My colleague and friend Dr. Phil Nel has been posting daily entries answering the question, “What do professors do all day?” partly because people outside of academia – even those who have gone through college or university – often don’t really know how we professors spend our time. I thought I’d try it in case my students (and friends) actually read my blog and wonder too.
Note: The SCU MLIS Program is on a night and weekend schedule, so my courses are Tuesdays and Wednesdays 6-9 PM. In order to maintain my 2011 resolution of not being in my office for more than 12 straight hours (as I often did these past 2 years…), I don’t do work or go into my office before 10 or 11 AM on teaching days.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Snow Day. Let’s call it a wash because it’s also a Sick Day, as were Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
9:00-10:00 AM Woke up. Still sick. Can’t breathe through my nose. Washed up and got ready for the day.
10:00-10:45 AM Made breakfast and lunch. Did my daily Bible devotional reading and then caught up on email and FB while having breakfast.
10:45-11:15 AM Chatted with my friend, Tarie Sabido, a children’s lit scholar in Manila. Her enthusiasm and cheer warm my heart on this cold day. She and I share Dunkin Donuts, The Skin Food and children’s literature fetishes. For example… Dunkin Announces…
11:15-12:00 PM Post office and bank.
12:15-2:00 PM Got into the office, checked email, and prepared quiz for LIS 7530 Internet Fundamentals and Design. Revised a cupcake-themed mock-up website that my students have to re-create based on what they’ve learned in the first 6 chapters of our textbook.
2:-00-3:05 PM FACES meeting – discussed how to improve campus climate, manage conflicts, build trust, etc. with fellow faculty and staff. FACES stands for Focus on Academic and Community Environments.
3:05-5:00 PM Office hours. Usually this means I’m sitting in my office with a bucket of chocolate on my desk… waiting… well, more specifically…
- 3:05-3:10 PM Reviewed a letter of recommendation packet that I requested from a student who requested a letter from me.
- 3:10-3:30 PM Prepared for class
- 3:30-3:32 PM At the advice of a friend, watched neti pot YouTube video. hRmmmm I might try this.
- 3:32-3:45 PM Prepared for class
- 3:45-4:00 PM Reviewed ALA Student Chapter website in preparation for meeting.
- 4:00-4:15 PM Met with student regarding the launch of the SCU MLIS ALA Student Chapter. So excited that we’re getting this going so soon after being ALA accredited!
- 4:15-5:00 PM (Re)read Understanding the Internet: A Glimpse Into the Building Blocks, Applications, Security and Hidden Secrets of the Web for LIS 7530. Very technical and full of jargon – glad my students are getting the big picture out of it, though.
5:00-5:30 PM Skype trial run with Dr. Betsy Hearne, Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science. She’s giving a guest lecture in my LIS 7180 Storytelling for Adults and Children class on Wednesday evening.
5:30-6:00 PM Quick dinner @ my desk! Checked FB and email.
6:00-9:00 PM Taught LIS 7530 Internet Fundamentals and Design
- 7:30-7:45 PM Class break. Checked email and started to (re)read”A Change of Storyteller: Folktales in Children and Books, from Arbuthnot to Sutherland” by Dr. Janice Del Negro (Library Trends 47:3, Winter 1999). It’s amazing how much you can (re)read in tiny blocks of time. This article is a must-read for anyone concerned with the study of folklore, children’s literature and storytelling.
9:00-9:30 PM Checked email and debriefed about tonight’s LIS 7530 on my personal blog/teaching journal. Doing this helps me reflect on my teaching strengths and weaknesses, as well as particular student- or course content-related issues. I also spent a few minutes preparing an itinerary for my guest teacher next week. Also read this heartbreaking article about Detroit closing half its public schools.
9:30-9:35 PM Wrote a thank you note to Dr. Andre Brock, who guest lectured in my LIS 7530 course last week on the topic of race and the internet.
9:35-10:30 PM Finished (re)reading “A Change of Storyteller.” Heading home, where I will likely keep (re)reading for my Storytelling course 🙂
Total work hours: 9 hours and 45 minutes. That’s less than the 12 hours I said was my maximum, but more than the typical 8 a normal human is supposed to work ^^ The answer to the question, “What do (sick) professors do all day?” is, “We still work.”
Note to self: You need to write more. Publish or perish. Tenure FTW!
Ooohhh, keeping a teaching journal sounds so awesome. Your students are lucky to have you!
Love this! Definitely will repost and share — the work goes on, even when you’re not feeling well, in academia!
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