The end (of term) is nigh

[Snowdrop30]

How are we all? It's been a term and a half, hasn't it?

Not a teacher but work in a school.

Oh boy is everyone knackered.

Bring it on! I'm exhausted, though I've felt like it was Week 9 since the start of term, thanks to the preparations all summer. I've been doing most of my teaching f2f, which has been OK, though the masked and distanced scenario has prompted major revisions to my modules. The most time-consuming thing has been the pastoral support. I have had several whole days in the last couple of weeks filled with back-to-back meetings with students.

On the positive side, the students are so glad to have the f2f teaching, that attendance has been virtually 100% and they have been better prepared for seminars than in the past.

The VC, having not been seen in person or virtually, since the start of term, finally sent out an email to staff last week. To express his disappointment at UCU's balloting of staff for strike action. I am no fan of UCU, but it's pretty poor show that the only thing we hear from the guy all term is finger wagging.

Great, isn't it? Not all over yet but the end in sight.

I feel like I have been on the most enormous learning curve. I didn't enjoy it but I do feel better equipped to go forward into the next term with at least some clue how to make lecture videos and run seminars with masks on (clue: lots of short questions!) and Zoom seminars.

I feel like the students that showed up were pretty connected with the course, however, I did have a few that either fell by the wayside or didn't engage either online or in person, I did email them but they are resistant to all contact!

Planning to have some time off officially, otherwise I just dribble on working most days throughout holidays. I do need to prep next term, and I need to start paying attention to the rest of the stuff I didn't do, research, grants, papers, but there is a satisfaction at getting to the end of this term vaguely sane.

Term is over and I have 1 1/2 working days before Christmas and an enormous pile of BS re students has just landed on my plate. I simply cannot juggle any more and I have said that the students that need to make decisions will need to be guided through them by someone else as I can't answer their questions (they have already asked me these questions, and I have already been unable to answer them, basically decision made higher up than me but with about 6 weeks in which I was told it was all fine, just fill in this form, and now suddenly it isn't, when the students had already been asking me "but how could it possibly not be fine?" and I was saying "I have no idea but they are saying it IS fine"). Except now it's not and these students have potentially lost a whole term's work.

(Uni is closed for 2 weeks, and DCs are home for all that time, so Out of Office will be firmly on. I have one overseas collaboration with two other countries where offices will not be closed but they'll Whatsapp me if they need anything).

I have already set up my Out of Office to start on the 23rd, that's how bloody eager I am for this shit to end so that I can collapse on the sofa. I have a ton of marking to wade through before then, a load of reference requests, plus guiding several prospective PhDs on their scholarship applications which are helpfully scheduled to be submitted as soon as the Christmas break ends. This has been the worst term I've experienced in twenty years teaching. I'm trying not to think about it all starting again in January.

I've had a relentless term teaching but I only have one (yes 1) teaching week next term to make up for it.

I've had DC off self isolating and DH only taken them 1-2 hours a week to cover my live meetings. I have 60 hours of content to record and management wants it all up before January start along with all the vle content. I was desparate for a break over Xmas, I've never needed it so badly but now childcare has set me back and I'll need to work every night of the break to get the work done. Any spare second I get I'm searching job sites. I hate my life right now

Clockstop that's awful, too much after this exhausting term.I'm prepping a small bit but luckily my uni seems to just allow us to do it when we want as long as it's at least a week before it's run. I think people will be having breakdowns with all this pressure. Our uni has started to run a lot of counselling/wellbeing sessions, a survey and is basically panicking. If lots go off with stress or just burnout, how will that benefit them? This board has (unfortunately) been an eye opener on just badly and childishly some unis are treating their workforce. If I had to do all that content, I would do it in audio, I think video would be too much for that amount for me anyway.

I am also not taking on any new PhDs whose work doesn't fit with my existing programme, supervising PhDs has taken up so much of my time this year and half of them are wandering around doing their own thing, great, but that's not very productive for me and my workload! Lot of emotional management as well.

that sucks. .and saying so doesn't do it justice for how much. I'm sorry.

I feel burnt out and miserable but I appreciate many here have it worse