2. Teaching calculus is hard. Teaching calculus you haven't worked with much since high school is harder. The trick? Stay one day ahead of the students. :)
3. Doing calculus for, on average, 8 hours a day... whew...my brain is oozing integral signs.
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| In case you didn't know, this is the integral symbol. |
4. There are lots of students that are really fun to teach. There are lots of students that really need to be taught that they're in college now and it's their responsibility to learn and work hard. It's not my responsibility to hold their hand (via email) while they do their homework.
5. It's only about 5 weeks into the semester and I've already filled half of a giant 4-inch binder with the articles I've had to read for my classes...we're talking two pages on each side of the page, double sided. Wow.
6. I've learned that if I don't look away and focus on things farther than 2 feet away every once in a while, my eye muscles freak out and I feel like I'm myopic...which is weird for someone who has 20-20 vision.
7. If I want to study the thing I want to study for my thesis, I have to learn Spanish... Rosetta Stone, here I come.
8. I am grateful for the nights where I get more than 6 hours of sleep.
9. There is no such thing as leaving school at school. My normal nightly routine is, once I get home between 6:00 and 9:00 (depending on the day), I grade. I grade till my brain is oozing out onto my papers...lol. Sometimes I put a movie in to listen to while I grade. That's the only electronic entertainment I get anymore.
10. The days are SO LONG, but a week FLIES by. It literally feels like yesterday was Monday, and it's Thursday.
11. Sometimes you just need to nourish your soul by listening to Mumford and Sons.
12. Visitors to my house are just going to have to be okay with the fact that the dishes (the ones that have to be handwashed at least) only get done once or twice a week. My neighbor said her trick is to hide them in the oven...lol. I'd forget about them and we'd start growing things in the oven.
13. If I don't plan ahead and make a big meal on the weekend or perhaps Monday, we eat a lot of quicky dinners... burritos, cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, leftovers, PB&Js, green smoothies....uh, yeah...
14. I'm also learning that sometimes, even though eating out's expensive, your time is worth the money. Just get a Subway.
15. It's really hard to convince college students that you're on their side. Giving them candy after their first test is a good start.
16. Seriously people. Mumford and Sons is where it's at. It's like yoga... but less painful...and can be done while doing homework.
17. I really need to get some posters or something up in my office...the white cinderblock walls are sort of depressing...and oppressing...
18. A Masters Degree in Math Education requires SO MUCH writing... SO much. I'm going to be an AWESOME writer by the end of this. But holy cow, the learning curve is difficult.
19. BYU football games are a great. Always have been...but it's just so awesome to be able to say things like "I won't be answering emails after 6:00 this Friday because I'll be at the football game." :) Love it.
20. If I survive this, it will be so dang satisfying... will I ever get a PhD? Not sure... for now I don't have to energy to even think about it. :)
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