Back on the horse...

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every

opportunity. The optimist sees the

opportunity in every difficulty.”

­– Winston Churchill

I have a love and not so much love relationship with teaching.

Until the fall semester of last year, it was only love. These feelings were kindled by fond memories of the classroom, watching young minds come to appreciate the wonders and workings of the human body.

Students may not appreciate this, but for the teacher, it is the opportunity to enrich their own minds. Classroom education can create one of the great symbiotic relationships.

The afterglow, remembrances warming and softening through the lens of time and gravity led to a yearning to return to teaching. When the chance presented itself, I was delighted. In short order, my reverie was interrupted by the reality of class prep and the delivery of high volume, densely rich material.

Hmmm. That had not been part of the remembrances.

Looking forward…

The lunch was excellent, and the atmosphere could not have been better. One of the small secrets in Tucson is the Café a La C’Art in the historic Stevens house at the Tucson Museum of Art. It isn’t really a secret, but if one doesn’t frequent the Museum or work in its vicinity, it is not particularly well known.

The day was warm, with light gusty winds. A sun shading canopy covered the eight or so tables in the outside court. Birds tweeted in the fresh air as the buzz of quietly chatting folks sat nibbling their meals. Aside from the lovely atmosphere, the menu was superb. I had the Bistro Salad, a huge plate of mixed greens, goat cheese, red onions, granny smith apples, dried cranberries, spiced walnuts topped with cracked pepper and raspberry vinaigrette. It was the perfect meal for the day and the impending conversation.

My luncheon companion was the Biology Department Chair at the community college where I taught.  We have a pleasant collegial relationship and had been trying to get together for several weeks. I had sent her my assessment and impression of how I thought the fall semester had gone. Now that she had my thoughts, I wanted hers.

As an adjunct faculty, classes are assigned when there is an overflow of students wanting to take a particular class. I had not gotten a course in the winter semester. Would there be another opportunity to get into the classroom?

The fall semester…

When the reality sunk in of what it took for ‘ready, set, go,’ I have to admit I was faint of heart. There were mornings when the thought of heading to class, was overwhelming. It took Molly’s support, coming somewhat from her youthful upbringing in a military household to help me get over the hump.

“Have you got your phone, wallet, keys, and ID badge?” She asked, in a motherly matter of fact tone.

“Yes.” I would dutifully reply.

“Good. Here’s your lunch. Now go teach!”

There was no negotiation. Tough love – yes sir, that’s the ticket.

Out the door, I would go whether I felt prepared or not. It was a strange time, because, for more than forty years, I have presented workshops and untold numbers of professional presentations all over the world. And yet…and yet…some days the thought of teaching this content-rich, high volume material to a group of youngsters, seemed beyond the pale.

Oh yes, the lunch…

Alex had just returned from Switzerland and was putting together the summer and fall curricula for the department. We chatted about her trip and reviewed the thoughts I had sent to her.

“You did well,” she said. “For a first time out, it was a good job.  No complaints here.”

"So, do you think there might be another teaching opportunity?"

I was prepared for a no and had made the decision if there were not an opportunity for a course in the summer or fall, I would not teach again. Being away from the material too long would be like starting all over again. Something I was loath to do.

“As a matter of fact,” she said. “I have an eight-week hybrid physiology class I would like you to teach this summer…if you want to do it.”

“What does that mean?” I replied.

In a regular semester, a new system (e.g., hormones, heart, immunity) is taught per week. In an eight-week hybrid course, a system is covered per day. Because of the shortened time period, the material comes twice as fast. The ‘hybrid' part consists of online content that must be mastered in addition to classroom presentations. For students to get through this course, they would need to eat, drink, breathe, and sleep physiology.

What about the instructor?  I have never done any online preparation. Taking this assignment means reorganizing the material AND creating online content acting as collateral material for the course. While by now, the content is more familiar, the online part is entirely new and will need to be learned.

So, the commitment has been made, and it is a mere forty-eight-days until a group of students show-up ready to go. The teacher? Yeah, I'll be prepared when they appear. At the moment, it's not completely clear how that will happen.

For me? What an opportunity…

ted