Hola!
I just had a very frustrating day at my so-called University. I have worked there since August of 2007, and have really not encountered any problems until now, where I am tangled in a web of illogical rules and stupidity.
The college I work for is an hour bus ride from my home. I take the city bus. I am doing 16 periods per week, although my schedule sucks, primarily because I only have one 1 1/2 hour class on Wednesday. So I have to go there 4 days a week when I could easily only go three (or even two, but I would happily settle for three.)
We have finished 8 weeks of a 16 week semester. I have a new Chinese co-teacher who is dingy as hell, and gets nervous at every little thing. She really turns molehills into mountains. She is all upset over these two issues...........
1.) I have a class that was scheduled for Friday afternoon at 1:30 to 3:10. Nothing wrong with that, but I noticed that the students are paying less attention to me than during any other time of the week, and frankly, I am thinking about my weekend intently also. I found out from them that they have free time Friday morning between 8:30-10:10. Great!
. I can do that class at that time, do my 10:20-12:00 class and then be out the door by 12:00 instead of having to sit there for an hour and a half for lunch waiting for the 1:30 class. The students loved the arrangement too, everyone was happy.
I did not tell the school because I knew that they would say no to a request for a time change. So I didn't tell them. Why tell them? We are already
7 weeks into the semester. However, today we (me) got caught. Don't know all the details, but supposedly the students had another class during the morning, that apparently they did not know about until the motherf'ing Chinese teacher told the FAO office, and my "co-teacher" calling me asking me why I not following the schedule. I simply said that the students haven't had a class on Friday morning for 7 WEEKS, why in the hell is there a class popping up now? Half the semester is over!
2.) I was sick with a cold Wednesday
April 2nd, told the "co-teacher" the night before and did not come to school the next day. Missed one class. No biggie. I had to make up the class, so I chose
April 24th, the last Thursday before May holiday. After the debacle of the above event, my co-teacher was angry with me that I did not have the class the very next week. I am trying to explain to her that it really doesn't matter in the long run, that all my classes will have an equal amount of time, and no one will be shortchanged. But she is having a cow about this, like the students of that class are being deprived of a class they are not getting. What is really stupid and funny at the same time was Friday of that week was a holiday (Tomb cleaning day), and I was just showing my other classes a movie. I was just too F'ed up to make it to work.
The above are very minor problems that almost correct themselves, but the trolls in the college seem to have a fit with me, although they schedule like drunken monkeys, and I just wanted to stay away from the bureaucratic paperwork and the BS involved. I have been here for 7 years, I should of known better than trying to beat the system.
Senor