High School Teacher gone University Professor
I’ve recently made the jump from teaching high school to the university and I’ve noticed quite a few differences–some obvious and others not so much. As you will learn about me, I like lists. So here are my observations categorized–as all good thoughts are!
The obvious
- The bells don’t run my life anymore
- Reduced F2f time with students
The less obvious
- I can go to the bathroom when I want
- Maturity level of the students NOT that different
- Camaraderie among the faculty at the university is refreshing
Technology-wise
- Its easy to access all sorts of technology at the university
- My pre-service teachers think they will have access to the same technology they’ve gotten used to at the university (ha)
- Informality of students with their professors. A pet peeve of mine is when individuals email, skype etc.. and use super casual/IM language. Where has our sense of proper grammar gone? Snicker if you like, but still enjoy capitalization and punctuation!
Most surprising to me
- While my student contact hours have drastically been reduced at the university level-the preparation and grading is as much or more than it was at the high school level
- The university student’s belief that instructors should be available 24/7 for questions (that are clearly answered in the syllabus!)
- I feel like a first year teacher all over again, trying to keep my bearings of deadlines, who to contact when etc…
