The Top Ten Reasons It Is Great To Be a Freeway Flyer
I am sure there are more than ten good reasons to be a Freeway Flyer, but here are the top ten, David Letterman style.
10. Save a fortune on your wardrobe. You can wear the same outfit two days in a row if you go to two different colleges. Professional wardrobes can be expensive, so you can buy a few nice pieces and make them work.
9. Save money on taxes. If you itemize your federal return, you are allowed to claim mileage if you have to travel from one college to another to teach in one day. You will need to file IRS Form 1040, Schedule A, and Form 2106.*
8. Don’t wait too long between paydays. If you work at multiple colleges, there are likely to be different paydays at each one. You might have a paycheck from somewhere every week.
7. Have Fridays off (or Mondays, or Tuesdays). Yes, a day off is necessary to recover from the other five to six days you work. If you teach mornings, afternoons, and evenings, you need a day when you don’t have to go anywhere.
6. Skip some boring professional development. “Sorry, I can’t be there that day; I have a class to teach.” Maybe you won’t mind missing certain PD days at a college (after all, how many times can you sit through training for the habits of highly effective instructors?).
5. Have more opportunities for good professional develpment. For example, one college I know has workshops and seminars every week with adjuncts welcome. The topics may be college-specific, teaching theory, or software refreshers. Another college has an annual amount of money avilable for adjuncts to use for professional development to attend conferences and pay annual dues for professional organizations.
4. Work out whereever you wish and as many places as you like. Adjuncts usually are able to use the college’s gyms for free. Enjoy circuit training at one college, Zumba at another college, yoga at another.
3. All that time to yourself. Okay, it’s time spent in the car driving from college to college to home, but technically, you are alone with your thoughts. You can mentally prepare for a class, plan lessons in your head, or muse about life in general.
2. All of the wonderful opportunities to explore the different books, lessons, and other materials different colleges use. You get a chance to review a lot of books and to see a lot of content particular to your field. Free.
1. And, the number one reason it is great to be a freeway flyer: You can reuse assignments without worrying about a dual submission problem. Use your best lessons and be a genius without having to recreate the wheel every time!
*This is my disclaimer: I am not a tax expert; I am merely speaking from personal experience.
