Teaching: Coming Off the First Week's High

 After flying high during my first week of teaching, I have come back down to earth. Naturally, I cannot expect students to be effusive in their praise last week. But, my beginner's enthusiasm had dimmed and the students seemed duller too. We are learning and teaching in extraordinary circumstances, so I don't want to read too much into it. But, all the batches of tutorials I teach seemed less enthusiastic this week, so I am beginning to wonder if the found the course material too tough and/or confusing. I am doing my best, but macroeconomics is a maze if not taught well. And, I don't design the course, I only teach it. I was going through next week's material, and, boy, are my students in for a shock if they found this week tough. At first, I felt dejected but I have to remind myself that not everything is in my control. I will do my best to make it digestible, but ultimately I have to teach what the module leader decides. But, I was also touched by the amount of concern I felt for these students. These are early days for me in academia and it is by no means certain that I will be able to continue in it. But, with each day of teaching, I feel convinced that it is worthy trying to stay in this profession, despite all its faults.