Yet Another First Day of Class
Every semester, on the first day of class, for at least the past five years, I have asked myself why I did not take the day off from whatever other job I may have been working at the time. Today is the first day of class at the college where I teach, and I am feeling stressed managing everything and working at my other job today.
My class is an online class, but it seems to still attract a lot of novices. Students know how to use email, but sometimes they cannot figure out how to download a document or put a picture in a post or something like that. There are always log in issues, as well.
Addressing general class issues and giving out add codes ends up being a full days work. I could literally sit in front of my college email all day and be busy. Imagine trying to keep up with all the issues when you also have to go to work and may not be able to access the school email except on breaks.
Still, taking the first day of class off is always an afterthought for me. I never think about it until it is too late to request the off day. I could not really afford to take the day off this semester anyway. That does not stop me from wishing that I could have taken it off, though.
I do have one good thing to say about it all. Thank goodness for Google Docs. I can have the add code spreadsheet no matter where I go and the file stays updated always. I also keep an “add code dialogue” file there, too that I copy and paste into the add code response emails.
More businesses should use Google Docs. People have no idea of how useful it is for collaborative work or for using documents on different computers and mobile devices. I probably would not know how useful it is if I did not make a tutorial course for it for a company last year. I used it beforehand, but I was hardly tapping into its power before that point.
At any rate, I guess I had better get back to work at one of these jobs and stop blogging. LOL Hey, I’m on my lunch!
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