If it's Tuesday, this must be...

I'm very confused about days of the week. I seem to be locked into thinking that my comp classes are on Tuesday/Thursday and my lit elective on Monday/Wednesday. I don't know why that rhythm is taking over my brain: it was the case in the fall semester, true, but last spring I was in the elective on Tuesday/Thursday routine, as I am this spring, so it's not as if this is rare. But it's extremely difficult for me to keep straight which days I have which classes and what that means in terms of meetings and the prioritizing of grading. Of course, the situation in my personal life has scrambled my brains to a greater or lesser extent, but still, I'm mystified by how difficult it is for me simply to keep track of what day it is and where I need to be when.

For example, I've looked at my calendar at least a dozen times, and I know I have a departmental assessment committee meeting on Wednesday, but it wasn't until I was walking across campus talking to William that I realized Wednesday is tomorrow--and then only because William said as much. Oh. So my planned trip to Personnel (to review the folder for my one remaining mentee, a job I've been putting off for months but that must be done before Friday) has to happen after the assessment meeting--making me even later to Advisement than I anticipated--or I have to get here super-duper early (as the meeting starts at 9:30). I'm opting for the former: it's hard enough to get my ass here by 9:30, so trying to get here by 9 feels like cruel and unusual punishment. I'm going to have to make up time in Advisement anyway; what's a few more minutes?

Shifting gears: class was dull and foggy today. Mr. Enthusiastic wasn't there, and I think the lack of his particular energy created a drag on the whole group. Some of the other students who are usually lively and participatory were unusually quiet today, too. Maybe it was just a matter of after-break blues, but it was a trifle painful trying to get any kind of conversation going about the readings. And I think they should be getting easier, but apparently not.

I'm also trying to figure out how to deal with a plagiarist. I know the mini-paper he submitted is not his work, but either it was done by someone he knows or it's a work for hire, as I can't prove the cheating. But it's manifestly evident: his logs and study question responses have been almost monosyllabic, whereas his paper dealt with a very sophisticated concept--and one we did not discuss in class. If I had hours to spend, I might be able to track down where he got the ideas, but I ran the paper through two different plagiarism detector systems and the only bits flagged by one of them were not enough to nail him on, and moreover, were not the stuff about Native literature, which is what I'm most concerned about. I left a note on his paper saying we need to talk and that his grade will be determined after our conversation, but I notice he didn't approach me after class to set up an appointment. If he knows he cheated and knows that's what I want to talk to him about, he may simply vanish rather than risk the confrontation--but if he wants a grade on that paper, he's going to have to see me.

I was pretty direct with another student who had written a tale told by an idiot rather than a paper: full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. At the end of class, he remarked that I am a tough grader (yep), but I'm pleased that he was smiling as he said it: I think he's going to appreciate the challenge. Another student is surely shocked by the amount of red on her paper; she still got an A-, but I'm certain she didn't expect any criticism at all, and she got quite a bit. Clearly the paper was still very good; I wavered on the A-/B+ borderline, but truly, in terms of ideas, it deserves the low A. I told her that I mostly intended for my comments to guide her next papers but that if she wants to revise and aim for the A+, I'm happy to help her get there. Since NCC doesn't officially give minus grades (which drives me bat shit), my giving her an A- is essentially meaningless; NCC also doesn't give A+ grades (plus grades for everything else, but not for A's), so in terms of her final grade, an A is an A is an A. But I want her to know that there are gradations in that range, as far as I'm concerned, at least.

Getting back to the sound and fury paper, I was encouraging about his potential: I told him I'm quite certain he can produce exactly the kind of paper the class requires; he just needs to understand what is expected. He's been allowed to get away with sentences that sound impressive but are empty of meaning--I don't understand why so many teachers are seduced by that kind of bilge, but apparently many are--but no more. As I said to him, "You are using this paper to air some philosophical concepts rather than to engage in careful literary analysis--which is your task in this class. The high-flown rhetoric does not adequately convey the actual points you want to make--it sounds impressive but is short on actual content--and it lacks specific textual support, which is an absolute requirement of academic writing." In fact, I copied his paper (which is why I can quote my own commentary verbatim), along with another student's paper, which received an honest C. (His got a generous D.) I'm contemplating extracting a few sentences from each--maybe even a full paragraph, or the entire paper (they are, after all, mini-papers)--and handing them out to my comp students with the query, "Which is better writing, and why?" It would be interesting to see if any of the comp students are capable of recognizing the problem of writing that is ornate but hollow.

But that's a thought for another time. Right now, I should be grinding through idea logs for tomorrow's classes, the homework I just collected from the Native American Lit students, getting the decks clear so I can start grading final versions of the first paper for the comp students--but, well, as you see, I'm not. (Fuck "should.") I got through the logs for the earlier section of 102 in a red-hot jiffy, because I've stopped commenting. By now, if they don't know why their logs aren't getting good marks, they need to come see me, as I've written it often enough. So I'm sure I can whip through the other set and maybe get a good whack at the homework for the lit students tomorrow during my (truncated) time in Advisement. And there is always Thursday morning. I do have to look at the assignment schedule to see how quickly I need to get the second mini-papers back to the lit students: they need them back before they have to do their first big paper, and I don't remember when that is. I don't need to be absolutely frantic to get papers back to the comp students, even though they'll start bugging me about them tomorrow, I'm sure. I'll aim for next Wednesday. As long as they have them well before the first versions of paper 2 are due, that's all that's important.

Mostly, I'm just hanging out until I have fulfilled my evening office hour obligation--and because I have to get to the vet's office before they close for the night, I'm going to have to bail a little early. (I'm sure I'll make up the time on other evenings; I'm here late most of the time anyway.) But I can't bring myself to do any more work. In addition to my difficulty with days of the week, I'm having a problem getting into a sleep pattern that it conducive to functioning throughout the length of my work days. I'm hoping if I start winding down now, although I'm still at the office, maybe I'll have a shot at getting more than 6 hours of sleep. I think better when I've gotten at least 7 hours: more is optimal. So, let the noodling begin.