Clearing out the mental dust-bunnies

Paul and I were talking about how sometimes a certain amount of futzing--organizing paper-clips, as he put it--is necessary just to clear out enough brain space to attend to the stuff that requires more thought. The way my mind works, there are several levels of brain attention and organization, ranging from the organizing paper-clips level up to high-order thinking about pedagogic goals and how to elicit the kind of thinking (and academic product) I want.

Today, I was somewhere in the middle, though I confess that one of the things I did just a bit ago takes my ridiculous meticulousness to new heights (or depths, depending on point of view). For years I've created a version of the assignment schedule just for me, so I have a quick reminder of what I need to hand out on certain dates as well as what I need to collect. (Otherwise, not gonna happen, my friends.) Today, I made a little table for myself of dates and what handouts I would need on those dates (the first day of classes is really overwhelming, and I probably have to seriously rethink what the students can handle--though handing out everything I have certainly would reduce the enrollment in my classes rather drastically). I just spent some time getting the forms ready to send a number of things off to Printing and Publications, in the hope/faith that they can turn them around by the end of the first week of classes. What I have shouldn't be a problem--on their big machines, even the longest of the jobs would take mere minutes--unless there are 5,000 other jobs from other professors (and various campus entities) lined up before mine. But the good people in Printing have always managed to get things to me super-fast, so... as I said, hope/faith. All I need is to ask Cathy whether I should forge her signature (or have one of the office staff sign for her or what), then send off the forms tomorrow.

I did a humongous load of copying today myself (emptied out the copier of paper twice--though I wasn't the only one using it, I hasten to say). I think I have all the first-day handouts for the 101s ready to put into the appropriate folders (the big, plastic accordion folders I use for class materials). I was very confident in how many copies I would need because (drum roll) both my sections of 101 are filled to capacity. Ka-boom.

I'll hold off on copying anything for SF until next week, when I see whether the numbers come up a little further. Right now, it's still at twelve--which is enough that it will run, but I expect a few more will enter the class, either because they're registering late or because something else got canceled and they need a Plan B.

Meanwhile, Cathy found someone to teach the one class we didn't have covered--and found not only a room but an instructor so we can open a new section of 100 (on the request of our dean). Paul was pissed off about us having to open new sections of things, as two electives were canceled under his feet, but I explained that what we're opening are comps, not electives: we're still canceling electives. Why the imbalance? Could be multiple factors, but the simple fact is, we do need more seats for the lower-level comps and fewer for each level above them (the departmental equivalent of a trophic chain).

Shifting gears--but tangentially connected, through the specific needs of the students in remedial or first-semester credit bearing comps: I had a brain flash earlier that came from the memory that, when teaching 101s, I invariably have to explain that when the assignment schedule says something is due, that means the student needs to walk in the door having done it, not that the student will begin the assignment on that date. And I suddenly thought, "Right! These are kids who haven't learned that there is a significant difference between the homophones 'do' and 'due.'" They often use one when they mean the other, clearly seeing them as interchangeable--so are they supposed to "do" something on x date or is it "due"? Opacity reigns. I hope I remember (twice: once for each section) to point out the difference between the words....

(Oh, and that reminds me: I need to add the "Static" handout to the list of things I need to provide. For those of you who may have missed the explanation--or have forgotten (and who could blame you?)--"static" is my word for the little, stupid but weirdly important errors that haven't mattered in the past but will now. They're what Paul calls "grave" errors (pun intended); I used to call them "bozo" errors--and have a lovely stamp that Paul had made for me, to save time marking them--but too many students believed that they personally were being called bozos, rather than believing that the error was bozonic. (I don't take specific points off for those errors any more, either: lots of them just lead to a general down-grade.) Paul and I have selected different errors to go on our personal lists (he's not driven as bonkers by homophone misuse as I am; I'm not driven as bonkers by incorrect use of block-format quotation as he is), but the principle is the same.)

Shifting gears yet again: I'll be back in tomorrow, doing more organizing and sorting out of what needs to be copied, and so on and so forth, so I'm going to wrap things up for tonight and toddle off. I was slated to meet the Timid Intellectual for dinner tonight--we've meant to get together all summer, and we rescheduled to next week (I want to hear more about her life at Amherst and the friends she's made in Massachusetts)--but now I have the evening to do whatever I want. Or whatever I feel is important in my non-work life. (Go straight home to practice fiddle and feed the cat? Or take myself out for dinner--maybe even a drink?) I'll figure that out as I pack up my little bags and waddle out to the car. And believe it or not, tomorrow will, in fact, be another day. Maybe everything will be easier to think about because I'll be stronger? We'll see.