The life of a non-tenured teacher

The good news is that loads of students are asking which courses I am teaching next semester, because as one of them put it, “good English teachers are hard to find.”
The bad news is, the answer is no courses at all, unfortunately.
At this stage, I will be lucky to get a single continuing education course. Every winter, for a variety of reasons, college English departments have no choice but to offer significantly fewer courses than they do in the fall. So until I get tenure – which involves a number of retirements and/or unfortunate accidents – I am pretty much out in the cold come January.
Ah, well, at least I’ll be back next fall, for sure. And a few months off gives me a lot of time for planning unfortunate accidents next year’s courses.

8 Replies to “The life of a non-tenured teacher”

  1. You have my sympathy. Vicki, my English teaching child bride, went through similar crap at the local community college for several years, which is why she is now running our business instead of teaching.
    Rumor has it that The Amazing Race finale next Tuesday will include some of Montreal. I know some of it took place at Niagara Falls because I recognized the scenery in the previews.

  2. Ah, yes…the life of the adjunct instructor. And with colleges hiring more of the same, and fewer full-timers, there’s more competition for the available classes.
    Do you ever spend these down times on, say, writing a book? Articles? Satire on today’s college student?

  3. Ah, yes…the life of the adjunct instructor. And with colleges hiring more of the same, and fewer full-timers, there’s more competition for the available classes.
    Do you ever spend these down times on, say, writing a book? Articles? Satire on today’s college student?

  4. Sorry for the duplication; my comment was supposedly rejected twice, but I see the second time it sneaked in there, just ahead of the third attempt. Ever the charmer.

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