Scrambled...

I've spent a good chunk of today reading and responding to discussion board posts for the online Nature in Lit. Interesting range of students, from the barely able to think to off the charts wow. I'm hoping like hell no one is plagiarizing, because that would be deeply discouraging--but so far, little random checks haven't turned anything up; it seems like the excellent thinking is genuine, not stolen.

Of course, I still have to try to drag students away from the comfortable pabulum of "this shows his/her appreciation for Mother Nature"--which actually says nothing of substance. (Neither does the remark that "this was a good read" or "the descriptions really let the reader picture things in his/her head.") But in this instance, I won't be alone in modeling a deeper, more interesting response to the readings, as several of the students are doing that on their own.

One young woman particularly stands out to me right now. She's very diligent, right on top of all the assignments--and although she's not spectacular in her ideas yet, she's absolutely doing exactly what I'd hope for: she's contributing substance to a discussion. I may have to let her know that sometimes other students get it wrong; she should be a little less willing to be swayed by what someone else sees in the readings. But still, she's taking in and mulling over what the other students say--and responding with intelligence. Good stuff.

Interestingly enough, however, I've had a hard time holding on to the fact that today is Sunday. I'm not sure why, but it seems to have something to do with getting my head deeply into the work. I'm also having a hard time keeping track of the time: I just realized how late it is--and that both the cat and I need to be fed. So this will be a truncated post. I may not have time for much tomorrow, either, but we'll see when we get there.