This morning is going to be a bit rough. I have to teach a class while being observed by a group of alumni. (It’s Alumni Weekend.) And before and after the class, I have to give tours of the museum to two other classes. Then, this afternoon will be spent putting the last touches on getting the museum ready for the onslaught of visit for this weekend’s Alumni Weekend. We always come close to having more visitors on Alumni Weekend than throughout the rest of the year. Tomorrow will be filled with various events that begin as soon as the museum opens at 8 am and will end around 8 pm. Saturday will be spent welcoming alumni to the museum and probably a few impromptu tours. Now, excuse me while I study over my lecture notes. I don’t want to be stumbling over my words while I have observers in my class.

Yesterday was a very busy day, and today won’t be any better. I’m teaching a class for an introductory course and thus, I am teaching at least one class for every professor in this department (some have two sections of this class, so I’ll be teaching for them more than once). In all, I have thirty-five classes to teach over the next two weeks: twenty-eight for this department, three for another department, and my four regular classes for the semester long history class I’m teaching. Needless to say, it’s exhausting and I’m barely in my office all day, and when I am my office, I’m working to keep up with emails and my other usual duties. Yesterday, I was so tired, I went to bed at 8:45 p.m. I’d planned to at least stay awake until 9 p.m., but I didn’t make it. I had to fight off Isabella for an extra hour of sleep this morning.

My blog posts might be short over the next two weeks. If they don’t come at their usual posting time, know I am OK, just busy and tired.

Classes start back this week, and for the first time in over ten years, I’ll be back in a college classroom teaching a full semester long course using the museum’s collection. I’ve been teaching a class here and there for various professors who want to use objects from the museum, but that’s just one or two days in those classes. My first class will be tomorrow, and unless there was a rush of students signing up for it over the weekend, it should be a nice small group of students.

In addition to my class, we have a new exhibit we are preparing to open on Friday. Also, during the two weeks after this one, I’ll be teaching more than 30 classes for other professors hoping to use objects from the museum. Nearly every day during September, I have at least one class a day, sometimes, there will be seven or eight in a day. 

It’s tiring and a lot of work, but there is always a rush at the beginning of the semester. It should slow down in October. If you’ve ever taught, you know how tiring teaching can be. You have to be “on” and at your best for your students. It’s a good tiring though, especially if your students are enjoying their learning experience.