Here we go and already we are behind on the apparently overly optimistic schedule for the summer session. Already had to postpone the first exam - that starts a chain reaction of schedule adjustments that teeters on the brink of pushing due dates after the course has ended :-). There just isn't room in this shortened scenario to absorb much change. I couldn't be more delighted with the enthusiasm of my current class of students. They want to know "everything that there is to know about computers, but were afraid to ask" in one day! I want to share all the tips and tricks that I have learned from working with technology over my many years, but there simply isn't time for it all.
Come to think of it, adjusting the schedule has become a regular occurrence no matter what semester or course that I am teaching. There have been a couple of times that I actually had to 'speed up' the due dates to accommodate some students who had 'mad' skills. Mostly alterations to the schedule happen due to inclement weather or when there is more to cover than there is time to cover it. I would like to put to rest the notion that instructor's love to disrupt our students' world by making 'arbitrary' changes - we would prefer not to create the extra work for ourselves!
How well the students handle 'change' has mostly to do with personality types. The people most comfortable with 'going with the flow' are the least disturbed, however, the people who want everything to go exactly as planned - usually have difficulty with every announced modification. My personality type enjoys change, cultivates it, in fact, so that nothing becomes stale and boring. Other personality types resist change to the point of resentment toward the instructor over each change which is seen as a 'slight'. It is best if both extremes meet in the middle - the 'change artist' in me has to work to limit the changes whenever possible and the 'brick wall' of resistance in others, needs to find a kinder, gentler material for the wall - say, plexiglass. Life is change - but get out of my rut, I just had it recarpeted.
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