Adjunct: The First Foray

Adjuncting is hard. And you don't make any money. This is, I'm sure, for those of your in Academia at least, not a new concept. But this is my first semester as an adjunct, so I felt I need to restate the obvious.

Teaching 5 classes can be/is at all times overwhelming. 110 names is a lot to learn, remember and keep straight. Wish me luck.

The difficutly of my current position, however, isn't really the reason I'm finally writing here again. Instead, the purpose of this post is to share a few things that I'm learning. This semester, I'm teaching 4 classes at a public research university and 1 class at a private Christian university. These two situations could not be more different, but I've found, strangely, that students at a Christian university aren't all that different than the ones at a large public university.


So here are few pearls of wisdom from my first semester as slave labor...I mean...er...as an adjunct professor.

1. Students love syllabi and rubrics. They don't think they do, but they really do. When I handed out the first project in all of the my classes (at both schools), my students seemed to be confused. They look at me then at the project directions (which were more than a page! Gasp!) then at the rubric then at the syllabus then at me. I think they were momentarily stunned that I was telling them from the beginning exactly what I expected and when I expected it. This leaves me with the impression that students are often in the dark (or at least feel like they are) about what their professors want from them. I'm sad about that.

2. Parking is a nightmare no matter where you teach. I had the distinct impression during my time as a student that my university had the worst parking situation on earth. I have learned that most students at most university -- small and private or large and public -- feel the same way.

3. Teaching is a calling, and I was actually called to do it. I love to teach writing. I love to talk to my students about process and critical thinking and writing as expression. I don't even mind grading. I thought that most teachers felt this way (well maybe except for the grading part), but I was wrong. Already this semester, I have met half a dozen teachers who have no business teaching. I'm also sad about this.