So, the first glitch was that the computer in the office has once again decided to delete the Adobe Pro software that I not only pay for but have reinstalled several times. I let our departmental IT person know about the annoying hiccup, and she'll try to get it fixed, but meanwhile, I was unable to save the Word documents with my comments in such a way that 1. Students with no access to Word could still open them, 2. Students with access to Word couldn't change them, and 3. The comments actually showed. I was mostly concerned about the student whose conference was scheduled today, and--as a very clunky bandaid over the problem--I uploaded his essay to Google Docs and tried to share it that way (though the formatting and comments got pretty wonky when I did) and I also sent him the Word file, knowing he might not have access to Word.
I knew I'd have to convert the rest of the essays with comments from home, so I wanted to get home as early as possible, and, since I was not in Advisement, I could leave as soon as I saw this one student. But his appointment wasn't until 5. I let him know about the technical SNAFU, and asked if he could move his appointment earlier today. I didn't get his reply until about 3:30, but he asked if he could reschedule to tomorrow. I had an appointment time that would work for him, so ... hooray on that score. I quickly put everything on a thumb drive and scampered home to continue working.
So, I churned through the essays (whether I was making any kind of sense is an open question (but it wasn't as painful to try as it would have been last night), finishing the comments, saving as PDF, emailing to each student. At last, I finished commenting on the last of the essays and was all set to send it--and something had gone down in terms of the college email: I don't know if it was a problem with Outlook or with the Portal or what, but I tried several times to get the attachment to attach and it just wouldn't. Then I got a message that the entire page--i.e., my work email--couldn't load. As I've been writing this paragraph, I've bounced over to the email page several times and finally--two minutes ago--I managed to get the damned thing attached and the email sent.
And man am I ever stick-a-fork-in-me done. I started the day with yet another headache (not a trend I'm liking very well, I confess), and although it left me sooner (and without as serious a case of the stupids), I am just completely whipped. Fortunately, however, I am already at home and, figuratively speaking, in my bunny slippers. I won't exactly belly-flop into my landing for the night, but I am hoping for a very, very fast glide.
And tomorrow ... etc. etc.
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Tuesday, October 30, 2018
I have to/I can't
Another rough day: headachy all day (really, not just trying to bail on responsibilities), not enough sleep, the usual plaints. I just barely managed to get everything marked for today's class (had to finish up during class), and although all day I was telling myself I "had" to grade the essay for the one student who is coming to a conference tomorrow, by the time I finished class, I realized that I "can't." That's in scare quotes because I could, of course, if absolutely necessary--but it isn't absolutely necessary, and I know whatever I managed to do tonight would be ill-considered and badly expressed. (My head is not actively hurting at the moment, but I have the usual serious case of the stupids that follows in the wake of the hurt.) Rather than put myself through the effort for a less than optimal result, I emailed the student and told him his essay will be available tomorrow before noon--and since his appointment isn't until after 4, I hope that will allow him a chance to print and review it prior to our conference.
And I already know--actual headache or feigned--I will have to bail on my Advisement time tomorrow. I have to get the rest of the essays graded for 102. Really, truly do have to--and I don't see how I can otherwise. So, that will be the work of the afternoon.
I collected homework from both 101s, but I just marked who submitted, as some students will want the reading (and their "notes," paltry as those are) back before they have to write their essays, and some of them actually plan to write their essays, or at least start them, this weekend. Cool beans.
But I did have to give a bit of the same lecture to today's class that I did to yesterday's, about the fact that the information on quizzes isn't some strange, self-contained information that only applies to the quiz: it's actually something that has direct bearing on their writing. And that simply summarizing what they read is not sufficient; they need to find a way to engage with the material. I know I was particularly cranky because of my physical condition, but I found myself writing on one student's homework, "THINK." (In fact, I wrote it twice.) They come up with the most idiotic stuff--like, "if farmers aren't making enough money they should just find another job" or "farmers shouldn't care what other people think, they should just grow what they want."
I can't even begin to talk about what's wrong with both of those statements, but I think they could be used as excellent illustrations of what is meant by "inane," or perhaps "witless."
I also snapped at a young woman today who had her phone out--again. This was at least the fourth time this semester that I've had to say something to her about it, which I pointed out to her, and when she said, "sorry," I said, "'Sorry' doesn't really cut it with me any more." The entire class went silent. I said, "You can keep talking in your groups." More silence. Me: "Oooooo, she's mad." A little nervous laughter. Me: "I'll sing until you feel comfortable talking again." They did start talking--and one student who had been out of the room during the whole episode walked in at that point, and the girl at whom I had snapped said, "You shoulda been here for that" and explained. I realized, in her reaction, that she figured she'd gotten away with it by being cutsie. Well, if I see it again, I'm tossing her out of the class--just for the day, but still: out. Leave. Vamoose. Not having it.
If I were Paul, I'd have been ferocious and tossing students out from day one. I haven't wanted to fight that fight, but ... I kinda wish I had, because it really is completely annoying. Am I boring you? I am? Tough shit.
Yeah. Patience is running very, very, very thin at this point. Breathe, Prof. P: breathe.
In any event, I really, really need to get home. I had intended to be out of here about an hour ago, but I spent a very pleasant time talking with Paul, and that's worth a later departure. Still, home. Now. More tomorrow.
And I already know--actual headache or feigned--I will have to bail on my Advisement time tomorrow. I have to get the rest of the essays graded for 102. Really, truly do have to--and I don't see how I can otherwise. So, that will be the work of the afternoon.
I collected homework from both 101s, but I just marked who submitted, as some students will want the reading (and their "notes," paltry as those are) back before they have to write their essays, and some of them actually plan to write their essays, or at least start them, this weekend. Cool beans.
But I did have to give a bit of the same lecture to today's class that I did to yesterday's, about the fact that the information on quizzes isn't some strange, self-contained information that only applies to the quiz: it's actually something that has direct bearing on their writing. And that simply summarizing what they read is not sufficient; they need to find a way to engage with the material. I know I was particularly cranky because of my physical condition, but I found myself writing on one student's homework, "THINK." (In fact, I wrote it twice.) They come up with the most idiotic stuff--like, "if farmers aren't making enough money they should just find another job" or "farmers shouldn't care what other people think, they should just grow what they want."
I can't even begin to talk about what's wrong with both of those statements, but I think they could be used as excellent illustrations of what is meant by "inane," or perhaps "witless."
I also snapped at a young woman today who had her phone out--again. This was at least the fourth time this semester that I've had to say something to her about it, which I pointed out to her, and when she said, "sorry," I said, "'Sorry' doesn't really cut it with me any more." The entire class went silent. I said, "You can keep talking in your groups." More silence. Me: "Oooooo, she's mad." A little nervous laughter. Me: "I'll sing until you feel comfortable talking again." They did start talking--and one student who had been out of the room during the whole episode walked in at that point, and the girl at whom I had snapped said, "You shoulda been here for that" and explained. I realized, in her reaction, that she figured she'd gotten away with it by being cutsie. Well, if I see it again, I'm tossing her out of the class--just for the day, but still: out. Leave. Vamoose. Not having it.
If I were Paul, I'd have been ferocious and tossing students out from day one. I haven't wanted to fight that fight, but ... I kinda wish I had, because it really is completely annoying. Am I boring you? I am? Tough shit.
Yeah. Patience is running very, very, very thin at this point. Breathe, Prof. P: breathe.
In any event, I really, really need to get home. I had intended to be out of here about an hour ago, but I spent a very pleasant time talking with Paul, and that's worth a later departure. Still, home. Now. More tomorrow.
Monday, October 29, 2018
Early "end" to the day--and a pleasant one
Just had a lovely talk with the Young Philosopher from last year's SF class. He is deeply interested in Taoism and in developing the deeper levels of spirit and intellect, so of course he's a pleasure to talk with--though actually, it's more me talking "to" him than with him: I pontificate; he listens attentively. He's an interesting young man; he is very pragmatic about how he lives his life, finding good ways to make money--and also working to make the best of his life in all situations. For instance, he said he was really struggling with his math class, but that he knows it's his job to find a way to make it work for him; he can't say he doesn't like the class, only that it's hard for him to make sense of. He seems to be a very devoted friend, too; he told me a little about a close friend who has various problems and that he has to try to find ways not to get too caught up in his own reactions to the point that he creates problems for himself. So we talked some about that kind of thing. To my delight, he uses some of the Breath-Body-Mind stuff I taught him when he needs to energize. He also was completely delighted with a little gift I gave him: the original Winnie the Pooh books (the stories and the poems), plus Le Guin's "interpretation" of the Tao Te Ching. (She worked in concert with a scholar who could tell her whether her word choices were accurate as translations, though she read no Chinese herself.) The Young Philosopher wants to come back next week to my office hour. Fine by me.
Seeing him helped clear the bad taste in my mouth from today's 101. As you may recall, I briefly thought they might be pulling together as a class, but ... alas, no. Their notes on their readings have devolved into mere summary--even from the best students--and they display astounding ignorance about the agriculture/environment/health nexus. (No, spraying pesticides does not turn the crop into GMO.) They very diligently took notes while I explained some of the errors of fact, but when it came time to talk about the reading, although they did a little discussing in their groups (and best among them was the student I thought had vanished), once I turned things over to the class as a whole, there was a whole lotta silence. (Maybe I should bring in a soundtrack of crickets to play in those moments.) Compared to the wild and woolly discussion I had with the other 101 last Thursday, a bunch of tree stumps would be as lively as today's class.
I didn't say much about that discussion last Thursday, but it was great. We ended up in all sorts of tangential topics (subsidies, political policy, I can't even remember what all), and they were all but jumping out of their seats. I do have to talk to both groups about conspiracy theories and "Them"--whoever "they" are. Students need to understand that "the government" doesn't somehow make money from what farmers do (except in taxes), despite the financial influence of the agrichemical lobby on individual politicians--or the fact that representatives of the big corporations frequently end up in positions with the cabinet or as government advisers.
In any event, I'm posting early because I'm leaving early. There is a reading of Le Guin's final book of poetry in the City tonight, and I'm meeting a friend there to celebrate the production of the book (which I backed, financially). I have work in my backpack to grind through on the train in (I know I'll be too tired to do any work on the train home, though in a moment of wild optimism, I packed the novel I'll be teaching in the 102 in a little while). I caught a bit of a break about the sabbatical applications: none of them were in the cabinet when I went to take a look at them, so ... well, I'll try to respond later in the week, giving some feedback to the mentors. There are only three of them, I think, maybe four. I'll also have to start reviewing promotion applications soon, but that's a worry for another moment. The work flow keeps getting obstructed because I have so much backlog to clear--but I got a wodge of stuff returned to today's 101, and if I accomplish what I hope to on the train tonight, I'll be able to return a similar wodge to tomorrow's 101. When I'll grade the rest of the 102 essays is as yet an open question; I may have one hell of a Wednesday in front of me. Ah well. I fall back on the mantra of "we'll see" and the wisdom of "I'll think about that tomorrow."
Seeing him helped clear the bad taste in my mouth from today's 101. As you may recall, I briefly thought they might be pulling together as a class, but ... alas, no. Their notes on their readings have devolved into mere summary--even from the best students--and they display astounding ignorance about the agriculture/environment/health nexus. (No, spraying pesticides does not turn the crop into GMO.) They very diligently took notes while I explained some of the errors of fact, but when it came time to talk about the reading, although they did a little discussing in their groups (and best among them was the student I thought had vanished), once I turned things over to the class as a whole, there was a whole lotta silence. (Maybe I should bring in a soundtrack of crickets to play in those moments.) Compared to the wild and woolly discussion I had with the other 101 last Thursday, a bunch of tree stumps would be as lively as today's class.
I didn't say much about that discussion last Thursday, but it was great. We ended up in all sorts of tangential topics (subsidies, political policy, I can't even remember what all), and they were all but jumping out of their seats. I do have to talk to both groups about conspiracy theories and "Them"--whoever "they" are. Students need to understand that "the government" doesn't somehow make money from what farmers do (except in taxes), despite the financial influence of the agrichemical lobby on individual politicians--or the fact that representatives of the big corporations frequently end up in positions with the cabinet or as government advisers.
In any event, I'm posting early because I'm leaving early. There is a reading of Le Guin's final book of poetry in the City tonight, and I'm meeting a friend there to celebrate the production of the book (which I backed, financially). I have work in my backpack to grind through on the train in (I know I'll be too tired to do any work on the train home, though in a moment of wild optimism, I packed the novel I'll be teaching in the 102 in a little while). I caught a bit of a break about the sabbatical applications: none of them were in the cabinet when I went to take a look at them, so ... well, I'll try to respond later in the week, giving some feedback to the mentors. There are only three of them, I think, maybe four. I'll also have to start reviewing promotion applications soon, but that's a worry for another moment. The work flow keeps getting obstructed because I have so much backlog to clear--but I got a wodge of stuff returned to today's 101, and if I accomplish what I hope to on the train tonight, I'll be able to return a similar wodge to tomorrow's 101. When I'll grade the rest of the 102 essays is as yet an open question; I may have one hell of a Wednesday in front of me. Ah well. I fall back on the mantra of "we'll see" and the wisdom of "I'll think about that tomorrow."
Sunday, October 28, 2018
Man, when I hit the wall...
Today, the decision was to spend time talking with my sister (which I haven't done in far too long) instead of getting going on the school work as early as I would have otherwise. So of course, I didn't get done what I planned (why do I even bother to plan?), and it does mean that I'm juggling the triage list again, wondering what I will manage to get done in Advisement tomorrow morning--and knowing that I won't have my usual big chunk of time on Monday in which to just put my head down and work, as I have a student coming during my office hours (a student from last semester's SF class; I can't remember what I called him--maybe the Budding Philosopher?--but he's a favorite, and we've missed each other a couple of times already), and then I'm leaving early to go listen to a reading of Le Guin's last book of poetry. I can maybe get a little work done on the train--but not grading 102 essays. Still, I'm set for Tuesday already; the one student who was going to submit late did--and he submitted 1-1/2 pages, so ... well, not really much of a submission but enough for me to respond to in a hurry. My primary task in Advisement in the morning will be to get the stuff for tomorrow's 101 finished up; I'm close, and I really hoped I could gut it out and get the rest done, but I just tried to look at one more and my brain very clearly said, "Nope. Not doing it." When I hit that wall, I hit it hard--and then there's just nothing to be done about it. Same thing happened when I thought about working on the one essay I have to mark for Wednesday's 102 conference. Just at the thought, I felt that huge, absolute "Nope." OK, ok, ok. I give in.
When will I get to evaluate sabbatical applications? Who knows. Probably not before P&B on Tuesday. When will I get the 101 revisions graded? Probably starting Wednesday afternoon but I won't get them done until over the weekend. Dammit. But oh well
So, having hit the wall with a resounding thud, I am now going to turn my attention to doing a little more of the bugger all nothing that I so often do. I'm not even going to express any hopes about what I might do in order to squeeze a little more work out of tomorrow, as they'll almost certainly misguided--and I'd rather pleasantly surprise myself than once again find myself saying, "Well, I didn't do that."
