Major Slip-Up

As an adjunct instructor, it isn't unusual to have a weird schedule. Last semester I had one class that met for twelve weeks and one that met for eight weeks, each covering sixteen weeks' worth of material. I thought that my current semester schedule consisted of one twelve-week class starting the end of September and one eight-week class starting the end of October. I was a little off on that. The one I thought started in October actually started last Saturday -- without me. I found this out only today, when the department assistant called to say that students had shown up and I wasn't there. I could have died of embarrassment. To say that my not being there on the first day of class is bad is a huge understatement, and in twenty-plus years of teaching, that's never happened. I contacted the Dean and explained that my information was wrong; what else could I say? Tomorrow I will write to the students, taking responsibility for the screw-up. I feel like an idiot! Because I thought the class didn't start until October, I don't even have my materials prepared.

I've been doing a lot of online essay scoring lately, and just by chance I'm off tomorrow. That will give me plenty of time to get assignments together and be prepared for this Saturday's class. Then on Wednesday I will score online while purging for my Thursday colonoscopy (yippee!), get that procedure over with, and score again on Friday. Then I will have to muster up all the charm and wit I can to face my students on Saturday. I'm going to do my best to overcome my disgrace, but I know if I had a teacher who didn't know when the first day of class was, it would take a lot to bring me around to respecting him/her and take him/her seriously. Here's hoping I can turn it around.