Files still unfiled

Well, not an unproductive afternoon, but a brief one--and my huge stack of unfiled stuff is still the chaotic mess it was when I walked in the door.

Instead of dealing with that here's what transpired:

1. I read and marked assignments from the student in the SF class who was fulfilling his incomplete. I could pick nits with his final essay, but it was in many ways very good indeed, and generally a pleasure to read. He didn't knock the top off, but he earned the equivalent of an A- in points, which brought his final grade for the class to a B. If he hadn't experienced the crisis he went through mid-semester, I'm betting he could have gotten better, possibly even an A. He's slowly dragging himself out of an academic hole; he was on academic probation for a while there, but his grades are improving, and he doesn't have much left to finish his degree. I hope he considers taking one of my lit electives in the fall, not only because I need more people enrolled but also because he is intelligent and interested. Of course, I also wouldn't blame him in the least if he decided he'd rather do something less challenging to fulfill his general electives (which is the only place another lit class could go in his degree requirements). We'll see.

2. I exchanged emails from a student from the 101 class who wrote last week to ask why I "gave" him an F. (I leave you to imagine what that did to my blood pressure.) This is a student who made it absolutely clear throughout the entire semester that he could not give a teeny tiny shit about the class and was doing the absolute minimum he could get away with. He completely missed submitting the first version of his second essay, and I accepted his final essay despite the fact that he uploaded it to Turnitin late (which my policy says is verboten). I pointed out the bit about having accepted his final essay even though the policy states it shouldn't be accepted--and he wrote back saying, "Fair enough, but I should point out that only the Turnitin part was late." I responded with a quotation from the assignment sheet: "To be considered on time, the Final Version must be submitted in hard copy in class and uploaded to TurnItIn by 11:59 p.m. on the due date."

Well, he graciously accepted that as the final word, saying that the F would delay his progress but thanking me for the learning experience. I'm pretty sure I heard the effort at respect there, but I responded, praising his graciousness and good attitude about what happened. I also told him he has the skills to do well, and I hope he can actually apply those skills in the future.

He's an absolute textbook case of something Paul and I have discussed repeatedly but have yet to figure out a good way to address: this student thought he was trying hard--but he has absolutely no clue what it really means to try hard. Students really, genuinely believe that if they feel any kind of struggle with their first attempt at something, they have tried their best--and don't recognize that continued, repeated attempts and struggle are required to really do one's best. I wish I could demonstrate that to them in some wonderful, concrete way that they'd understand, but ... well, that's something to think about.

3. I met with the other student who is fulfilling an incomplete, this one a young woman from the 101. She'd done the first version of her essay, which I marked on Sunday. Today was the conference that would have been mandatory if she'd been doing the process with the rest of the class. (She's finishing up the second essay, actually, not the final one.) Again, she's intelligent and interested--and interesting--so the meeting was a pleasure, though I can't say I'm actually thrilled at the thought that I am still not finished grading, as she has yet to submit the final version with all the attendant pieces (revision plan, editing review, articles with annotations and expanded notes, final version). She'll drop that off for me late next week; I'll look at it when I come in on Monday the 25th--when I have to be here anyway to make sure everything is set for the Summer 2 session, as Cathy will be away and out of communication at that point (and good for her!).

4. When I was digging through the box of student assignments (where I toss things in case I need to revisit final essays or grades after the semester is finished), I happened to notice a bit of P&B business that had gotten literally lost in the shuffle: a colleague had submitted qualifications to teach specific upper-level courses, and those qualifications needed to be approved. So, I did that--it took all of about two minutes--and I also fulfilled the "member of P&B" function of signing Cathy's faculty Year-End Evaluation (which we all have to do every other year).

So, various missions accomplished. It's still very early in the day, relatively speaking, so could I stay and get more work done? Sure. Will I? Nope. I know I'll be frantic later in the summer, trying to get ready for fall and trying to clear up from spring, but ... well, procrastination is a wonderful thing, isn't it. I'll think of that later.... (And she flounces off homeward in her large hoop-skirt.)