A R.E.P.O.R.T for My First Semester of Teaching

It is kind of crazy to say that I just finished my first semester of teaching. Part of that is because I didn't think that teaching would be for me, and the other part is that I am surprised it happened the way it did. The way that it works in the MFA program in Creative Writing at UCF is that candidates have to take a teaching composition course. Once the course was almost over, they would pick four of us from the program to teach composition. I was one of the four.

Now I'm on winter break, preparing for my second semester of teaching and my last semester of my Master's, which has me throwing exclamation marks around (some of them from excitement, some of them from stress, and smaller-sized marks for the emotions in between). I'm also using this time to reflect a bit and thought I would share some of that through the trend of a TikTok R.E.P.O.R.T. I learned about it from Hailey, who worked with me this past semester on Her Campus UCF's Executive Board. Maybe it is a little cheugy to write, but I would rather write it than film myself doing it. Each letter in R.E.P.O.R.T. stands for something, so I'll go ahead and get into it.

Damian sitting beside me while I study.

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R is for Reading

I read a lot this semester. On top of my own reading as a student, I had to read the work I was assigning to my students, and then I had to read the work the students developed. For my class, I assigned readings from Andrea A. Lunsford's Easy Writer (I'm inserting an old edition here because it is the one I keep in my office and has school colors on it, but they were assigned readings from the eighth edition) and work from Writing Spaces, an online textbook with readings about writing. As someone who was overwhelmed by the amount of pedagogy in composition, I tried to pick easily digestible readings, especially taking into consideration that I was teaching college freshmen.

My UCF edition of the Easy Writer by Andrea A. Lunsford.

E is for Eating

You know, I am so fortunate to have ended up in a department that so readily supports their graduate students. Right outside our offices is a little pantry where the faculty will donate food for graduate students to take. On my long days when I didn't pack enough to eat, I would find myself making a Rice-a-Roni or a Chef Boyardee from the pantry, which would satiate me until I got home. Aside from that, I did develop an appreciation for Foxtail Coffee this semester, which I believe is a Florida chain that we had on campus. I would also occasionally try the food from the local restaurant row on campus, which is a stand where local businesses would come in to showcase their food on a rotating weekly basis. My supervisor was also generous enough to provide us with donuts on occasion.

One night before a late class, I picked up musubi from the Local Restaurant Row; the business that week was Omusubee, which focuses on Japanese grab-and-go snacks.

P is for Playing

At this point in my career, I don't think I can afford to start playing any new games because I would become too easily addicted. However, I did make sure to have time to play with my dog, Damian. I also keep Pikmin Bloom and Pokemon Go on my phone because both of these games count my steps. If I made the time to play anything this semester, I definitely used it as the time to be active since I spend so much time sitting down at a desk, reading or writing, and grading papers.

This is a selfie I took of me and Damian in the closet. I was doing work on the floor, and it was so late that he wanted me to go to bed.

O is for Obsessing Over

There were points in the semester where I would obsess over the work my students developed. That isn't entirely a joke, especially seeing the developmental process before seeing the final product. There was so much growth and change that I couldn't help but be a little proud of them. Aside from teaching this semester, I also took a Form and Theory class where we developed a project surrounding our obsessions. I am still debating whether or not I am obsessed with sugar... this obsession will probably be something that I plan to carry over into the coming years. Perhaps I really am obsessed with sugar.

My copy of My Body is a Book of Rules by Elissa Washuta, a book that I read for that Form and Theory class I mentioned. I was reading this book poolside, so it is laying on my towel.

R is for Recommending

Now that the semester is over, I am heavily recommending that I get ahead in preparing for next semester. The biggest struggle I had this semester was feeling like I never had enough time. I think that I can better handle that if I use some of my break to get ahead. Instead of just lesson planning, I could go ahead and create the lessons now too.

I still haven't bought my planner for 2024 yet, but this is the idea.

T is for Treating

During finals, I did treat my students to donuts after they finished presenting their ePortfolios. That also became a treat for me, because I have started to enjoy Dunkin coffee again. Aside from that, I think the treat for me now is a temporary break while I prepare for the spring semester, which will be the final semester of my Master's.

Donuts galore.

Did this blog post make you cringe a lot, or would you say that it was executed just well enough? Is there a TikTok trend that would translate better into a blog post? What aspect of my professional life should I be including on this ePortfolio? I would love to know in the comments below.