I can't even squeeze out an interesting ending to this post, so....
When will I get to evaluate sabbatical applications? Who knows. Probably not before P&B on Tuesday. When will I get the 101 revisions graded? Probably starting Wednesday afternoon but I won't get them done until over the weekend. Dammit. But oh well
So, having hit the wall with a resounding thud, I am now going to turn my attention to doing a little more of the bugger all nothing that I so often do. I'm not even going to express any hopes about what I might do in order to squeeze a little more work out of tomorrow, as they'll almost certainly misguided--and I'd rather pleasantly surprise myself than once again find myself saying, "Well, I didn't do that."
I can't even squeeze out an interesting ending to this post, so....
Saturday, October 27, 2018
Those dratted mouse plans...
I got started late, of course. I didn't get as much marked as I'd hoped, of course. I'm telling myself it will be OK, of course. It will, but I'll be paying for it all in crunch during the next week.
I also took my birthday off, dammit: I didn't do any work at all. And could I keep working today? Yes--but only at the expense of some wind-down time, which I seem to need even more of than used to be the case.
I have caught a teeny bit of a break--and I'm sorry to view it that way, as it's actually a shame. A student plagiarized, which means I didn't have to read or respond to his essay. I wrote up the plagiarism letter, attached the copy of the plagiarism report, and sent it off.
Two students also haven't submitted essays. One still may, but even if they both do, I am under no obligation to provide any comments; that's clearly spelled out in my late paper policy. I'll give overall feedback but not the in-depth, marginal comments I usually provide.
One of those missing essays is for a student who has a conference scheduled with me for Tuesday, but still: that's Tuesday, not Monday. I have a little time. One student moved her appointment from Wednesday to Thursday. So, the current tally is one (still not received) to mark for Tuesday, one to mark for Wednesday, and--assuming the other AWOL essay does not arrive, eight for Thursday.
With all that in mind, I think tomorrow I will turn my attention to the homework and reflection essays for the M/W 101. If I get them all done and still have time/energy to do more grading, I'll embark on the next batch of 102 essays. I know I still have all the final versions of essays for the 101s to fit in there somewhere, and the longer I protract the process of responding to the 102 essays, the more that can gets kicked down the road, but ... well, since the plan went the way of those mouse plans, I will once again adopt the Scarlett O'Hara philosophy. For tonight, I'm stick-a-fork-in-me done.
I also took my birthday off, dammit: I didn't do any work at all. And could I keep working today? Yes--but only at the expense of some wind-down time, which I seem to need even more of than used to be the case.
I have caught a teeny bit of a break--and I'm sorry to view it that way, as it's actually a shame. A student plagiarized, which means I didn't have to read or respond to his essay. I wrote up the plagiarism letter, attached the copy of the plagiarism report, and sent it off.
Two students also haven't submitted essays. One still may, but even if they both do, I am under no obligation to provide any comments; that's clearly spelled out in my late paper policy. I'll give overall feedback but not the in-depth, marginal comments I usually provide.
One of those missing essays is for a student who has a conference scheduled with me for Tuesday, but still: that's Tuesday, not Monday. I have a little time. One student moved her appointment from Wednesday to Thursday. So, the current tally is one (still not received) to mark for Tuesday, one to mark for Wednesday, and--assuming the other AWOL essay does not arrive, eight for Thursday.
With all that in mind, I think tomorrow I will turn my attention to the homework and reflection essays for the M/W 101. If I get them all done and still have time/energy to do more grading, I'll embark on the next batch of 102 essays. I know I still have all the final versions of essays for the 101s to fit in there somewhere, and the longer I protract the process of responding to the 102 essays, the more that can gets kicked down the road, but ... well, since the plan went the way of those mouse plans, I will once again adopt the Scarlett O'Hara philosophy. For tonight, I'm stick-a-fork-in-me done.
Thursday, October 25, 2018
Whew
Yes, I am swamped with grading to do: essays for the 102, enormous piles of homework for the 101s. I did get some marking done in Advisement this morning, which reduced the stack slightly--but then, of course, I collected more work from today's class, so no net gain their.
However, I am thrilled to bits that most of the conferences I will have with the students in 102 are scheduled on Thursday: four on Tuesday, two on Wednesday, nine on Thursday. Getting ready for Thursday will be a push, for sure, but I will be able to spend some time this weekend grinding through the work for the 101s. I at very least need to return their reflection essays to them; if I can get everything marked and back, that would be a bonus. I'm not counting on it, but it's a hope, for sure--in large measure because I will need time on Monday to review sabbatical applications (or I will be the very, very, very bad member of the committee--again--who doesn't do that part of her job).
I thought I would probably have to save for Monday the observation write up as well--but I just managed to hammer it out (and cheat the spacing enough to squeeze it onto two pages). It may be marginally incomprehensible, but ... it's done. That's cause for a large sigh of relief.
I haven't had time, however, to start on the Academic Progress reports that I am required to submit. There's no specific date by which we need to do those, but they do need to be done. Of course, the students who really need to know where they stand with the reports are the ones who are least likely to check, but ... I'll have tried, at least. The main thing is to remind those who are AWOL that they do need to officially withdraw or face a negative impact to their GPA. Well, the opportunity will present itself.
Speaking of GPAs reminds me of a student I saw in Advisement today. I almost called him "the" student I saw. I think I saw one other student, but this young man sat with me for an hour. If there had been a long line of students needing to see someone, I'd have pulled a Paul and simply said, "Nope. That's your responsibility. Here's what you get. Now go away" (though the last is always said in much more gentle language and with a smile. However, it felt like it would be a harder fight to get rid of him than to help him more than I normally would, so ... I worked with him. I did get annoyed when he kept asking me which of the many options I would recommend ("How would I know? I don't know you or your brain or what your interests are.") or which class was easiest ("First, don't ask professors that, as college isn't supposed to be easy. But second, again, how would I know? What's easy for me might not be easy for you and vice versa.") His two main objectives were 1. raise his GPA as much as possible and 2. Get to graduation as quickly as possible. I tried pointing out to him several times that those might be mutually exclusive goals, but he didn't want to hear it, so we evaluated several if/then scenarios and came up with a plan that would get him his degree by next August. (He really wanted it to be May, but he had too many credits to fulfill.) It was all just on the edge of annoying the fuck out of me, but he managed to skirt that edge just well enough (or I managed to drum up some patience and compassion from somewhere.)
For now, I have everything I need to schlep home for the weekend already in a tote bag; I have the folder for the Monday 101 in my wheelie pack, ready to grab and go on Monday morning; I think I'm about as together as I'm going to get. Eight weeks down; eight weeks to go
However, I am thrilled to bits that most of the conferences I will have with the students in 102 are scheduled on Thursday: four on Tuesday, two on Wednesday, nine on Thursday. Getting ready for Thursday will be a push, for sure, but I will be able to spend some time this weekend grinding through the work for the 101s. I at very least need to return their reflection essays to them; if I can get everything marked and back, that would be a bonus. I'm not counting on it, but it's a hope, for sure--in large measure because I will need time on Monday to review sabbatical applications (or I will be the very, very, very bad member of the committee--again--who doesn't do that part of her job).
I thought I would probably have to save for Monday the observation write up as well--but I just managed to hammer it out (and cheat the spacing enough to squeeze it onto two pages). It may be marginally incomprehensible, but ... it's done. That's cause for a large sigh of relief.
I haven't had time, however, to start on the Academic Progress reports that I am required to submit. There's no specific date by which we need to do those, but they do need to be done. Of course, the students who really need to know where they stand with the reports are the ones who are least likely to check, but ... I'll have tried, at least. The main thing is to remind those who are AWOL that they do need to officially withdraw or face a negative impact to their GPA. Well, the opportunity will present itself.
Speaking of GPAs reminds me of a student I saw in Advisement today. I almost called him "the" student I saw. I think I saw one other student, but this young man sat with me for an hour. If there had been a long line of students needing to see someone, I'd have pulled a Paul and simply said, "Nope. That's your responsibility. Here's what you get. Now go away" (though the last is always said in much more gentle language and with a smile. However, it felt like it would be a harder fight to get rid of him than to help him more than I normally would, so ... I worked with him. I did get annoyed when he kept asking me which of the many options I would recommend ("How would I know? I don't know you or your brain or what your interests are.") or which class was easiest ("First, don't ask professors that, as college isn't supposed to be easy. But second, again, how would I know? What's easy for me might not be easy for you and vice versa.") His two main objectives were 1. raise his GPA as much as possible and 2. Get to graduation as quickly as possible. I tried pointing out to him several times that those might be mutually exclusive goals, but he didn't want to hear it, so we evaluated several if/then scenarios and came up with a plan that would get him his degree by next August. (He really wanted it to be May, but he had too many credits to fulfill.) It was all just on the edge of annoying the fuck out of me, but he managed to skirt that edge just well enough (or I managed to drum up some patience and compassion from somewhere.)
For now, I have everything I need to schlep home for the weekend already in a tote bag; I have the folder for the Monday 101 in my wheelie pack, ready to grab and go on Monday morning; I think I'm about as together as I'm going to get. Eight weeks down; eight weeks to go
Wednesday, October 24, 2018
Posting early
I'm in Advisement right now (and probably will get interrupted several times to help students or whatever), but I'm working an extra half hour today to make up time I gave over to the first round of conferences with my 101 students. I will have to do that again--cancel time in Advisement during a conference week and then make it up later--but only once. I'll be seeing all three classes in the same week, I think, but not only will there be fewer students at that point, conferences will be optional--and I know a number of students will opt not to take advantage of the opportunity.
Shifting gears to today, two things stand out that I want to record. One is a student in today's 101. My sense of her has gone back and forth a bit; she seems to want to participate, but on the other hand, she clearly expressed her lack of interest in the education topic, asking me if we'd be working on that all semester. I assured her we wouldn't--but I also said I couldn't guarantee that she'd be any more interested in the other topics, and explained that as adults, we don't always get to do just what interests us. "True," she admitted. But then she didn't have her essay for peer review--though she still wanted to participate in the review process--and she was AWOL after that. She's barely turned in any work, and that with her absences led me to believe she was one of the students who just vanishes. But no: she was there today. I pulled her out of class for a moment to explain that I really didn't think she could pass, and she explained that she'd been having the same problem in all her classes--because her mother had kicked her out of the house, which cut her off from access to a computer, and cut off her phone service. She'd been living out of her car until just a few days ago when a friend invited her into her home, but now, she says, she can be back on campus and attending class and being a good student. OK, I said: sorry to hear about the problem, glad you're in a better situation, let's see how things go; maybe you can squeak out a D.
And to my delight, she was fully engaged in the work of the class today. The students wanted to watch a video instead of talking about the articles (which a bit more than half of them had downloaded and read as homework, having gotten my email about the canceled class on Monday)--but at first, there were technical difficulties, so I put them in groups.They were working at least a little in their groups, but after a few minutes, I got the tech sorted out--and we watched part of the video (not as much as the other class got to watch, but still). I stopped a few times to explain some of the issues that either were hard to hear or that went by too fast for students to get the import--and at least a few of them actually had picked up on some of the important details and asked some good questions.
But--and this is the other thing I want to record about today--I'm looking at the "reflection" essays for the T/Th class (little essays in which students simply riff on what they already know about a topic), and the extent of their ignorance and confusion about food, farming, the environment, all that, is so profound I hardly know where to start to get them sorted out. But I can only try--and hope that some of what they read helps.
That said, I do want to try to get the stack of stuff I have from tomorrow's class (not including their essays) marked before class tomorrow, so I'm going to sign off on this post. More tomorrow.
Shifting gears to today, two things stand out that I want to record. One is a student in today's 101. My sense of her has gone back and forth a bit; she seems to want to participate, but on the other hand, she clearly expressed her lack of interest in the education topic, asking me if we'd be working on that all semester. I assured her we wouldn't--but I also said I couldn't guarantee that she'd be any more interested in the other topics, and explained that as adults, we don't always get to do just what interests us. "True," she admitted. But then she didn't have her essay for peer review--though she still wanted to participate in the review process--and she was AWOL after that. She's barely turned in any work, and that with her absences led me to believe she was one of the students who just vanishes. But no: she was there today. I pulled her out of class for a moment to explain that I really didn't think she could pass, and she explained that she'd been having the same problem in all her classes--because her mother had kicked her out of the house, which cut her off from access to a computer, and cut off her phone service. She'd been living out of her car until just a few days ago when a friend invited her into her home, but now, she says, she can be back on campus and attending class and being a good student. OK, I said: sorry to hear about the problem, glad you're in a better situation, let's see how things go; maybe you can squeak out a D.
And to my delight, she was fully engaged in the work of the class today. The students wanted to watch a video instead of talking about the articles (which a bit more than half of them had downloaded and read as homework, having gotten my email about the canceled class on Monday)--but at first, there were technical difficulties, so I put them in groups.They were working at least a little in their groups, but after a few minutes, I got the tech sorted out--and we watched part of the video (not as much as the other class got to watch, but still). I stopped a few times to explain some of the issues that either were hard to hear or that went by too fast for students to get the import--and at least a few of them actually had picked up on some of the important details and asked some good questions.
But--and this is the other thing I want to record about today--I'm looking at the "reflection" essays for the T/Th class (little essays in which students simply riff on what they already know about a topic), and the extent of their ignorance and confusion about food, farming, the environment, all that, is so profound I hardly know where to start to get them sorted out. But I can only try--and hope that some of what they read helps.
That said, I do want to try to get the stack of stuff I have from tomorrow's class (not including their essays) marked before class tomorrow, so I'm going to sign off on this post. More tomorrow.
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Still trying to figure out the work flow...
I got through all the accumulated homework for tomorrow's 101; I still have a stack (though not quite as large) for the T/Th class--which I will schlep to Advisement with me tomorrow, though I will try to get a chunk of it done before I go to Advisement (assuming I can pry myself out of bed early enough). I'm telling myself that it won't take long to get all the final version stuff marked--and that I can chip away at that next week while I'm conferencing with the 102 students, but of course, I will also still be collecting homework every day...
Well, as always, one way or another, it gets done. (Usually not the way I initially envision it in my head, but that's because I apparently have no clue--after all this time--how long it actually takes me to do anything. Brush my teeth? Half an hour. Climb Mt. Everest? Half an hour.) That includes looking at the sabbatical applications that have come in (which are to be reviewed before next P&B) and writing up the observation I conducted last week. I am grateful that we didn't have P&B today, so I don't have any minutes to write up--and I'll only briefly mention that I still am kicking myself (and resenting other members of P&B) that I'm stuck with that stupid task.
