I can't resist

I just finished one class worth of assignments and only have one more to go. Of course, since I've been accepting assignments for about 2 weeks and have returned almost nothing, that still means enough work to do that I'll have to get up at 5 to have it ready for tomorrow's class. And I really do have to return this wodge to everyone tomorrow, not just because I said I would but because a) I got more assignments today and will get more tomorrow from my 101s, b) I am now behind on 229, and c) next week I get first actual essays, which I know I put way the hell too much time into but the insanity is about to rachet up significantly.

And let's not even mention that as yet untouched promo folder, or the fact that I now have other people's sabbatical folders that I have to review....

So, you may ask, what in the blue-eyed world am I doing blogging? My excuse of course is that I need a brain break (and indeed that is true; I can only go so long before I have to wash out the accumulated sludge), but also, honestly, I just really am enjoying blogging and, well, I just want to.

As I mentioned yesterday (I think), we had the first meeting of the conviviality committee tonight. Very sparse but enthusiastic attendance. Only one of the newbies was there, but he's great and clearly is right in the spirit (and spirits) of things. I ended up having a very interesting conversation with a colleague who I think was new last year (I lose track) and whom I have not had a chance to talk with at any length prior to tonight. Overall, among us all, lots of telling of "war stories" and assignment strategies and classroom discussions. We always get into the "what do you have them read" conversations, and those are always fascinating, as we hear about stories/essays/articles/books we don't know. (Not like my "jeez, I'd love to read that someday" list isn't already insanely long--and that's just talking about the books I already own.)

It's also very affirming to know that we are all on the same wavelength when it comes to what education is, especially as in, it's not a business and it's not a service. The corporate and retail models do not apply, much as many administrators would like them to. I liked what Randall said about how it used to be that the professor was a gauge against which students would measure themselves and their work to see where they stood: we were valued for having a store of knowledge and experience that students were striving to match. Now we get the "I ordered a B+, not a C-; take this back and give me what I paid for" attitude. (It always strikes me as peculiar when at semester's end a student tells me that a grade is "unacceptable." Um, ok. Don't accept it and see what ends up on your transcript.) And in our culture at this point, professors are absolutely, categorically not what our students want to emulate. I think for many students, their worst nightmare would be to discover they had become like us (musty, stodgy, hung-up weirdos that we are).

At some point I want to try to remember and blog about the stuff we were delighting over because it completely blows our students' minds, pries the backs of their heads off and scrambles their brains. Another time. We also got into a conversation about assessment, about which I have many apparently contradictory thoughts. But if I open that can of worms right now, there will be worms running amok for ages, and I really do have to turn my mind back to squeezing out just a few more assignments tonight. I'm not sure how well I can actually see (even with my reading glasses, which I tend to forget about; I'm still not used to the idea that I actually need glasses for some things), and I'm really not sure how well I can process, but even if my evaluations are dodgy, done is beautiful. (Quotation from a guy who helped me with props one time when I thought maybe I could have a career in theater as a props mistress, since acting and stage managing were washouts.) I can't think too much about the fact that once I get all this done, I just am facing more of the same: I have to be willing to celebrate getting this batch out from under my feet. By 4:00 tomorrow, it'll all be over but the shouting (metaphorically speaking of course. At least I hope it's metaphoric. I see the asshole student I posted about on Monday at 4 tomorrow... We'll see how that goes.)