A little less gnashing of teeth

I got all the first papers for the 102s finished. Jesus, what a load off. I still have the Short Story papers, and a stack of random detritus from the 102s. Part of me wants to clear the clutter and get the stupid 102 stuff marked and gone, return it all tomorrow, before I collect more (yeesh), but on the other hand, it's more important that I get the Short Story papers completely finished before Monday's class, so I probably should oughta put those on top of the "about to spontaneously combust" pile.

One thing that's been feeling good is that I'm finding takers for the observations of new adjuncts. There are six of them, and the prospect of having to observe all of them myself was painful. However, former members of P&B are coming through, and I think I can unload all but two--and two won't be painful. In fact, one of them I actively want to observe, as I'm the one who hired her (last minute). I want to see if I made a good choice.

Another load that has been lifted is that I don't have to look at sabbatical applications again for a bit. I never got through the first load; I was on a tear, and fully intended to be good this semester and look at every blessed one--but then appendicitis struck, and when I got back, we gathered the comments for our various mentees and are now moving on to promotion applications. And this year, blessings be, there are only two people going up for assistant/tenure, so that's all I have to do for next week. (That will be a Monday afternoon job for sure.) So the P&B load is lightening up a bit right now, too.

And the paper-grading load is getting progressively lighter. I e-mailed one student who seems to have disappeared to see if he's coming back; if he isn't, I"m not grading his paper. I was about to send the same e-mail to another student when I got a message from him saying he has to withdraw. Whew. I'm sure I've graded some papers for students in the 102s who are gone; they often are done in by the poetry paper, finding it just that much more difficult than the story paper. I'm still in double digits in all my classes--but not by much, in the 102s. And the fat lady has yet to begin warming up.

The China Doll withdrew today (saw that coming). Another student who disappeared weeks ago e-mailed to say he needs to withdraw (good idea). Another showed up at the office yesterday, wondering what he could do about the fact that he didn't turn either of the first two papers in 102 (um, withdraw or fail seem to be the only options; which would you prefer?). Yet one more showed up at the end of the first 102 with her withdrawal slip. I'm starting to feel like Annie Oakley in a shooting gallery: ting, ting, ting, hitting those Withdrawals. But as I said, I'm rather hoping it levels off now. I like the balance and the numbers as they are right this minute, and I'd very much like to end the semester pretty much with the students I have right now.

Because I didn't hold my office hour on Monday, I held a make-up session today, and lo and behold, a student from the earlier 102 showed up--one of only two young men left in that class. He's not sullen, not slack-jawed and dim, but in his charming and perky way, he still seems to answer all my questions with "I don't know." Well, think, dammit. I honestly can't tell whether he doesn't have the chops to do the work or if he's just dealing with deeply ingrained acquired helplessness, but if he doesn't start getting some ideas, and damned soon, he's going to be toast very shortly. And I don't want to lose him--mostly because he is charming and perky, and in that earlier 102, we need that kind of energy.

Tomorrow, Poor Dear Thing (the complainer I complained about in yesterday's post) will meet with me at 11:30. She's very happy to have an appointment with me--and I hope it helps. I'm not sure how much I can do for her, but I'll try. Then I rather expect I'll have a parade of students coming to my office hour--possibly from the comps and the lit class. I just hope I get enough time in between to churn through some of those papers....

Nothing else of import to note today. I'm a little worried about the fact that I don't feel so frantic today; surely I'm forgetting something, or am thinking something is more close to complete than it is, or something. But quien sabe? Either I'm really OK, or something will hit me in the face like a flying asian carp.