Nothing much of note to report today--except an interesting conversation with a student from today's 101. I'm sure I've talked about him before; he's on the staff of the campus newspaper, so I'll call him the Budding Journalist (though of course he really wants to be the next George R. R. Martin). He is sweet and well intentioned, but he has a serious aversion to anything approaching actual thinking. He said he wasn't putting much in his expanded notes because he has no ideas--so I spent a fair amount of time explaining to him that coming up with ideas was not only his responsibility, it's the only way he's actually learning anything. He comes from the "I don't care about this, so I have nothing to say" camp, and he didn't understand when I explained that he needed to find a reason to care (even if it has nothing to do with what the professor wants) and he needs to figure out something of substance to say. I told him that, as the cub reporter for any news organization he joins, he'll be given the shit assignments, the stories to cover that no one else wants. I said, "If you had to write about a society wedding, how could you approach it so you'd have something to say?" (No ideas.) "How about if you reported on the food choices and what they might reveal about the bride and groom, or looked at the clothing to understand why people were presenting themselves the way they did, or looked at the whole thing as if it were a scene in a book...?" He said, "You just came up with three things in a second, and I couldn't come up with one." Me: "And what's the difference between us?" Him: "You're the professor and I'm a student." Me: "Yep. I've been doing this longer than you've been alive. I will confess, though, that I was also born with the gift of curiosity," and I suggested that it might be beneficial to him to work on developing some curiosity about the world outside of himself.
That kind of solipsistic view of the world--"the only things that matter are the things I already know and like"--pretty much drives me bat shit. (And why do you want to retire early, Prof. P? In large measure so I don't have to continue to try to make a dent in that deeply indoctrinated egoism in so many people.)
I'm sure there's more I could say, I'm sure, but the major re-frame of the day is simply this: I got some work done and can return stuff. And it will all get done. By December 20th, the 21st at the absolute latest, it will all be over, and I will be free of all these particular concerns. I don't have the energy to cheer and fling confetti, but I do feel the weight slowly slipping off my shoulders. Staggering toward the finish again... just a more final finish this time. Thank God (and the faculty Union, and the Board, and the Admin, for the early retirement incentive).
Well, as always, one way or another, it gets done. (Usually not the way I initially envision it in my head, but that's because I apparently have no clue--after all this time--how long it actually takes me to do anything. Brush my teeth? Half an hour. Climb Mt. Everest? Half an hour.) That includes looking at the sabbatical applications that have come in (which are to be reviewed before next P&B) and writing up the observation I conducted last week. I am grateful that we didn't have P&B today, so I don't have any minutes to write up--and I'll only briefly mention that I still am kicking myself (and resenting other members of P&B) that I'm stuck with that stupid task.
Nothing much of note to report today--except an interesting conversation with a student from today's 101. I'm sure I've talked about him before; he's on the staff of the campus newspaper, so I'll call him the Budding Journalist (though of course he really wants to be the next George R. R. Martin). He is sweet and well intentioned, but he has a serious aversion to anything approaching actual thinking. He said he wasn't putting much in his expanded notes because he has no ideas--so I spent a fair amount of time explaining to him that coming up with ideas was not only his responsibility, it's the only way he's actually learning anything. He comes from the "I don't care about this, so I have nothing to say" camp, and he didn't understand when I explained that he needed to find a reason to care (even if it has nothing to do with what the professor wants) and he needs to figure out something of substance to say. I told him that, as the cub reporter for any news organization he joins, he'll be given the shit assignments, the stories to cover that no one else wants. I said, "If you had to write about a society wedding, how could you approach it so you'd have something to say?" (No ideas.) "How about if you reported on the food choices and what they might reveal about the bride and groom, or looked at the clothing to understand why people were presenting themselves the way they did, or looked at the whole thing as if it were a scene in a book...?" He said, "You just came up with three things in a second, and I couldn't come up with one." Me: "And what's the difference between us?" Him: "You're the professor and I'm a student." Me: "Yep. I've been doing this longer than you've been alive. I will confess, though, that I was also born with the gift of curiosity," and I suggested that it might be beneficial to him to work on developing some curiosity about the world outside of himself.
That kind of solipsistic view of the world--"the only things that matter are the things I already know and like"--pretty much drives me bat shit. (And why do you want to retire early, Prof. P? In large measure so I don't have to continue to try to make a dent in that deeply indoctrinated egoism in so many people.)
I'm sure there's more I could say, I'm sure, but the major re-frame of the day is simply this: I got some work done and can return stuff. And it will all get done. By December 20th, the 21st at the absolute latest, it will all be over, and I will be free of all these particular concerns. I don't have the energy to cheer and fling confetti, but I do feel the weight slowly slipping off my shoulders. Staggering toward the finish again... just a more final finish this time. Thank God (and the faculty Union, and the Board, and the Admin, for the early retirement incentive).
Monday, October 22, 2018
A Monday at home
I decided to let my exhaustion factors weigh more heavily in the balance than my financial worries, and I took a full sick day today--not just from Advisement but from everything. I got some work done over the weekend, though doing so was a challenge, given the intensity of the training I was going through--but the events on Sunday went later than I'd realized they would, and--this being New York--of course there was insane traffic on my route home, so instead of being home at about 8:30 or 9 as I should have been, it was 10:30 by the time I staggered in the door. So, this morning, I slept. They may hate me in Advisement. C'est la vie. They only have to put up with me for a few more months.
But having gotten some sleep, I did finish up grading the essays for the 102, so those are ready to return tomorrow. I hope I can get some work done in Advisement in the morning, clearing out homework that I've been collecting, but we are getting into the time of the semester when I can't count on having any moments to do my own work when I'm there. Fall is always busier than spring at about this point; students can't think "Oh, I don't have to worry about that for months," the way they do with summer break in front of them--and the fact that they may have gotten closed out of classes or otherwise had to deal with scheduling problems this semester will be fresh in their minds. The real onslaught won't start until November sometime, but the early birds are already out and starting to form flocks.
In terms of those essays: the change I instituted this semester--requiring a "show your work" copy, in which they had to mark up for revision--generally worked very well. I don't delude myself that this would be universally true; I think it's just that group of students. But still, it's nice that it is working more often than not. Mostly their essays were improved--and some were improved significantly (though I still didn't give any A's).
But once I finished and put all those back in my wheelie pack, ready to schlep to campus tomorrow morning, I realized I needed to carefully think through my work flow over the next few weeks. I will be getting the next round of essays from the 102 on Thursday (making for a very happy birthday weekend for me)--and I have the second versions of the first essay for all the 101s yet to mark, on top of a fairly huge wodge of homework. Right now, that wodge is mostly from the M/W class--and I see that this is how the semester will go. I put lots of energy into the backlog of stuff for the T/Th class, and while I did, the stuff from the M/W class was silting up. Now that will flip the other direction, but the wave will continue to slosh back and forth between the two classes.
And there's some required reporting I need to do: I haven't filled in the mandated "academic progress" reports yet. Usually I do those pretty early, but I just haven't had a moment when I've had my records in front of me and a little window of time for that sort of silliness. Maybe tomorrow after class. Or not.
It will all get done, one way or another. This week is the half-way point: it's week 8 of a 16 week semester. Still not at the tipping point when everything races toward the end, but damned close. I know I'll still worry about stuff--but I won't have this kind of work load to weigh me down. And that will be a little slice of heaven.
But having gotten some sleep, I did finish up grading the essays for the 102, so those are ready to return tomorrow. I hope I can get some work done in Advisement in the morning, clearing out homework that I've been collecting, but we are getting into the time of the semester when I can't count on having any moments to do my own work when I'm there. Fall is always busier than spring at about this point; students can't think "Oh, I don't have to worry about that for months," the way they do with summer break in front of them--and the fact that they may have gotten closed out of classes or otherwise had to deal with scheduling problems this semester will be fresh in their minds. The real onslaught won't start until November sometime, but the early birds are already out and starting to form flocks.
In terms of those essays: the change I instituted this semester--requiring a "show your work" copy, in which they had to mark up for revision--generally worked very well. I don't delude myself that this would be universally true; I think it's just that group of students. But still, it's nice that it is working more often than not. Mostly their essays were improved--and some were improved significantly (though I still didn't give any A's).
But once I finished and put all those back in my wheelie pack, ready to schlep to campus tomorrow morning, I realized I needed to carefully think through my work flow over the next few weeks. I will be getting the next round of essays from the 102 on Thursday (making for a very happy birthday weekend for me)--and I have the second versions of the first essay for all the 101s yet to mark, on top of a fairly huge wodge of homework. Right now, that wodge is mostly from the M/W class--and I see that this is how the semester will go. I put lots of energy into the backlog of stuff for the T/Th class, and while I did, the stuff from the M/W class was silting up. Now that will flip the other direction, but the wave will continue to slosh back and forth between the two classes.
And there's some required reporting I need to do: I haven't filled in the mandated "academic progress" reports yet. Usually I do those pretty early, but I just haven't had a moment when I've had my records in front of me and a little window of time for that sort of silliness. Maybe tomorrow after class. Or not.
It will all get done, one way or another. This week is the half-way point: it's week 8 of a 16 week semester. Still not at the tipping point when everything races toward the end, but damned close. I know I'll still worry about stuff--but I won't have this kind of work load to weigh me down. And that will be a little slice of heaven.
Wednesday, October 17, 2018
I'm still here, but my brain has already gone...
In much the same way that I am already partially checked out of the semester, given my pending retirement, my brain has pretty much checked out for the day, already considering itself on its way upstate for a very different kind of learning and teaching.
I do still have to sort through stuff and put a bunch of student assignments in my wheelie pack; as I mentioned yesterday, at least some of that work I truly do need to do over the weekend. I can't do what I sometimes do, which is to schlep it all with me when I leave and schlep it back otherwise untouched. (And no matter how many times I talk to her about it, the cat just will not help me with the grading. She says she'd be happy to leave little tooth marks in the corners of pages, but beyond that, she says, it's my job. Including the, "Cat! Knock it off!" remarks.)
Looking at my email this morning, I realize that, yes, I am dealing with 101 students. They have not quite caught on to the fact that they have responsibility for their own work. Once again, a student simply emailed her essay to me (it was at least a different student this time); she sent it with no explanation, just the "invitation" to look at it on Google Docs. I wrote her a sharply worded email in which I said she had just done the equivalent of tossing her essay at me and walking away as if her responsibility for it were done, and in which I told her that I expect an explanation and apology by email and I expect it soon. (My bet? She won't check her email until next week--if then.) Other students seem to think that not coming to class the day something is due means it isn't really due for them. (High school mentality: your work is only due when you actually show up, so if you want an extension on a project, don't go to class.) Uh, no: a late penalty applies. That said, I did grant a little absolution to three students who were unable to make it to class: one because of a family emergency (I still believe her, but she's had a lot of excuses so far, so my trust is starting to wobble a bit); two because they were driving to campus together and the car got a flat tire. I'll be merciful this time. If it happens again, not so much.
Oh, and I forgot to mention yesterday that the Hot Mess showed up for the 102--and he was bursting with pride that he had found pages of his class reader and actually had done some reading notes. The notes are woefully inadequate, of course, but I told him he'd made a good step in the right direction. I didn't mention to him that it was like that single step that starts a journey of a thousand miles--and he still has a thousand miles to go. Moments like that I feel less like a professor and more like ... well, I don't know. The auntie who is tough with kids when their mom lets them slack, or the crotchety high school teacher who drills accountable behavior into kids: suddenly I'm not a professor dealing with young adults but someone much lower down the chain and dealing with children. Ah well. A place for my frustrated maternal instincts to get a little exercise.
Flipping to the other end of the spectrum, I met with the random mentee--and it turns out he's an honors student, 4.0 average (the highest we have, since we don't give A+ grades), adult (even with some grey in his beard). He wanted to come to mentoring simply because he wants to squeeze everything he can out of his college experience, wants to take advantage of everything on offer. Very cool. We ended up talking a lot about his struggle with his statistics class, but we also just talked. Nice. And then my own student showed up--and we talked for the remainder of my 75 minute seminar hours block. Delightfully enough, his aim was the same: he wants to get the most out of his time in college--and he said that he recognizes that he's, in his terms, "really a moron" (not at all true), and he wants to exercise his brain and become more intelligent. OK, I said. Here's what you do: 1. stay in the generic liberal arts degree and experience that full diversity of academic disciplines and 2. read. Read a lot. Read anything that challenges you to think, to look up words, to go back over and reread. But read, read, read. (The five keys to academic success being, after all, read, pay attention to detail, read, pay attention to detail, and read. Oh, and work through frustration. Six keys.)
I went from those invigorating conversations to the 101--and they did better in their groups than they've done before now. When I turned it over to class conversation, it all fell a bit flat, but they were thinking in their groups--and talking about the actual topic, which was great. Baby steps, but maybe the class can finally get off the ground a bit.
So, all in all, it was one of those days when I had some doubts about my irrevocable decision to retire, moments of feeling, "Do I really want to leave that behind?" and "I can still do this; I have the energy." And then I come back to my office and, after the energy of working with the students and having some modicum of success wears off, I feel just how depleted my energy stores actually are. I know I can build them up again--but not quickly or easily. And in Advisement, I spent a good chunk of time talking to one of the advisers who is also retiring: she's freaking out about "what will I do with myself if I don't have work to go to?" and I'm freaking about "how will I pay my rent and afford car payments?" But in letting her know why I do not have the "what will I do with myself" worry, I realized again how much I am looking forward to the adventure of exploring possibilities, all the things I could potentially do once I am free of the obligations of teaching. Oh, yeah: and no alarm clock. I'm not sure I can put a dollar amount on that one, but it's weighing big in the emotional side of the calculations.
I have frittered away some time since getting back to the office looking for the perfect video to show my students on Monday and Tuesday--and sending an email to AV services to make sure I can, in fact, show the video on Monday (the computer in that room was in some configuration that wouldn't allow me to log on--so I couldn't do a test run to see if I can also get audio through the projector thingy). The AV folks are generally great; I'm sure they'll help me out on Monday. If not, well, I'll tap dance or something.
Now, however, I really do have to sort through what's going in the wheelie pack and toddle off for my usual Wednesday evening appointment. I don't know if I'll post to the blog between now and Monday, but one never knows. Stay tuned for more exciting developments.
I do still have to sort through stuff and put a bunch of student assignments in my wheelie pack; as I mentioned yesterday, at least some of that work I truly do need to do over the weekend. I can't do what I sometimes do, which is to schlep it all with me when I leave and schlep it back otherwise untouched. (And no matter how many times I talk to her about it, the cat just will not help me with the grading. She says she'd be happy to leave little tooth marks in the corners of pages, but beyond that, she says, it's my job. Including the, "Cat! Knock it off!" remarks.)
Looking at my email this morning, I realize that, yes, I am dealing with 101 students. They have not quite caught on to the fact that they have responsibility for their own work. Once again, a student simply emailed her essay to me (it was at least a different student this time); she sent it with no explanation, just the "invitation" to look at it on Google Docs. I wrote her a sharply worded email in which I said she had just done the equivalent of tossing her essay at me and walking away as if her responsibility for it were done, and in which I told her that I expect an explanation and apology by email and I expect it soon. (My bet? She won't check her email until next week--if then.) Other students seem to think that not coming to class the day something is due means it isn't really due for them. (High school mentality: your work is only due when you actually show up, so if you want an extension on a project, don't go to class.) Uh, no: a late penalty applies. That said, I did grant a little absolution to three students who were unable to make it to class: one because of a family emergency (I still believe her, but she's had a lot of excuses so far, so my trust is starting to wobble a bit); two because they were driving to campus together and the car got a flat tire. I'll be merciful this time. If it happens again, not so much.
