Monday is a Thursday, so... where is everyone?

In my first 101 class today, five students were in attendance. They did pretty well, given the lack of energy that's given off just by having more bodies in the room, but it was a bit of a grind. Still, I didn't have high ambitions for the day, nor do I have much in the way of expectation for tomorrow, so I'm less discouraged than I might otherwise be.

The second section was, not surprisingly, better attended: only one student was absent, and she'd sent me an e-mail saying that she would be. (She seems to have the cold I'm still getting over, poor thing.) Still, not a lot of scintillating conversation, but having low expectations truly is helpful.

I did get most of their papers graded--except for the students who didn't submit their papers to Turnitin.com, or who didn't submit the first version with the final version. Somehow, they can't seem to understand that I can't evaluate revision unless I see both versions--and that everything needs to be uploaded to Turnitin. One wouldn't think it was all that complex, but apparently it's more than their pea brains can handle.

And--quelle surprise!--which section was missing the uploads and first versions? Yep, the first section. In the second section, some students did upload after the deadline--but still, they all managed to submit everything as required. It's the perpetual mystery of class chemistry and random luck (or lack thereof) of the draw.

After class, I met with my conversation partner (I use the term "conversation" very loosely, you understand) and I cleaned up some "absolutely must be done soon" work: finalizing the preference forms for fall 2015 faculty schedules so those are ready to distribute, evaluating a few adjunct applications and setting up potential appointment times. The office staff are now responsible for actually distributing the preference forms, and Bruce's assistant is responsible for setting up the actual appointments within the times I gave as when I'm available. I wrote an e-mail asking for a document I need for my promotion folder. I wrote an e-mail thanking someone for a document I need for my promotion folder. I wrote an e-mail to the Assistant Chair (not to be confused with my position as Assistant to the Chair for Evening Supervision): in the spring, he'll add my role to his, but I need to introduce him to the adjunct scheduling process, as he'll be doing that for summer (and aren't I glad I won't be).

Tomorrow, I need to meet--at long last--with the colleague I observed some time back, then mark as much student stuff as I can before the classes meet, and generally get things nailed down before the long holiday weekend. For which I can hardly wait.

But now, I'm getting out of here later than I had promised myself, so on this rather whirlwind note, I'll close out this post and return to the fray tomorrow.