I was scheduled to teach a class (twice a week, 3 hours total), and last week I met with the course leader. She told me that no students had been assigned to my group yet, but that she would keep me updated on the attendance list. I should also mention that my line manager agreed with the course leader and emailed the timetabling team without letting me know. I only found out about the teaching when I checked my timetable and saw an introductory course email and that I’d been invited to a meeting.
I went to the first two classes (week1), and there were indeed no students. The course leader didn’t contact me about attendance.
This week (week 2), I emailed my line manager asking about hours for the course. She added my hours to the system and then emailed me the next day asking how the course was going, how I and the students were finding it. I replied that I'd not had any students, and when I checked the attendance register in week 1, no students were attached to my group. She then replied thanking me and asked for feedback on the course material and to read through it and share my thoughts and if I understand it well. I think this is because some colleagues had concerns that the course leader had not structured the material clearly, and that they and the students did not enjoy the first week. One of my senior colleagues asked if I could help her understand the tasks and then went on to message me to say she’d spent 15 hours just preparing to teach the first week of classes (only 3 hours worth of teaching).
Now, I’m worried that my line manager might think I was being unreasonable by not telling her earlier that no students attended the first week when I asked for the hours. I was waiting for her or the module leader to let me know if students would be added, because it’s common for extra students to join late, or to know if the class should be cancelled and removed from my timetable.
We had a team meeting with the teaching staff and the course leader scheduled for today, and I was planning to bring up the lack of attendance in the meeting.
My manager has now given me another class with students, but I feel worried that she might lose trust in me. We’ve been working together for five years, and I’m very reliable and hardworking. I feel really annoyed with myself for not saying anything!
Was I unreasonable here?