Oh, and I forgot to mention yesterday that the Hot Mess showed up for the 102--and he was bursting with pride that he had found pages of his class reader and actually had done some reading notes. The notes are woefully inadequate, of course, but I told him he'd made a good step in the right direction. I didn't mention to him that it was like that single step that starts a journey of a thousand miles--and he still has a thousand miles to go. Moments like that I feel less like a professor and more like ... well, I don't know. The auntie who is tough with kids when their mom lets them slack, or the crotchety high school teacher who drills accountable behavior into kids: suddenly I'm not a professor dealing with young adults but someone much lower down the chain and dealing with children. Ah well. A place for my frustrated maternal instincts to get a little exercise.
Flipping to the other end of the spectrum, I met with the random mentee--and it turns out he's an honors student, 4.0 average (the highest we have, since we don't give A+ grades), adult (even with some grey in his beard). He wanted to come to mentoring simply because he wants to squeeze everything he can out of his college experience, wants to take advantage of everything on offer. Very cool. We ended up talking a lot about his struggle with his statistics class, but we also just talked. Nice. And then my own student showed up--and we talked for the remainder of my 75 minute seminar hours block. Delightfully enough, his aim was the same: he wants to get the most out of his time in college--and he said that he recognizes that he's, in his terms, "really a moron" (not at all true), and he wants to exercise his brain and become more intelligent. OK, I said. Here's what you do: 1. stay in the generic liberal arts degree and experience that full diversity of academic disciplines and 2. read. Read a lot. Read anything that challenges you to think, to look up words, to go back over and reread. But read, read, read. (The five keys to academic success being, after all, read, pay attention to detail, read, pay attention to detail, and read. Oh, and work through frustration. Six keys.)
I went from those invigorating conversations to the 101--and they did better in their groups than they've done before now. When I turned it over to class conversation, it all fell a bit flat, but they were thinking in their groups--and talking about the actual topic, which was great. Baby steps, but maybe the class can finally get off the ground a bit.
So, all in all, it was one of those days when I had some doubts about my irrevocable decision to retire, moments of feeling, "Do I really want to leave that behind?" and "I can still do this; I have the energy." And then I come back to my office and, after the energy of working with the students and having some modicum of success wears off, I feel just how depleted my energy stores actually are. I know I can build them up again--but not quickly or easily. And in Advisement, I spent a good chunk of time talking to one of the advisers who is also retiring: she's freaking out about "what will I do with myself if I don't have work to go to?" and I'm freaking about "how will I pay my rent and afford car payments?" But in letting her know why I do not have the "what will I do with myself" worry, I realized again how much I am looking forward to the adventure of exploring possibilities, all the things I could potentially do once I am free of the obligations of teaching. Oh, yeah: and no alarm clock. I'm not sure I can put a dollar amount on that one, but it's weighing big in the emotional side of the calculations.
I have frittered away some time since getting back to the office looking for the perfect video to show my students on Monday and Tuesday--and sending an email to AV services to make sure I can, in fact, show the video on Monday (the computer in that room was in some configuration that wouldn't allow me to log on--so I couldn't do a test run to see if I can also get audio through the projector thingy). The AV folks are generally great; I'm sure they'll help me out on Monday. If not, well, I'll tap dance or something.
Now, however, I really do have to sort through what's going in the wheelie pack and toddle off for my usual Wednesday evening appointment. I don't know if I'll post to the blog between now and Monday, but one never knows. Stay tuned for more exciting developments.
Tuesday, October 16, 2018
I love my T/Th classes...
The students in both the 102 and in today's 101 confirmed yet again how much fun they are to work with. The 102 students did a great job of working on the poetry for today--and I let them do most of it without me circulating the room, as I wanted to finish marking the assignments I had for them (which I did, thank God). And the 101 students actually had ideas about the food topic that will be the focus of their next essays. I truly do enjoy working with them, though I don't think I'll be in my car driving to Elmira, NY, thinking "Oh, I'd really rather be teaching..."
And I have officially reached the point in the semester at which every huge stack of stuff I return is immediately replaced by an equally huge stack of stuff I need to mark. Sometime in November, that will lighten up, but for a while, it's just going to be one wodge after another. C'est la vie.
P&B was a bit chaotic to try to follow; I have no idea if my minutes reflect accurately what actually happened, but I did write them up already. I won't have time tomorrow, and I'm certainly not going to work on them when I'm upstate. I also had to do a little "evening supervisor" thingy after my class; it seemed like it might be uncomfortable, but it actually was quite painless. I need to be a bit cryptic about it, for various reasons, but ... well, it just wasn't a big deal. Took about 15 minutes tops, and caused no emotional or psychological distress. Whew.
Shifting back to the ways in which my work will follow me upstate, I may get the minutes out of my hair before I go, but I will have to schlep some assignments up with me--and actually work on them, even though I won't want to. It's just a necessity; I at least have to get the 102 essays marked, as I must return those to them before they write the next essay. I won't get them done in time for the sub to distribute on Thursday, so I have to have them ready by Tuesday--as the next essay is right on the heels of this one; it's due a week from Thursday. (Ye gods and little fishes.) The next 101 essay doesn't follow quite as immediately on the heels of this one, though--or I don't think it does. I am almost afraid to check my calendar.
Tomorrow, I have to be up very early as a phone repair person is coming between 8 and 9 a.m. That's painfully early for me to be up, dressed, and ready to receive (as it were), but it's the only way I could be sure that the repair would be finished in time for me to get here for my seminar hours--and I actually will see students during my seminar hours. One is a random student who came through the general pipeline--and I wouldn't have known that I had an appointment with him except one of my own students also wanted an appointment, and when I went to book him, surprise surprise, there was a student who is a complete stranger to me sitting on my schedule. We rarely get students from the general pipeline, but this is the second time I've been assigned someone and only found out by happenstance. He also had originally been set up with a 30 minute appointment--but my own student wanted to come after that first person had been with me 15 minutes, so I truncated the first one to accommodate the student I actually know. If the random student seems to be someone who wants more mentoring--and with whom I'd be a reasonable fit--I can always set up future appointments with him.
So, we'll see how all that rolls. Seminar hours start at 11; class is at 12:30; Advisement follows on the heels of class. Then I get to come back to the office and figure out what to pack up to take north with me. But you'll hear all about that tomorrow, I reckon. As for now, I am ready to figure out dinner and start the night-time glide. A demain, mes amis.
And I have officially reached the point in the semester at which every huge stack of stuff I return is immediately replaced by an equally huge stack of stuff I need to mark. Sometime in November, that will lighten up, but for a while, it's just going to be one wodge after another. C'est la vie.
P&B was a bit chaotic to try to follow; I have no idea if my minutes reflect accurately what actually happened, but I did write them up already. I won't have time tomorrow, and I'm certainly not going to work on them when I'm upstate. I also had to do a little "evening supervisor" thingy after my class; it seemed like it might be uncomfortable, but it actually was quite painless. I need to be a bit cryptic about it, for various reasons, but ... well, it just wasn't a big deal. Took about 15 minutes tops, and caused no emotional or psychological distress. Whew.
Shifting back to the ways in which my work will follow me upstate, I may get the minutes out of my hair before I go, but I will have to schlep some assignments up with me--and actually work on them, even though I won't want to. It's just a necessity; I at least have to get the 102 essays marked, as I must return those to them before they write the next essay. I won't get them done in time for the sub to distribute on Thursday, so I have to have them ready by Tuesday--as the next essay is right on the heels of this one; it's due a week from Thursday. (Ye gods and little fishes.) The next 101 essay doesn't follow quite as immediately on the heels of this one, though--or I don't think it does. I am almost afraid to check my calendar.
Tomorrow, I have to be up very early as a phone repair person is coming between 8 and 9 a.m. That's painfully early for me to be up, dressed, and ready to receive (as it were), but it's the only way I could be sure that the repair would be finished in time for me to get here for my seminar hours--and I actually will see students during my seminar hours. One is a random student who came through the general pipeline--and I wouldn't have known that I had an appointment with him except one of my own students also wanted an appointment, and when I went to book him, surprise surprise, there was a student who is a complete stranger to me sitting on my schedule. We rarely get students from the general pipeline, but this is the second time I've been assigned someone and only found out by happenstance. He also had originally been set up with a 30 minute appointment--but my own student wanted to come after that first person had been with me 15 minutes, so I truncated the first one to accommodate the student I actually know. If the random student seems to be someone who wants more mentoring--and with whom I'd be a reasonable fit--I can always set up future appointments with him.
So, we'll see how all that rolls. Seminar hours start at 11; class is at 12:30; Advisement follows on the heels of class. Then I get to come back to the office and figure out what to pack up to take north with me. But you'll hear all about that tomorrow, I reckon. As for now, I am ready to figure out dinner and start the night-time glide. A demain, mes amis.
Monday, October 15, 2018
Well, sorta...
I did get all the homework marked for tomorrow's 101--at long last--and I have at least embarked on the marking of homework for the 102. There is no way in hell I'll get their essays graded before class tomorrow, and the chances of having them graded in time for the sub to return them on Thursday are pretty slim. But I will try.
I realized a few minutes go that, in trying not to overwhelm the 101 students, I've actually left myself in a serious bind for the first class next week. The students will have done some writing (good), but ... well, based on today's experience, they won't have anything must to talk about. I may have to get creative about showing something. And as soon as I thought that, I thought of all the zillions of "industrial agriculture" videos available online and thought "oh, easy! And saves me having to do any heavy lifting." So, actually, I take it back. I'm not in a bind at all. I've bought myself a teeny breather. Whew.
Today I bailed on my Advisement time, but I legitimately did have a fierce headache. It was migraine-esque in the night, and although I had the pain pretty well beaten back by the time I got to campus, all day I've had the post-migraine stupids: the synapses just don't line up, and I don't feel like I can absorb anything through my eyes. There's nothing actually occluded or unfocused about my vision; it's just that the information doesn't get through very well, a kind of processing static.
Given the state of my brain, I'm actually relieved by the fact that tonight's planned dinner with Cathy and Paul got canceled (Cathy is struggling with a cold-type virus combined with monster allergies). I wouldn't have been much company anyway, and my body sure doesn't need the over-indulgence (which tends to cause a "food hangover" the next day, producing another kind of stupids). I'm looking forward to heading home in just a moment or two here.
It pleases me to report that I have all the stacks and piles of stuff on the radiator and on my desk in some modicum of order. I even remembered (just this second) to print the P&B minutes so I can have them copied before I am racing to get from class to the meeting.
And in preparation for coming attractions, I have the conference sign up for the next round of 102 conferences all ready. Some of you may recall that I've been kicking myself for assigning essays to be due the day before my birthday, necessitating my spending time over my birthday weekend grading--but I've just shifted the conferences so the first day on which I will see anyone is Tuesday, which buys me at least one day in which I don't have to grade. A lot will depend, of course, on how many essays I get (and how good or bad they are), but even if everyone remaining in the class submits, that's only 16 essays. I could potentially get away with having only graded four by Monday (as I only have four Tuesday appointments), but that feels more than a bit risky. Nevertheless, I don't foresee having to devote the whole weekend to them, and that's nice.
Shifting gears: the student from the T/Th 101 who has been driving me nuts with lateness, absences, missed work, frantic emails with no follow-through, etc., showed up today to withdraw. Oh, good. Two students showed up to today's 101 who haven't been there in forever and who are missing a ton of work. I gave them both the same talk. One opted to stay (you know my bets on his chances of finishing successfully); the other more wisely opted to withdraw. And a bunch of students were absent today, of course. It will be interesting to see what happens on Wednesday when I let them know that their essays will receive late penalties. My classes may get very small very quickly. I hope there isn't so much attrition that conversation in class comes to a complete halt, but I don't mind losing a few more than I already have. Attrition can be a lovely thing, in terms of the grading/marking load.
On the other side of the equation, a student from last semester's SF class dropped by to meet with me during my office hour today--and of course I hadn't posted a notice saying that I had to cancel my hour today (conducting an observation). At first I simply forgot to post the notice, but when I did think of it, I thought, "Ah, no one will show up anyway, so why bother." Oops. My bad. I like that student a great deal, too, so I sent him an apologetic email. I hope he tries again--and that he tries again on a day when I actually am holding those hours.
As for now, I am going to make sure I put everything I'll want to schlep to Advisement with me into my wheelie pack, run a quick "am I ready to leave" check, and toddle off home. As these things go, it's relatively early, and I intend to make good use of that time by winding down as quickly and fully as possible.
I realized a few minutes go that, in trying not to overwhelm the 101 students, I've actually left myself in a serious bind for the first class next week. The students will have done some writing (good), but ... well, based on today's experience, they won't have anything must to talk about. I may have to get creative about showing something. And as soon as I thought that, I thought of all the zillions of "industrial agriculture" videos available online and thought "oh, easy! And saves me having to do any heavy lifting." So, actually, I take it back. I'm not in a bind at all. I've bought myself a teeny breather. Whew.
Today I bailed on my Advisement time, but I legitimately did have a fierce headache. It was migraine-esque in the night, and although I had the pain pretty well beaten back by the time I got to campus, all day I've had the post-migraine stupids: the synapses just don't line up, and I don't feel like I can absorb anything through my eyes. There's nothing actually occluded or unfocused about my vision; it's just that the information doesn't get through very well, a kind of processing static.
Given the state of my brain, I'm actually relieved by the fact that tonight's planned dinner with Cathy and Paul got canceled (Cathy is struggling with a cold-type virus combined with monster allergies). I wouldn't have been much company anyway, and my body sure doesn't need the over-indulgence (which tends to cause a "food hangover" the next day, producing another kind of stupids). I'm looking forward to heading home in just a moment or two here.
It pleases me to report that I have all the stacks and piles of stuff on the radiator and on my desk in some modicum of order. I even remembered (just this second) to print the P&B minutes so I can have them copied before I am racing to get from class to the meeting.
And in preparation for coming attractions, I have the conference sign up for the next round of 102 conferences all ready. Some of you may recall that I've been kicking myself for assigning essays to be due the day before my birthday, necessitating my spending time over my birthday weekend grading--but I've just shifted the conferences so the first day on which I will see anyone is Tuesday, which buys me at least one day in which I don't have to grade. A lot will depend, of course, on how many essays I get (and how good or bad they are), but even if everyone remaining in the class submits, that's only 16 essays. I could potentially get away with having only graded four by Monday (as I only have four Tuesday appointments), but that feels more than a bit risky. Nevertheless, I don't foresee having to devote the whole weekend to them, and that's nice.
