Oh thank god

Fortunately, the good papers were really good--and the bad ones bad enough that I could basically just write "nope" on them and not try to explain much. (The papers in the middle are always the ones that are hardest to grade.) I finished marking the last one just in time to pack up and get to class--and I was so fried that I gave them a handout about the change to the assignment schedule (a chance to "review"--i.e., actually read--the chapters of An Unsuitable Job for a Woman that we were supposed to have already covered), a handout and some information about revision, returned their papers to them and cut them loose. I met with about five students who are in serious trouble: I truly don't think they can turn it around at this point, but I'm not going to tell them absolutely not. I may, however, take some time next week in both lit electives to make them go through the grade calculation sheets and figure out for themselves where they are and whether the basic math indicates any chance for them to make it.

Maybe. We'll see.

The SF class was the usual treat today. I was pretty sure I was going to cut them loose early, but the discussion was pretty lively, and we were getting into some good territory, I thought.

But I am so tired at this point I literally can barely see. I did the plagiarism checks for the two students in SF whose papers turned up as problematic: one truly did plagiarize, the other didn't (though he quoted too much). I changed the revision deadline on the Turnitin platform for the first paper revision for the SF class. I handled a little e-mail regarding the grade grievance thing, which is turning out to be more complicated than I expected, but hey.

And I have a great, huge plastic accordion file in my tote bag, filled with student assignments, which I'm taking home for the weekend. Heaven knows if I'll do anything with it or if it will simply act as an interesting perch for the cats for a few days until I bring it back to the office in exactly the same shape it was when I carried it out--but if I'm smart, I'll chip away at something in there. Oh, say, the papers for the SF class. Or the reading responses for the various classes--all three of them. Something. Anything.

Now, however, I'm going to put the mess of papers swirling around the computer back into various folders, put the folders into logical places (I hope), turn out the lights and drive carefully home.

I'm incredibly grateful to whatever gods may be that I got the M&D papers done and back to the students. I am also incredibly, spectacularly tired. I gotta go home.