Tuesday/Thursday or Monday/Wednesday or MWF?

I love the way things happen at a community college, perhaps at any institution. The semester is set to begin in two weeks. As many of you may know, I have two classes I am slated to teach this coming semester, both Tuesday/Thursday class, which cuts down on my travel time and gas expenses. I recently completed my course syllabus and am gearing up for the beginning of the semester.

Yesterday, I got a call from the department secretary, who was calling me at the direction of the dean. They wanted to know if I would switch my T/R classes for two Monday, Wednesday, Friday classes. Clearly I prefer TR to MWF. There are a few reasons. First off, it is easier for me to cover what I need to in a lesson plan if I have the extra 20 minutes per session. I know I still have to cover the same “stuff” in the same amount of time, but it is easier for me working with a class that meets two days a week. A second reason is the gas. It is traveling once less day a week and that certainly makes a difference. A last reason I try to avoid MWF classes is, for some reason, these classes (at least for Public Speaking) get a large number of fashion majors, and dealing with fashion majors (especially when you have a number of them in one class) is a challenge.

I guess I still am frustrated as well that when I applied for a fulltime position, I was never even brought in for an interview. It is frustrating that when they need me for something, they are quick to ask, in part, because they know I will say “Yes” if I can do it. In this case, it felt good to politely decline saying it just would not fit into my schedule this year. So, my schedule has not changed, at least not yet, or not that I know about.