Shifting gears: the student from the T/Th 101 who has been driving me nuts with lateness, absences, missed work, frantic emails with no follow-through, etc., showed up today to withdraw. Oh, good. Two students showed up to today's 101 who haven't been there in forever and who are missing a ton of work. I gave them both the same talk. One opted to stay (you know my bets on his chances of finishing successfully); the other more wisely opted to withdraw. And a bunch of students were absent today, of course. It will be interesting to see what happens on Wednesday when I let them know that their essays will receive late penalties. My classes may get very small very quickly. I hope there isn't so much attrition that conversation in class comes to a complete halt, but I don't mind losing a few more than I already have. Attrition can be a lovely thing, in terms of the grading/marking load.
On the other side of the equation, a student from last semester's SF class dropped by to meet with me during my office hour today--and of course I hadn't posted a notice saying that I had to cancel my hour today (conducting an observation). At first I simply forgot to post the notice, but when I did think of it, I thought, "Ah, no one will show up anyway, so why bother." Oops. My bad. I like that student a great deal, too, so I sent him an apologetic email. I hope he tries again--and that he tries again on a day when I actually am holding those hours.
As for now, I am going to make sure I put everything I'll want to schlep to Advisement with me into my wheelie pack, run a quick "am I ready to leave" check, and toddle off home. As these things go, it's relatively early, and I intend to make good use of that time by winding down as quickly and fully as possible.
Thursday, October 11, 2018
It feels later than it is
Part of the "it feels so late" thing is because today has been a very grey day, and now that the sun is setting earlier, the combined factors make it seem awfully dark for this time of day. But the other part is ... gawd, it was a long day. What a slog. And, of course, not enough sleep, which is the chronic condition.
Most of my day was spent in conferences--pretty much back to back to back--interspersed with moments on the computer trying to stay on top of other bits and orts and, of course, the 102. Class wasn't the most scintillating: students straggled in late and in a sad return to what things were like earlier in the semester, when I shifted from small group discussion to class as a whole, they suddenly went silent. Mom of the mother-daughter duo could easily have filled the silence--she always has a lot to say--but she is very rightly refusing to take on the burden. And a couple of other students did, eventually, step into the breach. I end up calling on students more than I normally would--but not to put them on the spot. I'll say, "Whoosie, you brought up a good point in your group. Could you riff on that a little for the class?" And the student, usually cheerfully, complies. In any event, they're doing their damndest.
I did, however, verbally smack the crap out of the Hot Mess. He asked again if I could provide him with another copy of his class reader, as his is a mess of papers somewhere. This after I observed that he did not have his reader and that, therefore, today would count as a "non-participant" day for him. I said I'd talk to him after class, and I said, "I am disinclined to clean up your mess." I explained that it's his job to take care of his class materials--and further, since he'd shown a blatant disrespect for my time and energy with his dismissal of any of the requirements for the second version of his essay, I was even less inclined to help him out. I told him he needs to come to class with evidence of an effort: his reader pulled together, his homework done, ready and on top of things. If I see that, I'll revisit the issue of the reader with him. If not, I'm not sure I even want him in my class. He seemed stunned. He said, "I understand," but then he stood there, as if something else was coming. (Dispensation? Pity?) I said, "That's it. I'm done. You can go." Pause, while he still stared at me, pole-axed. "Oh, OK," he finally said, and left--but even then he hovered outside the door for a moment, as if something else was going to happen. I almost expected him to be waiting for me with tears in his eyes when I finished talking with the other students who had been waiting for me to finish with him before bringing up their concerns, but no: he was gone. I'm curious to see what happens next. I do think he probably was deeply hurt by my sternness and inflexibility; he may well have gone somewhere to cry. I do understand that he may be wounded, and I am sorry if he's hurting, but not sorry enough to budge a whisker. Pull it together, son, or get out of my hair.
In terms of students who need to pull themselves together, a student from the T/Th 101 surprised me by showing up for his conference--and he wasn't even aware that he had completely missed the deadline for the essay. It's clear that there is something going on in his life having nothing to do with his capability as a student, so I let him know about the "excused withdrawal" option (present evidence of something significant that's interfering with classes to the Dean of Students, get her permission for the "excused withdrawal," withdraw from all classes, and the semester is wiped from the records so there's a clean slate when the student returns). I told him that my advice would be that he withdraw, but he needs to decide what will be more stressful to him: withdrawing and dealing with the repercussions of that, or not withdrawing and trying to gut it out, knowing he can't get the kind of grade he otherwise might get. At one point he said, "I don't like being this person." I said, "This isn't about who you are: this is about what you're going through. Your struggle now is not the person you are; it's just the situation." I also told him I'd support whatever decision he makes. I hope he can find the help he needs. He's clearly very bright and well read, but I could see the anguish on his face.
These students live such incredibly difficult, painful lives much of the time. The people who make snarky comments about the fact that they don't graduate "on time"--or who judge them for not graduating at all--are completely full of shit. If they saw the raw courage that so many of these young people exhibit just getting to campus and being in class ... well, I hope they'd think again about those judgments.
Breathing. Moving on.
I want to take a little time now to sort through those ridiculously precarious and chaotic piles of god knows what on my desk and on the radiator, and get things organized so I can grab stuff and go when I come in on Monday, as I'll be heading straight from Advisement to class and almost certainly won't get here in time to do a leisurely sort through before going to Advisement. I know I won't get things as tidy as I'd like, but anything is better than the current clutter. And then, I'll be schlepping home my wheelie pack filled to bursting with stuff I need to mark. No matter what, I will, by God, get the stuff marked for the T/Th 101, as they've been getting short shrift all semester, and it's past time for them to come first for a change. I knew when the semester started that I'd be working over the weekends, but I'd rather forgotten how hard it is to keep finding the energy to do that, when all my systems are saying, "It's time for me to loll about being merely ornamental, right?" Nope. Sorry. Nose, grindstone, get to it. Ma'am yes ma'am. But not tonight. Tonight I am toast. Toast is me. (Thank you Margaret Atwood for the lovely humorous memory of that whole riff in Oryx and Crake.)
Most of my day was spent in conferences--pretty much back to back to back--interspersed with moments on the computer trying to stay on top of other bits and orts and, of course, the 102. Class wasn't the most scintillating: students straggled in late and in a sad return to what things were like earlier in the semester, when I shifted from small group discussion to class as a whole, they suddenly went silent. Mom of the mother-daughter duo could easily have filled the silence--she always has a lot to say--but she is very rightly refusing to take on the burden. And a couple of other students did, eventually, step into the breach. I end up calling on students more than I normally would--but not to put them on the spot. I'll say, "Whoosie, you brought up a good point in your group. Could you riff on that a little for the class?" And the student, usually cheerfully, complies. In any event, they're doing their damndest.
I did, however, verbally smack the crap out of the Hot Mess. He asked again if I could provide him with another copy of his class reader, as his is a mess of papers somewhere. This after I observed that he did not have his reader and that, therefore, today would count as a "non-participant" day for him. I said I'd talk to him after class, and I said, "I am disinclined to clean up your mess." I explained that it's his job to take care of his class materials--and further, since he'd shown a blatant disrespect for my time and energy with his dismissal of any of the requirements for the second version of his essay, I was even less inclined to help him out. I told him he needs to come to class with evidence of an effort: his reader pulled together, his homework done, ready and on top of things. If I see that, I'll revisit the issue of the reader with him. If not, I'm not sure I even want him in my class. He seemed stunned. He said, "I understand," but then he stood there, as if something else was coming. (Dispensation? Pity?) I said, "That's it. I'm done. You can go." Pause, while he still stared at me, pole-axed. "Oh, OK," he finally said, and left--but even then he hovered outside the door for a moment, as if something else was going to happen. I almost expected him to be waiting for me with tears in his eyes when I finished talking with the other students who had been waiting for me to finish with him before bringing up their concerns, but no: he was gone. I'm curious to see what happens next. I do think he probably was deeply hurt by my sternness and inflexibility; he may well have gone somewhere to cry. I do understand that he may be wounded, and I am sorry if he's hurting, but not sorry enough to budge a whisker. Pull it together, son, or get out of my hair.
In terms of students who need to pull themselves together, a student from the T/Th 101 surprised me by showing up for his conference--and he wasn't even aware that he had completely missed the deadline for the essay. It's clear that there is something going on in his life having nothing to do with his capability as a student, so I let him know about the "excused withdrawal" option (present evidence of something significant that's interfering with classes to the Dean of Students, get her permission for the "excused withdrawal," withdraw from all classes, and the semester is wiped from the records so there's a clean slate when the student returns). I told him that my advice would be that he withdraw, but he needs to decide what will be more stressful to him: withdrawing and dealing with the repercussions of that, or not withdrawing and trying to gut it out, knowing he can't get the kind of grade he otherwise might get. At one point he said, "I don't like being this person." I said, "This isn't about who you are: this is about what you're going through. Your struggle now is not the person you are; it's just the situation." I also told him I'd support whatever decision he makes. I hope he can find the help he needs. He's clearly very bright and well read, but I could see the anguish on his face.
These students live such incredibly difficult, painful lives much of the time. The people who make snarky comments about the fact that they don't graduate "on time"--or who judge them for not graduating at all--are completely full of shit. If they saw the raw courage that so many of these young people exhibit just getting to campus and being in class ... well, I hope they'd think again about those judgments.
Breathing. Moving on.
I want to take a little time now to sort through those ridiculously precarious and chaotic piles of god knows what on my desk and on the radiator, and get things organized so I can grab stuff and go when I come in on Monday, as I'll be heading straight from Advisement to class and almost certainly won't get here in time to do a leisurely sort through before going to Advisement. I know I won't get things as tidy as I'd like, but anything is better than the current clutter. And then, I'll be schlepping home my wheelie pack filled to bursting with stuff I need to mark. No matter what, I will, by God, get the stuff marked for the T/Th 101, as they've been getting short shrift all semester, and it's past time for them to come first for a change. I knew when the semester started that I'd be working over the weekends, but I'd rather forgotten how hard it is to keep finding the energy to do that, when all my systems are saying, "It's time for me to loll about being merely ornamental, right?" Nope. Sorry. Nose, grindstone, get to it. Ma'am yes ma'am. But not tonight. Tonight I am toast. Toast is me. (Thank you Margaret Atwood for the lovely humorous memory of that whole riff in Oryx and Crake.)
Wednesday, October 10, 2018
Making good use of insomnia
I got all the essays graded, thank God--largely because I had a bout of early a.m. insomnia. I woke up at about 4:20 (which is the usual "I have insomnia" time), and I was in that phase when one drifts on waves, up and down, from just barely asleep to waking to barely asleep--but I looked at the clock and it was 5:30. The alarm was set to go off at 6--and I genuinely couldn't reset it for later, as I had a morning conference time set up. So, what the hell. I got up. I also truncated my morning routine--shortened it by about an hour--and got in to the office at about 8:45 (a time when I'm usually getting ready to eat breakfast). That bought me a nice stint of time before the flurry of conferences began. I finished the last of the essays while I was in Advisement--and had a little time to start organizing the next mountain of work I need to address: all the homework that's been piling up while I've been working on grading essays.
The conferences went well today, and the three students I expected not to show in fact did not show--although one of them sent me an email asking if he could have an appointment with me as soon as possible. He sent it during the time in which he was supposed to already be here, so I wrote back, "You had an appointment with me today. You weren't here." I very briefly considered offering him a conference time tomorrow--I have two open slots--but I decided: no. I'm not going to put any strain on myself to accommodate this young man. He keeps coming in to tell me how important his work is and how much he wants to get a good grade--but then he doesn't make it to class, doesn't turn in his work (or turns it in so late I wonder why he bothers). And what really frosts me is that he keeps calling me by my first name in emails. I've corrected him three times--the first two rather gently. Today not so much. I've tried to be positive and encouraging, but he's now gone too far over the line, and I'm unlikely to do anything more than tell him he needs to withdraw. He may need to stay enrolled for a student visa, but I am not interested in having him continue to roll in late or not make it to class at all, then come to my office in a flurry. Get your shit together. And until you do, don't bother me.
I am also going to deliver a stinging verbal slap to a student in the 102, the self-described "hot mess." For his "revision," he submitted exactly the same essay he'd submitted the first round. He didn't even correct the format or any of the superficial stuff. Therefore, he didn't really submit the second version at all, so he gets zero credit. He said he didn't have the comments with him when he came to conference with me, which is true--but I did take the time to write the comments, and to send him a sheet about mechanics, and clearly, that was all entirely wasted effort. I am going to tell him that he has thus shown a blatant disrespect for me, my time, and my professional knowledge. He'll no doubt fall all over himself apologizing, but I'm not going to accept the apology unless it is accompanied by a radical change in behavior. The sad thing is, he's smart, and he reads with intelligence and sensitivity, and if he'd just stop fucking around, he'd be a great student. As it is, I'm not at all sure I want him in my class, despite the quality of his contributions to the class discussion.
Grrrrrrrrr.
Ah well. Moving on.
When I was in Advisement, I had this wonderful fantasy that somehow I'd be able to at least get homework marked for the 102 before I see them tomorrow, but ... nope. That's not going to happen. I have back-to-back appointments before and after class (apart from those two breaks, mentioned above). So I have removed the mountain of essays to grade, but now I have to dig away at the mountain of other stuff mentioned above. It will be another weekend of scraping away at my nose against that rough stone. I'm going to have one hell of a sharp nose by the time all this is over. But we're crossing off the days, and the weeks, until end of semester. Ten more weeks to go. Whee-hawken.
The conferences went well today, and the three students I expected not to show in fact did not show--although one of them sent me an email asking if he could have an appointment with me as soon as possible. He sent it during the time in which he was supposed to already be here, so I wrote back, "You had an appointment with me today. You weren't here." I very briefly considered offering him a conference time tomorrow--I have two open slots--but I decided: no. I'm not going to put any strain on myself to accommodate this young man. He keeps coming in to tell me how important his work is and how much he wants to get a good grade--but then he doesn't make it to class, doesn't turn in his work (or turns it in so late I wonder why he bothers). And what really frosts me is that he keeps calling me by my first name in emails. I've corrected him three times--the first two rather gently. Today not so much. I've tried to be positive and encouraging, but he's now gone too far over the line, and I'm unlikely to do anything more than tell him he needs to withdraw. He may need to stay enrolled for a student visa, but I am not interested in having him continue to roll in late or not make it to class at all, then come to my office in a flurry. Get your shit together. And until you do, don't bother me.
I am also going to deliver a stinging verbal slap to a student in the 102, the self-described "hot mess." For his "revision," he submitted exactly the same essay he'd submitted the first round. He didn't even correct the format or any of the superficial stuff. Therefore, he didn't really submit the second version at all, so he gets zero credit. He said he didn't have the comments with him when he came to conference with me, which is true--but I did take the time to write the comments, and to send him a sheet about mechanics, and clearly, that was all entirely wasted effort. I am going to tell him that he has thus shown a blatant disrespect for me, my time, and my professional knowledge. He'll no doubt fall all over himself apologizing, but I'm not going to accept the apology unless it is accompanied by a radical change in behavior. The sad thing is, he's smart, and he reads with intelligence and sensitivity, and if he'd just stop fucking around, he'd be a great student. As it is, I'm not at all sure I want him in my class, despite the quality of his contributions to the class discussion.
