On your mark, get set, GO!

The spring semester is in full swing at PhD U and HBCU.

My workload for the PhD is going to be intense. Two courses, an independent study with my advisor (I need to come up with a name for her), and preparing for two conferences with my advisor. Course #1 does not have a lot of deliverables, but a ton of reading. Course #2 has a ton of deliverables and a lot of reading. Advisor and I will be meeting next week to devise a plan for my independent study, which is based on the prep work for our conferences and subsequent paper. At minimum, I want to come up with a way to combine the work in the two courses. One is a topic concentration course and the other is Qualitative Methods II. I think I can make that happen. The independent study is in the wheelhouse of the Topic Concentration course, and my advisor and I will be completing a qualitative study. But, I feel that this may be pushing the envelope too far.

As for HBCU, I am back to teaching the course online for this semester. That is actually a good thing. It save me time, as I do not have to go anywhere. However, I did revamp the course, with fewer deliverables. I have 32 students in the class. That is just too many for any course. I don't want to spend the bulk of my time in grading jail.

I made a promise to myself last week that I wasn't going to make more work for myself, hence the attempt to kill as many birds as possible with the same stone. However, I find myself thinking about cool stuff I could research for my courses or a interesting topic or assessment for my students. I caught myself this morning thinking about an assignment that would be relevant and authentic for my students, but such activity would result in a good amount of prep work and grading. And the students would enjoy...

Stop! Just stop!

I will jot down that idea and set it aside for another semester. I cannot make any more work for myself this semester. I do not want to be burned out or worse, have a flare. I am working out my plan for the semester. Deadlines and commitments..what to leave in, what to leave out.

Time to start running against the wind.