Third First Week

If there was no Covid-19, I’d be in the midst of my first week of classes for the semester. But because we shifted things so that the semester will be done before Thanksgiving, I’ve now completed Week Three. All virtual. Mediated by Zoom, Blackboard, Panopto, and more.

 

First, the bad. I now understand the feeling of Zoom Fatigue. And my tolerance for sitting in front of the screen has decreased since classes started. That’s probably why I skipped blogging for over two weeks. I’ve been trying to find ways to do some work with pen and paper, although I’m also trying not to print things out. I’ve also borrowed a bunch of physical books from the library to balance the e-reading. When on campus, I mostly stay in my office with the door closed. But I don’t spend too much time at the office, just three mornings per week to teach my General Chemistry class and hold some office hours.

 

Now, the good. I expected to be flailing through my first month of remote teaching, but I felt that I started to get the hang of it in Week Two. Other than the first day snafu, it’s been mostly smooth sailing. (There was a minor Blackboard snafu yesterday afternoon but there was an easy workaround while things got fixed.) I’ve figured out a comfortable routine where I frontload class prep and grading early in the week. That gives me Thu and Fri afternoons to make progress on research and catch up on reading. And I was able to establish that routine last week and it’s carried through to this week.

 

While I wake up in the morning less enthusiastic about the prospect of teaching because I’m not meeting my students in-person, once in class I’m very much enjoying interacting with my students. I think that enjoyment of the wonders of chemistry is permeating through to the students! After each G-Chem class, students stay back to ask me questions about the class material, and that’s been true since Day One. In prior semesters, student visits to my office didn’t begin until a few weeks into the semester. I’ve managed to stay on track with my planned syllabus, and I’ve streamlined my in-class activities – unfortunately there’s less small group work (simply because it takes too long). My afternoon Chemical Origins of Life class is also going well; I think the students are enjoying the material (even though it’s tough reading!) and class discussion is robust. All in all, a good start to the semester. I hope it stays that way.