Grrrrrrrrr.
Ah well. Moving on.
When I was in Advisement, I had this wonderful fantasy that somehow I'd be able to at least get homework marked for the 102 before I see them tomorrow, but ... nope. That's not going to happen. I have back-to-back appointments before and after class (apart from those two breaks, mentioned above). So I have removed the mountain of essays to grade, but now I have to dig away at the mountain of other stuff mentioned above. It will be another weekend of scraping away at my nose against that rough stone. I'm going to have one hell of a sharp nose by the time all this is over. But we're crossing off the days, and the weeks, until end of semester. Ten more weeks to go. Whee-hawken.
Tuesday, October 9, 2018
Not a jinx: a choice.
Well, perhaps to no one's vast surprise, I did not get all the essays marked. In fact, I only got two marked, which leaves for to be done tomorrow. That's more than I'd ideally want, of course, but it should be doable. I don't have much time tomorrow except when I'm in Advisement and then for a brief moment after my last appointment--but I still think I can get them done. If not, I'll be finishing up the last one (I hope only one) very early morning on Thursday.
So, you may well ask, what happened to all that time today that I thought I could use for grading? As I said: a choice. I decided to allow myself a little extra sleep this morning, and I allowed myself my full (and very long) morning routine before getting to the office. Then I did have to go through at least some of the crap strewn all over the place to make sure I had what I needed to take to the 102; that included doing some photocopying, which didn't strictly speaking have to be done today, but it felt good to do it.
And I have to say that the first of the essays that I marked today turned out to be a poser. It was one of those in which the problems are so subtle I can't quite put my finger on what they are. Even though I had more sleep than is often the case, I feel as if I'd have done a better job with it if I were more fully rested--and if I didn't have other things poking at my mind while I tried to focus on it. It will be interesting to see how the student responds to my rather vague and befuddled comments; maybe together he and I can figure out what actually is wrong. I know for sure that something doesn't line up; I just don't know what the "something" is.
I will say that at least some time also went to the fact that after I had carefully commented on that student's essay, checked to be sure I had saved it as a "with comments" copy, not just overwriting the original, and closed it so I could reopen it (which sometimes is necessary before the PDF will convert properly), the wretched thing vanished. As in really: nowhere. I searched the hard drive. I searched the thumb drive. It was nowhere. Panic in the streets! As I was freaking out about that, a student showed up for her conference, so I had to put my frantic search for the essay with all my comments on hold--and when I returned to the computer (after sending her an email, which I'll talk about in a minute) ... miraculously the essay was then there, right where I knew I'd put it. But the PDF still refused to save properly. So, in the "when in doubt, reboot" line of trouble-shooting, I restarted the computer, and since then, everything seems to be functioning well. Of course, all that wasn't as much time as it would take me to mark an entire essay, but it was still time out of my day that I didn't anticipate having to allot to something other than essay marking.
Another little glitch occurred because--at the Nth hour, I realized I had completely missed grading an essay for a student who had an appointment with me today. She did finally email to say that she hadn't gotten anything and had been checking all day--by which time I was frantically trying to get the damned thing graded and sent. No harm, no foul: I printed it for her (since it was my fault that she didn't get a chance to do so), and we had a productive conversation about it. (And in hers, I could identify what the problems were--even though it was a very good essay in many ways.) But that was more time I wasn't anticipating having to spend.
Circling back around to the student who came in just as I was freaking out over the "lost" file: I was rather surprised to see her, as she had not submitted her essay--and in fact has submitted almost zero work all semester. She was very calm and collected, but she said she feels like she needs to take a complete and total break from school for a while. The transition from the way one is monitored and hectored in high school to the "you're on your own, kid" methods of college proved to be too much of a challenge for her. She does want to go to college; it's important to her, she said. But she was trying to get into the nursing program largely because her mother is a nurse and the mother expects my student to follow suit. Talking to the student, I began to realize that what at first seemed like "calm and collected" may actually have been restricted affect: I think she's depressed. (Yes, I had to look up the correct term for the condition I think I may have observed.) I suggested that she might get some counseling, and she was very interested in that, said that she really wanted the information. I can't speak to her academic potential, but I think there is someone in there who needs to be allowed to come out and shine. I hope she gets some help--and I encouraged her to keep in touch with me if I could be at all helpful. We all know about my soft spot for troubled young people, especially young women who struggle at home.
I also want to talk about another conference today. The student is a young woman who missed the first day of class because she had to be in court (I have no idea why and have no intention of asking) and who has seemed borderline belligerent, braced to defend herself against perceived disrespect. I admit I was treading carefully with her as I wrote her comments--but she was absolutely lovely in conference. She was thoughtful, her insights into her own process were great, and she was relaxed, open--and in two instances smiled a huge, beaming smile. I don't know why, but it almost made me want to cry. Again, I think this is a young person who just needs to be in the right situation in order to flourish--and I think my class may be the situation for her. I hope so. She's extremely bright and endlessly curious, and those are traits that will serve her well.
I'm sure there's more I could say about the day, but the rest rather went as expected. The 102 went fine--nothing earth shattering but good work on their first foray into reading poetry in my class. We'll see how things progress from here.
Meanwhile, I'm leaving sticky notes for myself all over the place, as I keep having random thoughts about things I need to remember to take care of--and up to this point, I've created several triage lists and then completely forgotten to look at them at all, which rather defeats their purpose. The sticky notes, however, are on my work surface, so I can't escape them.
I'm not going to end this post with a forecast of what the next days will hold. Sufficient unto and all that rot. I just want to get out of here before it gets any later.
So, you may well ask, what happened to all that time today that I thought I could use for grading? As I said: a choice. I decided to allow myself a little extra sleep this morning, and I allowed myself my full (and very long) morning routine before getting to the office. Then I did have to go through at least some of the crap strewn all over the place to make sure I had what I needed to take to the 102; that included doing some photocopying, which didn't strictly speaking have to be done today, but it felt good to do it.
And I have to say that the first of the essays that I marked today turned out to be a poser. It was one of those in which the problems are so subtle I can't quite put my finger on what they are. Even though I had more sleep than is often the case, I feel as if I'd have done a better job with it if I were more fully rested--and if I didn't have other things poking at my mind while I tried to focus on it. It will be interesting to see how the student responds to my rather vague and befuddled comments; maybe together he and I can figure out what actually is wrong. I know for sure that something doesn't line up; I just don't know what the "something" is.
I will say that at least some time also went to the fact that after I had carefully commented on that student's essay, checked to be sure I had saved it as a "with comments" copy, not just overwriting the original, and closed it so I could reopen it (which sometimes is necessary before the PDF will convert properly), the wretched thing vanished. As in really: nowhere. I searched the hard drive. I searched the thumb drive. It was nowhere. Panic in the streets! As I was freaking out about that, a student showed up for her conference, so I had to put my frantic search for the essay with all my comments on hold--and when I returned to the computer (after sending her an email, which I'll talk about in a minute) ... miraculously the essay was then there, right where I knew I'd put it. But the PDF still refused to save properly. So, in the "when in doubt, reboot" line of trouble-shooting, I restarted the computer, and since then, everything seems to be functioning well. Of course, all that wasn't as much time as it would take me to mark an entire essay, but it was still time out of my day that I didn't anticipate having to allot to something other than essay marking.
Another little glitch occurred because--at the Nth hour, I realized I had completely missed grading an essay for a student who had an appointment with me today. She did finally email to say that she hadn't gotten anything and had been checking all day--by which time I was frantically trying to get the damned thing graded and sent. No harm, no foul: I printed it for her (since it was my fault that she didn't get a chance to do so), and we had a productive conversation about it. (And in hers, I could identify what the problems were--even though it was a very good essay in many ways.) But that was more time I wasn't anticipating having to spend.
Circling back around to the student who came in just as I was freaking out over the "lost" file: I was rather surprised to see her, as she had not submitted her essay--and in fact has submitted almost zero work all semester. She was very calm and collected, but she said she feels like she needs to take a complete and total break from school for a while. The transition from the way one is monitored and hectored in high school to the "you're on your own, kid" methods of college proved to be too much of a challenge for her. She does want to go to college; it's important to her, she said. But she was trying to get into the nursing program largely because her mother is a nurse and the mother expects my student to follow suit. Talking to the student, I began to realize that what at first seemed like "calm and collected" may actually have been restricted affect: I think she's depressed. (Yes, I had to look up the correct term for the condition I think I may have observed.) I suggested that she might get some counseling, and she was very interested in that, said that she really wanted the information. I can't speak to her academic potential, but I think there is someone in there who needs to be allowed to come out and shine. I hope she gets some help--and I encouraged her to keep in touch with me if I could be at all helpful. We all know about my soft spot for troubled young people, especially young women who struggle at home.
I also want to talk about another conference today. The student is a young woman who missed the first day of class because she had to be in court (I have no idea why and have no intention of asking) and who has seemed borderline belligerent, braced to defend herself against perceived disrespect. I admit I was treading carefully with her as I wrote her comments--but she was absolutely lovely in conference. She was thoughtful, her insights into her own process were great, and she was relaxed, open--and in two instances smiled a huge, beaming smile. I don't know why, but it almost made me want to cry. Again, I think this is a young person who just needs to be in the right situation in order to flourish--and I think my class may be the situation for her. I hope so. She's extremely bright and endlessly curious, and those are traits that will serve her well.
I'm sure there's more I could say about the day, but the rest rather went as expected. The 102 went fine--nothing earth shattering but good work on their first foray into reading poetry in my class. We'll see how things progress from here.
Meanwhile, I'm leaving sticky notes for myself all over the place, as I keep having random thoughts about things I need to remember to take care of--and up to this point, I've created several triage lists and then completely forgotten to look at them at all, which rather defeats their purpose. The sticky notes, however, are on my work surface, so I can't escape them.
I'm not going to end this post with a forecast of what the next days will hold. Sufficient unto and all that rot. I just want to get out of here before it gets any later.
Monday, October 8, 2018
A minor miracle...
I almost am afraid to say anything, for fear of creating some sort of horrific jinx, but I think I can finish grading all the essays for the 101s tomorrow--and possibly even in the morning before my 102 class. I don't have my heart set on the "done in the morning" part; I do also need to make some kind of sense of the teetering, chaotic stacks of stuff that are all over my desk, on the radiator, around the computer--not to mention the stuff that's shoved into my wheelie pack--and it's important to do that before I go to class, so I'm sure I have whatever I might need when I get there. It's funny that I've been so deeply focused on the grading and the attendant conferences that the whole "I need to go into the classroom and do something instructive" part has almost entirely slipped my mind. I do hope I can get that back into the front part of my attention by the end of this week, again, so I can be sure I have with me what I'll need to take into my classrooms (and to my Advisement stints).
Speaking of Advisement, I took both this morning and tomorrow morning off; these are hours I'll have to make up, but I already have the make-up times set, and it shouldn't be too onerous. I'm rather hoping that for the next round of essays, the attrition will be such that I can do all my stints in a conference week--or at most, only miss one (which would be just two hours to make up, and that's readily do-able).
It seems like I ought to have more to report, but I really don't the conferences were fine. Only one got up my nose a bit, the last one. The student is an eager beaver; he's also on the staff of the campus newspaper (which is starting to be as much a red flag for me as "I write poetry" or "I went to Chaminade"). And he really, really wanted to make a case that colleges should teach life skills such as cooking, cleaning, money management and so on. Uh, no. Just ... no. Yes, I understand that not everyone is lucky enough to have parents to teach them those things. Yes, I understand that high schools don't teach enough of that stuff. But still: not our job. Even if one thinks--as this student does--that college needs to be narrowly pragmatic in its focus and applications ("why am I taking useless classes that won't help me in my future?"), it's not our job to teach you how to do the laundry. It just isn't. But man, he did not want to let go of it. And he pointed out that this was the second of his ideas that I'd scotched. His first was going to be about how mental health problems affect college performance ... or something like that. In any event, nothing with enough of a clear focus to work for a 4-5 page argument essay.
Oh, and that's been interesting: the number of students who say, "Oh, you want us to write an argument essay." Yes, I do. Didn't I say that? Sort of a lot? And of course, all the usual confusions are there: "I thought it was supposed to be my opinion." (Yes, but not opinion as in "I think a pink living room is lovely.") "I thought I was supposed to use facts." (Yes, but not just to say, "Here's something this author said. And here's something this other author said.") "But how am I supposed to write four pages on just ..." (fill in the blank. Four pages is just so much writing to do.)
Whatever. They're learning, and I keep having those, "Wow, this is probably the last time I'll ever do that" moments, as well as the "Wow, I don't have to think about how to do this assignment better next time" moments. Weird, weird, weird.
But it is now, of course, late, and of course I have to run an errand or two on the way home. So, hasta luego, y'all.
Speaking of Advisement, I took both this morning and tomorrow morning off; these are hours I'll have to make up, but I already have the make-up times set, and it shouldn't be too onerous. I'm rather hoping that for the next round of essays, the attrition will be such that I can do all my stints in a conference week--or at most, only miss one (which would be just two hours to make up, and that's readily do-able).
It seems like I ought to have more to report, but I really don't the conferences were fine. Only one got up my nose a bit, the last one. The student is an eager beaver; he's also on the staff of the campus newspaper (which is starting to be as much a red flag for me as "I write poetry" or "I went to Chaminade"). And he really, really wanted to make a case that colleges should teach life skills such as cooking, cleaning, money management and so on. Uh, no. Just ... no. Yes, I understand that not everyone is lucky enough to have parents to teach them those things. Yes, I understand that high schools don't teach enough of that stuff. But still: not our job. Even if one thinks--as this student does--that college needs to be narrowly pragmatic in its focus and applications ("why am I taking useless classes that won't help me in my future?"), it's not our job to teach you how to do the laundry. It just isn't. But man, he did not want to let go of it. And he pointed out that this was the second of his ideas that I'd scotched. His first was going to be about how mental health problems affect college performance ... or something like that. In any event, nothing with enough of a clear focus to work for a 4-5 page argument essay.
Oh, and that's been interesting: the number of students who say, "Oh, you want us to write an argument essay." Yes, I do. Didn't I say that? Sort of a lot? And of course, all the usual confusions are there: "I thought it was supposed to be my opinion." (Yes, but not opinion as in "I think a pink living room is lovely.") "I thought I was supposed to use facts." (Yes, but not just to say, "Here's something this author said. And here's something this other author said.") "But how am I supposed to write four pages on just ..." (fill in the blank. Four pages is just so much writing to do.)
Whatever. They're learning, and I keep having those, "Wow, this is probably the last time I'll ever do that" moments, as well as the "Wow, I don't have to think about how to do this assignment better next time" moments. Weird, weird, weird.
But it is now, of course, late, and of course I have to run an errand or two on the way home. So, hasta luego, y'all.
Sunday, October 7, 2018
Should, should, should
Look how early it is! There's plenty of daylight left, and this is way before the time at which I really have to stop working in order to have any chance of winding down before bed. So, of course, I "should" keep grading. I got the essays allotted for today done, and I could keep going, but ... well, I'm not gonna.
