So, this term I was given five hours a week of what is called ‘release’ time, which means non-teaching time. This was in payment for the time I spent coordinating earlier in the year. I had sort of forgotten about it or assumed that I would not receive the time given that I had only coordinated for one year and was unceremoniously told not to continue…(that’s another story). Thus, it came as a nice surprise when the beginning of term (now four weeks in) showed me with time free.
Due to how my schedule worked out, I only teach the first periods on Monday and Wednesday, which are my early start days. Therefore, I finish ‘work’ at 9:45am. For the past three weeks I have attempted to work in my office at the university or spent time preparing for classes, but it was not really efficiently-used time. It seems that I cannot really ‘study’ at work as most of my materials are at home and there is always someone to talk to, an email to write or some other distraction. Ultimately, I decided to try something different.
As far as I know, as long as I do not have classes or a meeting I am not obliged to stay on campus. In which case, I have determined to give ‘studying’ at home during ‘work’ hours a try for this week and see how much more progress I make. With less than seven weeks to go before summer holidays begin, I would really like to have the first draft of my literature review completed by then. Thus, I am trying to be as disciplined as possible to get this done….
Despite this little break and a bit of a celebratory pampering (not that I needed to celebrate, but I did need the mani/pedi! π ), I am now on the job!
-T π
