Quick post

All's well today. Both classes did fine with the poetry, although I saw an alarming trend in their responses to the critical essays, in which they seemed unable to differentiate between when the critic was quoting from the poetry and when he or she was analyzing the quotation--but that's why I do the homework with them, so we can catch that kind of problem before they start writing their papers.

My favorite thing from the last two days of classes has been seeing students have the "ah-hah!" moment, when suddenly my questions and close attention to individual words lead them to an interpretation that makes the whole poem click into place. Watching their faces light up is a treat.

I keep putting off grading their revisions. I tell myself it's because I need to get their reading journals and responses back to them so they're ready for the next discussion and the coming paper, but really, it's just that I don't much want to burst this happy bubble I'm in, and I'm afraid the revisions will be the usual disappointment, showing microscopic change at best. Oh, wouldn't it be lovely to be pleasantly surprised?

Shifting gears, I just sent of my candidate statement for P&B: yes, I'm running again. And for Scheduling. And for Academic Standing (a college-wide elected position, since I don't want to do College Wide Curriculum any more). This from a woman who says she wants to cut down on committees. If I'm elected to all of the above, my committee obligations will be P&B (weekly), Academic Standing (monthly), college-wide Assessment (monthly), departmental Assessment (monthly), and Scheduling (once a semester). And I'm officially the new Professional Liaison Coordinator for ASLE (the Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment), a "leadership position" for the flagship organization in my field (and ASLE is international).

And I still worry about having enough to get full professor in five years. I need publications! Ay-yi-yi.

But I'm gnawing on ideas for a radical reconfiguration of how I approach comp classes, which--once in effect--will (I hope) free up a fair amount of time. And that is a consummation devoutly to be wished.

Now I'm dashing off to a doctor's appointment, then back to the office long enough to pack up and head home. Tonight's date with Paul has been postponed until he's healthy (he seems to have bronchitis), so instead I'll try to make an early night of it, get a good run at the day tomorrow.

Off this goes, with nary a re-read or proof....