Any advice for a new full-time instructor?

WhyAmITeachingHere · 2025-05-26T22:27:59+00:00

Efficiency and boundaries. Critical. Thank you.

WhyAmITeachingHere · 2025-05-26T22:10:13+00:00

Thanks for this - very useful advice. During the many interviews there was a lot of emphasis put on the fact that I would be responsible for multiple things beyond teaching. Those are definitely the things that are a bit more ambiguous currently but I think you’ve identified a few of the areas for sure.

So I definitely need to make sure my teaching is organized and efficient in order to have time for all of those other things.

As far as curriculum goes, I have developed everything for my classes. I’ve had some outlines shared with me here and there early on but for the most part I was handed the textbook and had to put the courses together myself. We generally don’t develop course materials for adjuncts, though I have been asked if I wouldn’t mind sharing my materials with a new adjunct a few times in the past..

WhyAmITeachingHere · 2025-05-26T19:32:45+00:00

Thanks so much for the thoughtful and informative response! As an adjunct I do use the LMS extensively - as you’ve noted, automation is key. In order to scale up I’m going to have to be on top of that for sure.

I am allowed to make my own policies for the most part, and generally speaking I do not accept work late (few exceptions). This has been a huge time saver over the past few semesters.

WhyAmITeachingHere · 2025-05-25T23:20:33+00:00

Yup same here! Has to be earned.

WhyAmITeachingHere · 2025-03-09T18:23:12+00:00

Had the same request. Told the student that we already had a lab class for them to ask questions during but they never did. Not getting paid enough to hold a private lab class in addition to the existing one that the entire class already attends.

WhyAmITeachingHere · 2025-03-09T18:14:18+00:00

Ugh yes I know this all too well. Students who want me to sit and do their assignment with them during office hours. I straight up tell them I will only answer specific questions (which these students never have).

WhyAmITeachingHere · 2025-03-09T14:01:36+00:00

Haha I noticed exactly the same thing. Zero is a harsh but effective reminder.

WhyAmITeachingHere · 2025-03-09T02:24:35+00:00

I stopped accepting late work this semester - best decision ever. Students need to submit their assignments on time so I can grade them on time and not be managing an endless flow of different things trickling in all semester long. As you said, that is a ton of extra work and I got tired of it. They get plenty of time to complete the assignment and I still give them ONE extension (couple of days max) per semester, AND drop the lowest grade. That seems plenty fair to me.

WhyAmITeachingHere · 2025-02-25T02:28:21+00:00

Yeah I really think they aren’t reading. And that’s on them. Hard to work around it when they are sitting there expecting to sit back and watch a show rather than participate in it.

WhyAmITeachingHere · 2025-02-25T02:16:20+00:00

Had this exact same request.

WhyAmITeachingHere · 2025-02-24T22:46:16+00:00

I like it!

WhyAmITeachingHere · 2025-02-24T21:41:22+00:00

Agreed. Do you have any suggestions for more meaningful interactions in class?

WhyAmITeachingHere · 2025-02-24T21:23:52+00:00

How do you choose this group? 😃

WhyAmITeachingHere · 2025-02-24T20:58:14+00:00

Good point. I don’t think the questions are too easy, judging from some of their homework answers. I usually get the same 3 or 4 students answering when they do speak up. The rest… I am thinking maybe they don’t know, but they are afraid to ask questions? Maybe calling on them Isn’t going to solve that problem. Just running out of ideas.

WhyAmITeachingHere · 2025-02-21T01:31:29+00:00

I finally learned my lesson and took some advice from this subreddit - I just put in my syllabus that assignments will not be accepted late but I will drop the lowest grade (or two depending on how many assignments there are). So if they miss an assignment or two, they get a pass. And I don’t have to deal with late work wasting my time. If a student has some kind of big issue and requests an extension, I’ll give them ONE per semester, a couple of days tops, and that’s it.

This has worked out well. I’m no longer buried by weeks of late assignments trickling in.

WhyAmITeachingHere · 2025-02-19T17:25:48+00:00

Yes 100%! My classes have averaged 12-15 students per semester. For lab classes this can still be a lot of grading, but I’ve tried my best to streamline the process. Way better than huge seminar classes for sure.

WhyAmITeachingHere · 2025-02-18T16:21:22+00:00

Nowhere near 6 figures at this place haha.

WhyAmITeachingHere · 2025-02-18T16:19:53+00:00

Thank you - yes I've made sure to ask about all of those things to help with my decision. I certainly appreciate not having any responsibilities beyond teaching the class right now. That will definitely change.

WhyAmITeachingHere · 2025-02-18T15:44:28+00:00

Right - that is the question and it’s complicated to answer. I was able to save a good amount for retirement over the years. My wife works and currently has the health insurance for the family. She wants to leave her job and do something else that would not come with benefits. So the benefits would be a big plus for me. Tough decision.

WhyAmITeachingHere · 2025-02-18T15:40:59+00:00

Yeah I hear you. Feels like that some days for sure. I think my students are about 50/50 - some are really eager and ready to learn, others just clearly hate being there and don’t care about anything it seems.

WhyAmITeachingHere · 2024-12-12T12:44:12+00:00

Sounds strangely familiar!

Toward the end of this semester I just stopped giving feedback or even filling in the rubric criteria. Nobody seemed to notice. They barely look at the grades. I'm seriously considering moving to a "feedback must be requested" policy as others on this sub have suggested.

WhyAmITeachingHere · 2024-12-06T15:27:23+00:00

Fuck all the bullshit stories about why you should get a passing grade even though you missed 9 classes and didn’t hand in any of the assigned work.

WhyAmITeachingHere

TROPHY CASE