foreseeable future anyway) feels distinctly odd-though my son is happy. After that, its back to Strong Start, therapy and sorting out William's prep for Kindergarten. Don't get me wrong, I'll be glad to do that with him again (though taking him to a child psychologist for an exam for the school will be stressful-apparently our only psychologist in this stupid city is fond of medical jargon and likes to sound intimidating. Must put stomping boots on!), but I will miss teaching and working. The money is certainly nice too!
Of course, being too exhausted to play video games or keep up with my fiction is problematic, so I guess in that sense, it's a good thing I have some time off coming, lol.
***
Editing is kicked back up again: The Glass Slipper Conspiracy got some more work done on it and I'm working on the outline for Book 3 because I'm just that obsessive, lol.
Books on the shelf:
Vicious Circle by Mike Carey for work. Nothing for home yet-library trip tomorrow.
Writing this while playing with Mario Plushies one-handed
I'm done the string of teaching jobs (at least for the moment, though I might be working two days next week), much to my son's glee. He's been bouncing off the walls all day today, getting into everything and clinging desperately to me. Which would be fine, but it does lead to some awkwardness when I trip over him or when I'm wiped out and he just wants to keep playing :D
I guess it's a nice ego boost to have someone miss me, but I'm tired out!
***
It will feel awfully strange to go back to the writing/William's activities cycle. The three weeks I spent 'at work' was tiring to be sure and could be frustrating at times, but at the same time, it was very liberating. For several hours a day for five days a week, I didn't have to worry about William or even really think of him (Besides wondering how he was doing every so often). I was way too busy keeping ahead of my students and dealing with them! It was rather nice to be 'me' and not 'me+kid'; I can see why so many moms go back to work after a while.
Certainly I'm glad to be back and there are some things which *need* to be done and only I can really do them when it comes to getting William ready for the fall, but still. I dunno; it'll feel strange for a bit. I'll get used to it just in time to go back to teaching XD.
I am glad to be back to writing fiction and reading and freelance writing may be less frustrating now that I've had some time away. Hopefully things can move along for a while and we'll have another book out this year :)
***
What's on the shelf:
Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer
The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt
Steadfast by Mercedes Lackey
Book progress: Glacial. Kinda piecing together bits of book four though, god help me, lol.
I guess it's a nice ego boost to have someone miss me, but I'm tired out!
***
It will feel awfully strange to go back to the writing/William's activities cycle. The three weeks I spent 'at work' was tiring to be sure and could be frustrating at times, but at the same time, it was very liberating. For several hours a day for five days a week, I didn't have to worry about William or even really think of him (Besides wondering how he was doing every so often). I was way too busy keeping ahead of my students and dealing with them! It was rather nice to be 'me' and not 'me+kid'; I can see why so many moms go back to work after a while.
Certainly I'm glad to be back and there are some things which *need* to be done and only I can really do them when it comes to getting William ready for the fall, but still. I dunno; it'll feel strange for a bit. I'll get used to it just in time to go back to teaching XD.
I am glad to be back to writing fiction and reading and freelance writing may be less frustrating now that I've had some time away. Hopefully things can move along for a while and we'll have another book out this year :)
***
What's on the shelf:
Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer
The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt
Steadfast by Mercedes Lackey
Book progress: Glacial. Kinda piecing together bits of book four though, god help me, lol.
It's so Strange....
I've been doing book signings over the last couple of days. Just a few mind you-mostly for Patrick's work buddies who bought the book and then wanted author signage (goodness knows why!) It's such a strange feeling to hold my first book as is and then it's compounded by signing the silly thing. I'm thinking that I should have a book signing event for Glass Slipper Conspiracy; at least then I can serve cookies or something, lol.
I'm also wondering if it's time for a Facebook page for William Tenys (the books, not HIM), just dedicated to how the books are going, promotions, newsy bits (er...), teasers, etc. Would that kind of thing 'fly' or would it have all of five followers who do nothing? I have no idea; I don't really *do* social media. At least then my writing chaos would be separate from the rest of my FB so I can stop clogging peoples' news feeds at NaNoWriMo, lol. I guess I just feel like I should be doing more since another book is wrapping up and people are getting me to sign their copies of CC and so on.
Hmmm....
***
I'm also back to teaching this summer-likely all summer. This means my freelancing capabilities will be greatly reduced, (but NOT my fiction work! If Blood Moon Rising is written between 1am and 2am every day, so be it!) I guess they either like me there or they're desperate for instructors-six of one, half a dozen of the other ;) In all seriousness, I try to do good work there and when I run into old students, they always seem happy to see me so I couldn't have scared them too badly.
Off to visit my parents next week. Then moving. Then teaching. Then Vancouver. Then teaching some more and more and more... free time? what's this 'free time' you speak of? lol
Yeah, I might be doing a lot of that for a while, ha ha. Sheer exhaustion I claim!
I'm also wondering if it's time for a Facebook page for William Tenys (the books, not HIM), just dedicated to how the books are going, promotions, newsy bits (er...), teasers, etc. Would that kind of thing 'fly' or would it have all of five followers who do nothing? I have no idea; I don't really *do* social media. At least then my writing chaos would be separate from the rest of my FB so I can stop clogging peoples' news feeds at NaNoWriMo, lol. I guess I just feel like I should be doing more since another book is wrapping up and people are getting me to sign their copies of CC and so on.
Hmmm....
***
I'm also back to teaching this summer-likely all summer. This means my freelancing capabilities will be greatly reduced, (but NOT my fiction work! If Blood Moon Rising is written between 1am and 2am every day, so be it!) I guess they either like me there or they're desperate for instructors-six of one, half a dozen of the other ;) In all seriousness, I try to do good work there and when I run into old students, they always seem happy to see me so I couldn't have scared them too badly.
Off to visit my parents next week. Then moving. Then teaching. Then Vancouver. Then teaching some more and more and more... free time? what's this 'free time' you speak of? lol
Yeah, I might be doing a lot of that for a while, ha ha. Sheer exhaustion I claim!