I decided to email the student who was granted an extension to the deadline because of a glitch with Turnitin but who still--still!--hasn't submitted. I thought for a while about just leaving him in happy ignorance until our conference, but I decided to forewarn him. So, he got a message explaining that he's now in the territory of no comments and huge penalties because of late submission--and explaining that just the fact that he finished the essay is not sufficient: he needed to actually submit the damned thing. If he doesn't upload by tomorrow, zero credit. Add that to his absences and missing work and ... well, his chances of getting the A he wants had already flown the coop, but now he's going to have to really pull his socks up if he wants to pass with a transferable C.
As for today's essays, one was very good indeed. Most were well within normal parameters. Two were hopeless: both were half the required length, and one was entirely personal voice. Nope and nope.
The one slight frustration for today is the fact that I'm not sure I've been using a "mechanics" checklist that has the correct page numbers for the new edition of the students' handbook--and for some reason, although I usually have copies of the handbooks scattered all over creation, I don't have one at home, so I can't check. I may, therefore, have to take some time tomorrow morning to re-do those checklists. It won't take long, fortunately, but still. Argh.
In any event, I have been out to walk briskly between sets of essay grading and mostly stuck to my "comment less, move more quickly" determination. (Two notable exceptions. Oh well. I still got everything done in a timely manner.) Now all that remains in terms of work to do today is to make sure all the files are on a thumb drive, which will take all of about a minute. And then I'm free to fritter away the remainder of my Sunday. That counts as a win.
I decided to email the student who was granted an extension to the deadline because of a glitch with Turnitin but who still--still!--hasn't submitted. I thought for a while about just leaving him in happy ignorance until our conference, but I decided to forewarn him. So, he got a message explaining that he's now in the territory of no comments and huge penalties because of late submission--and explaining that just the fact that he finished the essay is not sufficient: he needed to actually submit the damned thing. If he doesn't upload by tomorrow, zero credit. Add that to his absences and missing work and ... well, his chances of getting the A he wants had already flown the coop, but now he's going to have to really pull his socks up if he wants to pass with a transferable C.
As for today's essays, one was very good indeed. Most were well within normal parameters. Two were hopeless: both were half the required length, and one was entirely personal voice. Nope and nope.
The one slight frustration for today is the fact that I'm not sure I've been using a "mechanics" checklist that has the correct page numbers for the new edition of the students' handbook--and for some reason, although I usually have copies of the handbooks scattered all over creation, I don't have one at home, so I can't check. I may, therefore, have to take some time tomorrow morning to re-do those checklists. It won't take long, fortunately, but still. Argh.
In any event, I have been out to walk briskly between sets of essay grading and mostly stuck to my "comment less, move more quickly" determination. (Two notable exceptions. Oh well. I still got everything done in a timely manner.) Now all that remains in terms of work to do today is to make sure all the files are on a thumb drive, which will take all of about a minute. And then I'm free to fritter away the remainder of my Sunday. That counts as a win.
Saturday, October 6, 2018
Well, that went much better
I did take time this morning to go to my yoga class--a necessary mood stabilizer and body refresher--and I ran two quick errands, but I was working before 1:30, and I did exactly and precisely what I set out to do. I graded the essays I'd allotted to today's "nut," and every third essay I took a break for a little walk around the block (or several). I grant, my life was made much easier by the fact that two students hadn't finished their essays, so I had almost nothing to say to them. Well, one didn't finish; the other submitted four pages--of which about 3/4 page was actually sentences constructed by him. The rest was quotation. It was properly cited, but massive reams of quoting. I actually went through the essay and pulled out the sentences he'd written so he could see how paltry his contributions to his own paper were.
I confess that, in the first batch I graded, I slipped back into old habits and spent longer than I should have on each one, but I pulled myself back from the brink after that walk (and after realizing how long the first three had taken me). I'm hoping that I do a better job of being expeditious in my evaluations on all the essays, from first to last. I have no idea what to expect in terms of quality, but the essays I graded today weren't bad. The sentence skills were about what I'd expect (I don't expect much any more, but these at least made sense) and the students generally had something to say that made something approaching sense.
As for tomorrow, it will be interesting to see what happens with one student. He came in to see me in the second week, I think, as he was worried about his grades--but since then, he's missed a lot of class (either completely missed or just come pretty late); he hasn't been turning in work, and his essay still has not been submitted. That's not entirely his fault: there was a glitch with Turnitin, so a number of students were having difficulty--and he did send me the screen shot of the "upload" page, showing that he at least had gotten that far. So I sent him an email in which I said he should email the essay to me and I'd upload it. I spoke to the SUNY help desk, and I sent the information I got from them to the entire class, explaining how to trouble-shoot if the problem arises again. He said he'd contacted Turnitin directly, and they said the technical problem should be fixed within 48 hours. I told him again to email his essay right away as I don't want to wait 48 hours for it. He wrote back to say he would "try his best," but he was at work and couldn't get to the essay, which was on his home computer. Today? No email. No upload. Not quite sure what I want to do about that, but I did warn him that I might reschedule his appointment if he didn't get the essay to me. If it's not there when I start grading tomorrow, I will at least do that--but I need to let him know that he's rapidly sabotaging his chances for success.
Ah well.
I did check to see if any of the students who hadn't submitted on time might have submitted today; nope. So far, that's five essays I don't have to worry about, not counting the student in the anecdote above.
So, that's a good day done, I reckon. I'll have to print out more copies of the mechanics checklist tomorrow, but I did get at least the Monday conference appointments logged into the Writing Center software, so that's another little bit of underbrush cleared away. I can now turn my brain off for the remainder of the evening--and it's not too late. Hooray.
I confess that, in the first batch I graded, I slipped back into old habits and spent longer than I should have on each one, but I pulled myself back from the brink after that walk (and after realizing how long the first three had taken me). I'm hoping that I do a better job of being expeditious in my evaluations on all the essays, from first to last. I have no idea what to expect in terms of quality, but the essays I graded today weren't bad. The sentence skills were about what I'd expect (I don't expect much any more, but these at least made sense) and the students generally had something to say that made something approaching sense.
As for tomorrow, it will be interesting to see what happens with one student. He came in to see me in the second week, I think, as he was worried about his grades--but since then, he's missed a lot of class (either completely missed or just come pretty late); he hasn't been turning in work, and his essay still has not been submitted. That's not entirely his fault: there was a glitch with Turnitin, so a number of students were having difficulty--and he did send me the screen shot of the "upload" page, showing that he at least had gotten that far. So I sent him an email in which I said he should email the essay to me and I'd upload it. I spoke to the SUNY help desk, and I sent the information I got from them to the entire class, explaining how to trouble-shoot if the problem arises again. He said he'd contacted Turnitin directly, and they said the technical problem should be fixed within 48 hours. I told him again to email his essay right away as I don't want to wait 48 hours for it. He wrote back to say he would "try his best," but he was at work and couldn't get to the essay, which was on his home computer. Today? No email. No upload. Not quite sure what I want to do about that, but I did warn him that I might reschedule his appointment if he didn't get the essay to me. If it's not there when I start grading tomorrow, I will at least do that--but I need to let him know that he's rapidly sabotaging his chances for success.
Ah well.
I did check to see if any of the students who hadn't submitted on time might have submitted today; nope. So far, that's five essays I don't have to worry about, not counting the student in the anecdote above.
So, that's a good day done, I reckon. I'll have to print out more copies of the mechanics checklist tomorrow, but I did get at least the Monday conference appointments logged into the Writing Center software, so that's another little bit of underbrush cleared away. I can now turn my brain off for the remainder of the evening--and it's not too late. Hooray.
Friday, October 5, 2018
I ... just ... can't
I am so completely whipped today, after being in the office until almost 9 p.m. last night, that I find I just cannot, cannot, grade essays. I downloaded them all; I got the PDFs translated into Word documents; I made a "quota" list--and just revised the quota list, because the four (only four!) essays I had originally planned to do today have been reduced to one and the start on a second. And at that, my whole being started whining so loudly I just gave in.
I think the process is going to go OK, though. I am working very hard to keep marginal comments to a minimum (and to keep them brief), and I'm doing the "mechanics" checklist for each student as I write comments. I did not, in fact, get to campus to make photocopies; I just printed them at home. Students have to make sure they don't get wet, though, as the ink will run--or maybe I'll photocopy them after they're marked, so the students get a more durable copy.
Whatever. It will all happen one way or another.
For now, I am too wound up to take a nap and too tired to do anything else of substance, so I'm going to turn into a mindless mound of protoplasm for a while and hope to have something approaching a brain tomorrow, after (again, I hope) a reasonable night's sleep. It should be a lovely night of sleeping weather--and letting go of the mind busy-ness now means I have at least a modicum of a chance to get to bed at an hour that makes sense.
More tomorrow, I reckon. Shutting my brain off in 5, 4, 3...
I think the process is going to go OK, though. I am working very hard to keep marginal comments to a minimum (and to keep them brief), and I'm doing the "mechanics" checklist for each student as I write comments. I did not, in fact, get to campus to make photocopies; I just printed them at home. Students have to make sure they don't get wet, though, as the ink will run--or maybe I'll photocopy them after they're marked, so the students get a more durable copy.
Whatever. It will all happen one way or another.
For now, I am too wound up to take a nap and too tired to do anything else of substance, so I'm going to turn into a mindless mound of protoplasm for a while and hope to have something approaching a brain tomorrow, after (again, I hope) a reasonable night's sleep. It should be a lovely night of sleeping weather--and letting go of the mind busy-ness now means I have at least a modicum of a chance to get to bed at an hour that makes sense.
More tomorrow, I reckon. Shutting my brain off in 5, 4, 3...
Thursday, October 4, 2018
What have I done to myself??
I don't know what I've done to deserve this, but my students are submitting their essays. It's early yet to tell with the students from today's 101--they have until midnight--but all but one student submitted from the M/W 101. Granted, that's "only" 15 students, but still.
The grading count looks like this:
Monday: nine essays (I was counting a student from the 102 who has asked for a second appointment with me).
Tuesday: Four essays. (Whew!)
Wednesday: Nine, maybe ten.
Thursday (drum roll, please): Fourteen. Four-fucking-teen! It is possible that two of those students may not submit, but ... ayayay.
Well, obviously I just have to get a huge lead on the essays so I can be working on the Thursday batch well before Wednesday.
As for right now, I'm not sure how I'm managing to put together anything other than word salad at the moment. I've been crunched all day--and I have realized that doing the "mechanics" checklists after I finish marking and doing them on the computer actually takes way too much time. I realized a few minutes ago--long after the office was closed (thus making the copiers inaccessible)--that I don't have copies of the mechanics sheet for the 101s, and if I'm going to mark those as I read and provide revision feedback, I rather need copies to take home with me. Current plan: make a trip to campus tomorrow, just to make the copies. Yeah, I could print a bunch in the office, but it's been beaten into us how expensive the toner is for the printers--the copier costs are bad enough--so I don't like to take advantage.
Back to today: the conferences mostly went well--and although I didn't great that one student with a withdrawal slip, I did give him one as we talked. He'll withdraw. Wise move. One student keeps describing himself as a "hot mess"--and if the idea of "hot" there is a reference to things boiling over or otherwise being out of control because of actual temperature, it applies. He's certainly a mess. (His excuse? "I haven't made the transition from summer yet." "Dude, it's October. Get with the program.") He had nothing he needed--and he has a tendency not to retain anything, not to focus, so I'm not so sure he'll be any less a mess as the semester goes along. One student--the daughter of the mother-daughter duo--came in to talk about her notes. She said I kept telling her she was summarizing when she wasn't, but when we looked at the notes, well, golly gee, what do you know: she actually was summarizing when I said she was. Really, she just didn't have an idea how to do the notes and was unhappy with the low marks--but I think she gets it now. She did confess to suffering from a lot of anxiety (it really is an epidemic; I am not being sarcastic)--and that surprised me, as she seems very clear, strong, tough, and unflappable in class. However, I will bring the Breath-Body-Mind stuff into that class when we resume class meetings; it will be interesting to see how it goes with them.
And I was pleasantly surprised that the vast majority of students were there in today's class (unlike the usual "Where is everyone? Oh, right: an essay is due" routine)--and only two didn't have essays with them. There was a little misunderstanding about the process of peer review, but they finally got into it--and then we had the usual hoola-boola around my desk as students asked what they needed to submit, what I still have unmarked (almost everything), blah blah. I posted the "No class: conferences" notice, got back to the office, finished the mechanics review sheets for the 102 and sent them, did the P&B minutes, and put a conference schedule outside the door, in case anyone who was absent decides to turn up and sign up for a conference. I had hoped to get the appointments with the 101 students all logged in to the Writing Center software, but that just ain't gonna happen tonight. I'll use that busy-work as a break in the grading from time to time.
And now, my back is killing me from sitting at the damned computer all day, and I'm exhausted and hungry and tomorrow, glory be, is another day. I expect I'll be posting over the weekend as I struggle with the grading. You all get to hear me moan and complain, you lucky dogs.
The grading count looks like this:
Monday: nine essays (I was counting a student from the 102 who has asked for a second appointment with me).
Tuesday: Four essays. (Whew!)
Wednesday: Nine, maybe ten.
Thursday (drum roll, please): Fourteen. Four-fucking-teen! It is possible that two of those students may not submit, but ... ayayay.
Well, obviously I just have to get a huge lead on the essays so I can be working on the Thursday batch well before Wednesday.
As for right now, I'm not sure how I'm managing to put together anything other than word salad at the moment. I've been crunched all day--and I have realized that doing the "mechanics" checklists after I finish marking and doing them on the computer actually takes way too much time. I realized a few minutes ago--long after the office was closed (thus making the copiers inaccessible)--that I don't have copies of the mechanics sheet for the 101s, and if I'm going to mark those as I read and provide revision feedback, I rather need copies to take home with me. Current plan: make a trip to campus tomorrow, just to make the copies. Yeah, I could print a bunch in the office, but it's been beaten into us how expensive the toner is for the printers--the copier costs are bad enough--so I don't like to take advantage.
Back to today: the conferences mostly went well--and although I didn't great that one student with a withdrawal slip, I did give him one as we talked. He'll withdraw. Wise move. One student keeps describing himself as a "hot mess"--and if the idea of "hot" there is a reference to things boiling over or otherwise being out of control because of actual temperature, it applies. He's certainly a mess. (His excuse? "I haven't made the transition from summer yet." "Dude, it's October. Get with the program.") He had nothing he needed--and he has a tendency not to retain anything, not to focus, so I'm not so sure he'll be any less a mess as the semester goes along. One student--the daughter of the mother-daughter duo--came in to talk about her notes. She said I kept telling her she was summarizing when she wasn't, but when we looked at the notes, well, golly gee, what do you know: she actually was summarizing when I said she was. Really, she just didn't have an idea how to do the notes and was unhappy with the low marks--but I think she gets it now. She did confess to suffering from a lot of anxiety (it really is an epidemic; I am not being sarcastic)--and that surprised me, as she seems very clear, strong, tough, and unflappable in class. However, I will bring the Breath-Body-Mind stuff into that class when we resume class meetings; it will be interesting to see how it goes with them.
