There’s no time like the present to catch up on previous instalments of these postgraduate teaching diaries!

• #1 First Classes

• #2 Placement

• #3 First Semester Done!

• #4 Semester Break

• #5 Back At It For Semester 2!

• #6 Second Placement

• #7 First Year Done!

• #8 Second Year Incoming

• #9 Made it to Midsem

The dust has settled a little

Last time, I spoke about how I almost deferred before my placement this semester even began. This was due to some health issues, but I’m glad to say that things have settled down a little bit on that front. I’m also glad that I didn’t defer, but that’s very easy to say now in hindsight!

One thing I will say is this: please consider what support services your university provides. You may be able to receive additional support or flexibility with things like due dates, attendance, or other areas of accessibility. Because I (foolishly) hadn’t registered with these services despite being eligible, my placement period and the subsequent weeks were probably much harder than they needed to be.

Despite that, with placement done for the semester, I’ve turned my attention back to classes and assessments. Here’s how I’ve been travelling so far.

Classes have been more hybrid

I’m not really sure why, but I’ve had more online classes this semester than the last two; I’d say it’s been about a 50/50 split between on-campus classes and online classes.

There are advantages and disadvantages to this. One advantage is not needing to commute into uni, although it’s sometimes frustrating when you have an online class and on-campus class on the same day (meaning you have to make the commute anyway).

Overall, though, I don’t really enjoy online classes as much as on-campus classes. I find it much harder to engage with the tutor and other students, and my mind wanders more easily. I also find I get a bit headachey after looking at a screen for 2-3 hours quite intently.

I’m hoping that next semester returns to predominantly on-campus classes, but I can definitely appreciate why online is better for a lot of people!

Assessments are stacking up

As placement was so early this semester, assessments are very much back-ended. That is, usually we’ve had four assessments, then placement, then the final four assessments. This semester, we had placement first, then assessments back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back.

I’ve just got through the first ‘block’ of assignments (so the first four), and now there’s a gap of a few weeks until the next ‘block’. Unfortunately, these next four are clumped together, so I’ll try to get a start on them soon!

So, from now…

I’ll mostly just be trying to keep my head above water with coursework, and getting assessments in on time. After this next little block, we have a decent break before Semester 2 - somehow my final semester already!

Semester 2 is sort of exciting to think about, because it’s the last one, but it comes with mixed emotions. I feel like I’ve actually made a nice group of friends in this course, so I will be sad not seeing them as much. Semester 2 also means I need to make decisions about what to do in 2025, because honestly, I’m still not completely sold on teaching.

Catch you for the next edition, which will, hopefully, coincide with the end of the semester! 🥳