It’s ba-ack! The term, that is. Run and hide in fear!
Actually, this term isn’t half so bad as last term. Half the classes, pretty much, and nearly down by half the enrollments. One class is brand-spanking new: a seminar on later medieval chronicles. However, since I’d planned and proposed this course several years ago as a logical extension of my existing seminar in early medieval chronicles, it feels familiar. The other undergraduate course is my survey of the ancient Near East and that course really is a well-oiled machine thanks to a fabulous textbook and a lot of planning in the past. It takes relatively little time to update material when it’s this well-organized. Finally, the graduate reading course appears like it will continue to be a rewarding class that I have two students working on overlapping material so they can support each other more readily.
The best part of this term, however? Not teaching five days a week. Really, if I’m going to be ramping up my research and publishing the way I’m supposed to do so, I need a day to step back and really get things done without interruption. Even if I leave myself copious “bread crumbs” in the form of notes, it takes some time to get the writing and research back on track. That’s why I’m loving Mondays, now!
Of course, Murphy’s Law meant that I had to make an unexpected trip into campus to ensure a student’s letter of recommendation got in on time. Oh, well. The day was still pretty darned productive as I simply zipped on and off campus as quickly as possible so I could get back to my revisions. I’m happy to report those are done and hopefully there will be many more productive Mondays in the weeks to come.
jliedl.ca 
“Half the classes” = lucky duck! ;)
Sounds like you are ready for super productive term! Woohoo!
Thanks! Half the classes is much better, although part of the reason they dropped down so much was that I was teaching a sizable overload in my heavy teaching term.
Fall is always going to be a tough term for me as it’s when I take responsibility for the first half of western civ AND the graduate methods course, both of which are serious challenges. But that means that winter terms, such as this, can feel like a real relief! Now? Back to pursuing a research question!