And I was pleasantly surprised that the vast majority of students were there in today's class (unlike the usual "Where is everyone? Oh, right: an essay is due" routine)--and only two didn't have essays with them. There was a little misunderstanding about the process of peer review, but they finally got into it--and then we had the usual hoola-boola around my desk as students asked what they needed to submit, what I still have unmarked (almost everything), blah blah. I posted the "No class: conferences" notice, got back to the office, finished the mechanics review sheets for the 102 and sent them, did the P&B minutes, and put a conference schedule outside the door, in case anyone who was absent decides to turn up and sign up for a conference. I had hoped to get the appointments with the 101 students all logged in to the Writing Center software, but that just ain't gonna happen tonight. I'll use that busy-work as a break in the grading from time to time.
And now, my back is killing me from sitting at the damned computer all day, and I'm exhausted and hungry and tomorrow, glory be, is another day. I expect I'll be posting over the weekend as I struggle with the grading. You all get to hear me moan and complain, you lucky dogs.
Wednesday, October 3, 2018
Yet another non-post post
I have to fly out the door very very soon here, so this'll be brief--but I do want to record that today's 101 did a miraculous turn-around today. Of course, half the class wasn't there (paper due), and three of those who were there didn't have their essays with them--but the ones who were there not only seemed to do a good job working together, they suddenly were interacting with me in a way they have not to date: smiling, making eye contact--no longer just sullen lumps. It was lovely. I hope it lasts.
I still have one essay to mark for tomorrow's conferences, but it's a student who didn't sign up until yesterday--the bright student who is having a hard time adjusting to the day schedule (or whatever), so I just sent him a message that there will be a delay, and I'll deal with his when I get in tomorrow.
That leaves one student who submitted an essay and did nothing else. Next time I see him, I'm going to just hand him an already filled out withdrawal form.
I have a shitload of deck clearing to do tomorrow, which (dammit) probably will not include getting everything marked and back to the 101 students in tomorrow's class, but hey. Tomorrow is another day, right? We'll see. Let's try all the mantras...
Gotta go.
I still have one essay to mark for tomorrow's conferences, but it's a student who didn't sign up until yesterday--the bright student who is having a hard time adjusting to the day schedule (or whatever), so I just sent him a message that there will be a delay, and I'll deal with his when I get in tomorrow.
That leaves one student who submitted an essay and did nothing else. Next time I see him, I'm going to just hand him an already filled out withdrawal form.
I have a shitload of deck clearing to do tomorrow, which (dammit) probably will not include getting everything marked and back to the 101 students in tomorrow's class, but hey. Tomorrow is another day, right? We'll see. Let's try all the mantras...
Gotta go.
Tuesday, October 2, 2018
...and miles to go, again.
I just finished grading the second of the two essays for tomorrow's conferences--or, two that I knew were going to have conferences tomorrow. I think I mentioned the student who emailed her essay early but never completed the upload to Turnitin. She finally got back to me; her grandfather died (I know: oldest excuse in the book, but I'll give her the benefit of the doubt)--and she apologized profusely for being "silly" not to have taken better care of her own work. I still don't know whether I'm going to give her credit, take a late penalty, what--but I will provide comments, mostly because I want her to have every chance to do well that she can get. If she "misbehaves" again, I'll be less generous, but for now, I'm inclined to be merciful.
But she signed up for an appointment tomorrow morning. I should have done with her what I did with the two students who submitted essays on time but were not in class to sign up for conferences: I told them they had to sign up for conference times but not for tomorrow or Wednesday morning; only Wednesday afternoon or Thursday. I didn't give her that instruction, so I can't fault her for wanting an earlier appointment--but it does put me under the gun a bit. I'd have marked her essay tonight, but she submitted PDFs, and somewhere along the line, Adobe Pro got deleted from this computer, so although I can translate from Word to PDF, I can't go the other way except from my home computer. Argh. (And I spent a good while "chatting" with Adobe tech support--which is how I finally understood why I was having the problem--but I don't have administrative access to install software. So that was a mammoth waste of time.)
Anyway, I told the emailing student that I might not have a chance to read or evaluate her essay before her conference, so if I don't, I don't.
As for the students who submitted on time but were otherwise AWOL, I ran into one on my way back to the office after class today. He's clearly very bright, but man, has he ever been dropping the ball so far. I told him he was in big trouble, and he gets that. He had, however, just signed up for a conference with me--Thursday afternoon. He didn't have much of a reason for why he's been so lax so far, something about having a hard time getting used to taking day classes instead of evening classes (? I don't know, it made sense to him), but I told him if he doesn't button it up starting right now, he won't pass. He gets that.
The other student I don't expect to see or hear from. I really should have a withdrawal slip all signed and ready to give him, in case I ever see him again.
One student did show up for a conference despite not having turned in an essay at all. No good excuse there, either: "I only had two days left to do it in." So instead of doing something and working from there, you opted to lose 150 points and get no feedback from me? A little bit of the "you need to be proactive about your own education" lecture but I pretty much said, "Well, I guess you're on your own then. See you next week."
As for today's class, it was not exactly wonderful--but I wasn't in the best frame of mind to try to make it work. Of course I came nowhere near getting their assignments done (that stack just keeps getting bigger), but I have four essays to grade for the 102 tomorrow, and after that, all my attention can go to getting those 101 assignments done and out of my hair--before I face the onslaught of grading for the 101s. And that's going to be ferocious. Ten students are signed up for Monday, and there's a chance some of the students who were absent on Monday or today may fill in more of those slots. I've just told Advisement that I'll have to miss my time on both Monday and Tuesday, so I'll have time to do some grading; Tuesday is light (three appointments), Wednesday slightly heavier (six appointments)--and Thursday is a killer: ***Thirteen*** conferences that day. I know that seems like I should have plenty of time, but ... I won't. I know I won't be as disciplined this weekend as I need to be (though maybe I'll surprise myself), and even with the time I usually spend in Advisement on Monday and Tuesday cleared for essay grading (plus a reasonably large chunk on Wednesday), that's just a fuck of a lot of essays.
Of course, I can always hope that lots of them don't submit, which is a dreadful thing to hope for, but really, it would make my life infinitely easier.
Along those lines, I'm usually happy to have students withdraw, as it lightens the load--but today one of the students I liked most in the 101 had a withdrawal slip. I gave him a hard time about it, telling him we'd talk after class, but he was very insistent: polite but firm. "Professor, I've made my decision." I finally signed it for him and apologized for giving him a hassle, saying he absolutely should do what's best for him. All this was going on under the eyes of the rest of the class--interesting to hear the murmur of the "audience" reacting to the little drama playing out in front of them--and after I signed the form, he said maybe he'd take the class again in another semester and have me for his professor. I said, "You won't." Surprise: "I won't??" "I'm retiring at the end of this semester." He clearly felt a brief pang at the thought that he wouldn't have that option--and again, there was a reaction from the crowd: not quite gasps, but audible sounds of surprise and (dare I say) maybe even dismay. Sorry, students. This is your one chance to experience my excellence... (I kid, of course. I'm still pretty damned good, but no one is getting excellence from me this semester. I'm too fucking tired.)
Anyway, it's now getting very late, and I really do have to get home. I realized yesterday that I've entered the part of the fall semester in which I get up before light and get home after dark. Thank heaven I have to get out and walk around campus, or I'd turn into a mole person. Or a mold person. Mushroomy. Etiolated. (Ain't that a splendid word?) And if I go much longer without food, I'm going to get a crashing headache, so I am outta here.
But she signed up for an appointment tomorrow morning. I should have done with her what I did with the two students who submitted essays on time but were not in class to sign up for conferences: I told them they had to sign up for conference times but not for tomorrow or Wednesday morning; only Wednesday afternoon or Thursday. I didn't give her that instruction, so I can't fault her for wanting an earlier appointment--but it does put me under the gun a bit. I'd have marked her essay tonight, but she submitted PDFs, and somewhere along the line, Adobe Pro got deleted from this computer, so although I can translate from Word to PDF, I can't go the other way except from my home computer. Argh. (And I spent a good while "chatting" with Adobe tech support--which is how I finally understood why I was having the problem--but I don't have administrative access to install software. So that was a mammoth waste of time.)
Anyway, I told the emailing student that I might not have a chance to read or evaluate her essay before her conference, so if I don't, I don't.
As for the students who submitted on time but were otherwise AWOL, I ran into one on my way back to the office after class today. He's clearly very bright, but man, has he ever been dropping the ball so far. I told him he was in big trouble, and he gets that. He had, however, just signed up for a conference with me--Thursday afternoon. He didn't have much of a reason for why he's been so lax so far, something about having a hard time getting used to taking day classes instead of evening classes (? I don't know, it made sense to him), but I told him if he doesn't button it up starting right now, he won't pass. He gets that.
The other student I don't expect to see or hear from. I really should have a withdrawal slip all signed and ready to give him, in case I ever see him again.
One student did show up for a conference despite not having turned in an essay at all. No good excuse there, either: "I only had two days left to do it in." So instead of doing something and working from there, you opted to lose 150 points and get no feedback from me? A little bit of the "you need to be proactive about your own education" lecture but I pretty much said, "Well, I guess you're on your own then. See you next week."
As for today's class, it was not exactly wonderful--but I wasn't in the best frame of mind to try to make it work. Of course I came nowhere near getting their assignments done (that stack just keeps getting bigger), but I have four essays to grade for the 102 tomorrow, and after that, all my attention can go to getting those 101 assignments done and out of my hair--before I face the onslaught of grading for the 101s. And that's going to be ferocious. Ten students are signed up for Monday, and there's a chance some of the students who were absent on Monday or today may fill in more of those slots. I've just told Advisement that I'll have to miss my time on both Monday and Tuesday, so I'll have time to do some grading; Tuesday is light (three appointments), Wednesday slightly heavier (six appointments)--and Thursday is a killer: ***Thirteen*** conferences that day. I know that seems like I should have plenty of time, but ... I won't. I know I won't be as disciplined this weekend as I need to be (though maybe I'll surprise myself), and even with the time I usually spend in Advisement on Monday and Tuesday cleared for essay grading (plus a reasonably large chunk on Wednesday), that's just a fuck of a lot of essays.
Of course, I can always hope that lots of them don't submit, which is a dreadful thing to hope for, but really, it would make my life infinitely easier.
Along those lines, I'm usually happy to have students withdraw, as it lightens the load--but today one of the students I liked most in the 101 had a withdrawal slip. I gave him a hard time about it, telling him we'd talk after class, but he was very insistent: polite but firm. "Professor, I've made my decision." I finally signed it for him and apologized for giving him a hassle, saying he absolutely should do what's best for him. All this was going on under the eyes of the rest of the class--interesting to hear the murmur of the "audience" reacting to the little drama playing out in front of them--and after I signed the form, he said maybe he'd take the class again in another semester and have me for his professor. I said, "You won't." Surprise: "I won't??" "I'm retiring at the end of this semester." He clearly felt a brief pang at the thought that he wouldn't have that option--and again, there was a reaction from the crowd: not quite gasps, but audible sounds of surprise and (dare I say) maybe even dismay. Sorry, students. This is your one chance to experience my excellence... (I kid, of course. I'm still pretty damned good, but no one is getting excellence from me this semester. I'm too fucking tired.)
Anyway, it's now getting very late, and I really do have to get home. I realized yesterday that I've entered the part of the fall semester in which I get up before light and get home after dark. Thank heaven I have to get out and walk around campus, or I'd turn into a mole person. Or a mold person. Mushroomy. Etiolated. (Ain't that a splendid word?) And if I go much longer without food, I'm going to get a crashing headache, so I am outta here.
Monday, October 1, 2018
The non-answer answer
In response to a question on a quiz about how to determine whether to use quotation or paraphrase, as both can be used for evidence, a student provided this: "You would choose to quote instead of paraphrasing or vice versa because of how you plan to use it in your writing to help make your point and have readers understand your argument." Grammatically correct but note the skillful evasion of the question. I don't know whether the generalization applies to all undergraduates (especially freshmen) at all U.S. institutions, but I can say that here, students tend to be absolute masters of 1. Stating the manifestly obvious, 2. Evading specifics with impressive sounding bilge, and 3. Circular reasoning. It can be kind of amusing to notice the contortions they go through in order to say absolutely nothing whatsoever.
I'm not going to say very much about anything either; it's already much later than the departure time I intended, and I have miles to go (literally and figuratively) before I get home, never mind sleep. Good news: I got everything marked with time to spare for today's 101. Not so good news: I am nowhere near as far with the work for tomorrow's 101, and I have essentially zero time after my (brief) stint in Advisement. Ah well. So it goes.
My minutes for P&B have garnered some praise for clarity and comprehensiveness without including stuff that really shouldn't be in there. (I just have to remember to photocopy them before tomorrow's meeting.)
I only have one observation to conduct this semester: yippie!
A student I thought I might have lost has returned from jury duty (long story; don't ask).
The student who joined the class late seems--alas--to be on track to continue the "they never make it to the end" trend. I had hopes, but ... no. He's been to two classes (and was late to one of the two). He's missed the rest of the semester. Not such a great track record. I wrote to him today to suggest (strongly) that he withdraw.
All the students showed up for their conferences today--and one gets a triple gold star for being prepared and asking great questions, really making use of his time. Tomorrow (as previously noted), two students didn't submit essays (can make the conference pretty short--assuming they even show up for it); one wrote an essay that was pretty disastrous. The others: great.
I know I'm forgetting stuff. (Pearls clattering around, plates smashing to the floor.)
But I'm off. (I'm also leaving. Ha ha ha.)
I'm not going to say very much about anything either; it's already much later than the departure time I intended, and I have miles to go (literally and figuratively) before I get home, never mind sleep. Good news: I got everything marked with time to spare for today's 101. Not so good news: I am nowhere near as far with the work for tomorrow's 101, and I have essentially zero time after my (brief) stint in Advisement. Ah well. So it goes.
My minutes for P&B have garnered some praise for clarity and comprehensiveness without including stuff that really shouldn't be in there. (I just have to remember to photocopy them before tomorrow's meeting.)
I only have one observation to conduct this semester: yippie!
A student I thought I might have lost has returned from jury duty (long story; don't ask).
The student who joined the class late seems--alas--to be on track to continue the "they never make it to the end" trend. I had hopes, but ... no. He's been to two classes (and was late to one of the two). He's missed the rest of the semester. Not such a great track record. I wrote to him today to suggest (strongly) that he withdraw.
All the students showed up for their conferences today--and one gets a triple gold star for being prepared and asking great questions, really making use of his time. Tomorrow (as previously noted), two students didn't submit essays (can make the conference pretty short--assuming they even show up for it); one wrote an essay that was pretty disastrous. The others: great.
I know I'm forgetting stuff. (Pearls clattering around, plates smashing to the floor.)
But I'm off. (I'm also leaving. Ha ha ha.)
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