Well, that was moderately painful...

This was one of those "wake up at 4 a.m. with a migraine and be unable to go back to sleep" mornings that are always so delightful. I gave up the fight with sleep at 5 and started marking assignments instead--which turned out to be a good thing, as otherwise, I probably wouldn't have been able to finish them and get them back to the students today. I barely got everything marked and back before the end of the class session--and I had to keep the 102 students hanging around for a bit while I quickly recorded their marks before returning their homework to them.

But now, I only have assignments that I collected this week still waiting to be addressed, nothing holding over from before. That's not quite having clear decks, but it's about as close as it's going to get until the semester is over, is my hunch.

Given the no sleep/migraine thing, I bailed on today's department meeting; I marked stuff until about 10 (with a break for breakfast in there somewhere), then took a brief nap, then got up, showered, and got to work in time to gather up what I needed for class and get across campus on time.

A bunch of students were late; between the "Tuesday is a Monday" thing and our shifting classrooms (first from one building to another, but even now Tuesdays in one room and Thursdays in another), we're all losing track of where we're supposed to be. I was not entirely happy that five students had not done the reading, but I just followed my new protocol: if you've not done the reading, you sit in the back of the class. While the groups are working, you can read what you should have read before class; when the whole class starts talking, you can listen and take notes--but not say anything. It worked OK. They had read "Ile Forest," which can be challenging sometimes, but I'm very happy that the majority of them got it without struggle (though two students missed a pretty important--and I think glaringly obvious--plot point). As a class, they're still a bit hesitant to speak up when we shift from small groups to class as a whole, but they're great about paying attention--and taking notes.

Two students were there today who I haven't seen in a while (one has only been in class once so far) and another student whose attendance has been spotty and who has yet to submit much in the way of work. I read them a very toned down version of the riot act. The "good grade" ship may already be vanishing over the horizon, but if they have any hope of getting on board, now's the time. I don't have high hopes for any of them, though at least one seems to have the chops to do well, if he'd just knuckle down and do it. But that's often the way of it: bright students don't do the work, trying to sail along on their innate brightness. (I say that as one who did far too much of that through high school and my under-grad years.) Well, we'll see how it all shakes out.

The 101 class today was a bit of a bust. The librarian running the information session was, for reasons I do not understand, focusing on No Child Left Behind, not Common Core. I just sent them an email apologizing and explaining why I didn't correct the librarian but also stating that the processes and procedures he showed can work for any topic. I also thanked a few of them (though not individually): In order to see who is checking email, I'd given them the opportunity to get two points extra credit if they wrote the word "swordfish" on their self-evaluations. Two of them managed in delightful ways to actually incorporate it into their self-evaluations. The first one did it so seamlessly that I didn't even notice until I saw the second one do it. What a delightful way for them to take something pretty boring and do something more fun with it. Really, they have the possibility to shape into a wonderful class, if we can keep this chemistry going.

So, I got back to my office and started taking care of little bits and orts that I'm afraid I might forget (putting together conference sign in sheets, that sort of thing), but I realize I need a few hours in which to simply sit in the office and slowly, carefully look at what's coming up in my classes, on my calendar, and so on, and make sure I have a sense of what needs to be done and when. Right now, I'm not even doing as well as the White Queen in Alice. I'm running as fast as I can, but I think I may well still be falling behind. Nevertheless, I did get the P&B minutes written up and sent out for email vetting prior to next week's meeting. And I am about to pack up work to take home: I hate doing work at home over the weekend, but this semester, with three sections of comp, if I don't, I'll drown. It isn't much, and I really shouldn't resent it as I do, so I'll pack it up with no further whining.

And I think--I think--with that I can sign off and head for the hills. That's three weeks down, thirteen to go. If I'm doing the math right, I meet with each class 25 more times. (I've met each class five times; we meet 30 times in a semester.) Something like that. Anyway, the roller-coaster is still clanking its way up that high incline, but the time will come when it races so quickly I won't know what happened.