I could sort of do this indefinitely

I know some of what I'm doing may be wasted effort, depending on what runs and what doesn't, but I find that fussing around with the schedules (formatting mostly) and getting the grade trackers ready (I'll explain those in a minute) and translating things to PDF to be posted and so on and so on can go on for quite some time.

I made the executive decision to bail on my Friday afternoon things and instead made sure I have at least the bones of the online Nature in Lit set: all the dates have been altered (gawd I hope) and the discussion boards are attached where they should be (and last semester's responses deleted--I hope), and generally, apart from the instructional videos that I will make starting next week, I think everything is pretty much ready to go.

As is always the case, I ended up moving things around as I proofread and retyped the schedules--for both lit electives. And I decided to add a few extra credit assignments to the Native American Lit schedule; almost all the extra credit options were before the first essay is due (mostly critical material that in the past I've assigned but that I'm making optional this time around), and I decided I should give students a chance to make up some ground between the first and second essays as well. After essay two, no more extra credit is available. By that point, it's pretty much sink or swim. I get very annoyed by students who suddenly decide in the last weeks of the semester to grub for points. As one of my colleagues has been known to point out, at that juncture, the student's only real option is to get in her or his time machine, go back to the start of the semester, and do better work all the way through.

As for that "grade tracker" thing: this is one of my hyper-organized deals that I find students actually (mostly) really love. I grant that the first two pages pretty much are a blur to them (too much information), but since their grade is determined by points earned, it's a way for them to record the points they're earning as they go along, add them up, and see how they're doing. (I include information about the maximum points possible--which is always higher than needed to get a perfect A++--and what the approximate minimum is to be passing at every step along the way.) Of course, the students who need it most are the ones least likely to use it, but that's true of absolutely every aid and kind of support we offer. You can lead a student to learning, but you can't make him (or her) think.

I'm also starting to organize the heaps of paper and books on my floor around the computer--including a pile that very shortly will be carried to the recycle bin. That feels good.

Part of why I made the executive decision today that I did is that I know I won't really have any time to work on this until I'm back on campus daily, working with Cathy on scheduling. Given how few unassigned courses we have, that may not take very long--though the perpetually moving target is always fun. And I know I might have been drumming up more business for my under-enrolled courses if I'd gotten my fanny to Advisement any time in the past few weeks, but, well, I didn't. And I'm not going to before I have to be there on Thursday to learn how to do those instructional videos (and, better yet, to meet with Kristin for lunch/coffee/something).

But it's getting late, and I still have to make a dash to the grocery store before I take care of feeding the two mammals who live in this apartment. And yes, it will be good to get out of the apartment. I've completely forgotten the past few days to set a timer to get myself up and moving, and my poor, creaky body is practically frozen in "nailed to the computer" posture. So, off I go. More, well, whenever, I reckon....