path and practice

What is the sound of an empty classroom?

nobody@vox.com(bodhibound) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:03:21 -0800

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh....

It is the second to last day of proper classes at My Institution this term. No, strike that---even better: It was the second to last day of proper classes at My Institution this term. :)

We had a good day and I liked them all again and they all had a really pretty good time and I remember why I like my job again.

Not too shabby.

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Not a Hare, Not a Tortoise, More Like a Sloth

nobody@vox.com(bodhibound) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 13:58:22 -0800

Aaarrrrgggggghhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Heartswater remains the undisputed Speedier Grading Champion of the World, or at least of Our Friendship. In my first declared attempt to grade 20 argumentative essays in 2.5 hours, I have fallen ridiculously short. I have completed 10 frickin' essays. Oh, for frick's sake.

And now, I shall call her and tell her and she will, of course, be so gracious and not laugh at me too much. And then I shall eat more snacks, maybe take a shower, and grade more. Sighhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

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Not A Hare, Not A Tortoise, Either

nobody@vox.com(bodhibound) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 11:39:25 -0800

Well, frak. In the first hour of my Heartswater Grading Challenge, I've gotten exactly 4 essays read and responded to, and only been able to figure out finalized grades for 3. I shall now eat a snack and run around the house in hopes of enlivening my sluggish brain, and then get back at it for hour #2. Updates will follow...

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Slow & Steady No More!

nobody@vox.com(bodhibound) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 10:31:03 -0800

It's 1:16pm, Sunday afternoon and I know exactly where my anxieties are--piled in the form of student essays waiting to be graded for 9am tomorrow. Frick, frack, fuck. I've been putting work off all weekend. In my defense, I have been sick for a week or so, and have worked through the plague, so I did need a few days to sloth and eat vitamin C tablets. Defensible or no, however, I gotta come off break now and get this shit done. The term isn't over for two more weeks, give or take a few days, regardless of how done I feel already.

Ok, reframe: This particular stack is going to be very good. My Argumentative Writing folks are all smart, sweet, lovely people---for real; not for pretend. Almost all of them are also funny people, which is extra nice. The stack is also relatively small. I've done 2 of 'em already, so I only have 20 left to go. 20 essays x 7 pages = 140 pages. I can do that standing on my head; I mean, they're double-spaced, for god's sake. ;)

It's not the reading that gets me, though, of course---it's the responding. I am a close reader by nature, and a dialogic teacher. I cannot restrain my brain---I really do read every frickin' word---nor my pen---I offer tons of feedback: readerly, teacherly, etc. Here, near the end of my first semester teaching 5 classes, I am ready to get real about the unsustainable nature of my feedback practice. The well has indeed run dry, and all I want to do is give everyone an A and watch TV on the internets.

And so I shall take the Heartswater challenge. Always a graciously giving mentor, she has been helping me not go insane since I started teaching. She's been doing it longer and is simply way smarter at it than I am. She estimates it would likely take her 2.5 hours to get through this many pages/essays, so I'm gonna do my living best to chase her time. I've set a timer for one hour, when I'll take a teensy break to post my progress up here, then reset the timer and go back for the next shift. I don't imagine I'm going to achieve Heartswater-esque awesomeness today, but I'm gonna give it the old college try.

Oh, I do slay myself...

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List Life

nobody@vox.com(bodhibound) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:28:11 -0800

So far, today:

~~print Lucille Clifton's poem for African American lit~~
read/grade the next stack of unit 2 portfolios, or at least put a huge dent in the pile
~~teach 2 classes~~
~~meet Student Girl at office hours~~
~~do rec form for other Student Girl~~
~~don't forget to do presentation sign-ups in Research Writing~~
~~print up Final Portfolio prep assmt~~
~~revise, finalize, print up Final Portfolios~~

Wednesday:

finish the list above
prep African American lit
write next short essay assignment for African American lit
teach 3 classes
don't forget to do presentation sign-ups in Research Writing, again
some other stuff I've forgotten
go see Keb Mo with SLP :) :) :)

Thursday, and on to the weekend:

update Researched Change Proposal assignment
prep to meet with client on Friday
baby-proof the house, at least some, and clean, to babysit for SnA on Friday

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I Imagine Other People's Lists Are a Little Depressing...

nobody@vox.com(bodhibound) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:36:10 -0800

Especially when they're endlessly recursive. Sorry about that, but it does help so to get something up here in public that I'm responsible for, and that I can cross out in front of other people, too.

Today/night:

~~print feedback for stack 1 of unit 2 portfolios, distribute correctly~~
~~print extra credit assignments from email~~
~~read~~/grade extra credit
~~teach 3 classes~~
~~stay in a good mood the whole time (!!!!)~~
~~make & print sign-up sheets for presentations~~
~~grade discussion board posts~~
~~buy printer paper~~
~~buy assorted stuff at grocery store~~
~~eat someth~~ing
~~print discussion board posts~~
~~grade proposals for researched~~ ~~change arguments~~
~~grade late submission ethics argu~~ments
~~read "Everyday Use" for tomorrow~~
~~prep African American lit~~
~~update Final Portfolio prep assignment & get it posted to ereserves~~
~~update Final Portfolio assignment~~
start the next stack of unit 2 portfolios

Tomorrow:

finish the list above
print Lucille Clifton's poem for African American lit
read/grade the next stack of unit 2 portfolios, or at least put a huge dent in the pile
teach 2 classes
meet Student Girl at office hours
don't forget to do presentation sign-ups in Research Writing
print up Final Portfolio prep assmt
print up Final Portfolios (actually, probably do these Thursday, so there's time to grade tomorrow)

Wednesday:

finish the list above
prep African American lit
write next short essay assignment for African American lit
teach 3 classes
don't forget to do presentation sign-ups in Research Writing, again
some other stuff I've forgotten
go see Keb Mo with SLP :) :) :)

Thursday, and on to the weekend:

update Researched Change Proposal assignment
prep to meet with client on Friday
baby-proof the house, at least some, and clean, to babysit for SnA on Friday

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I List I Can / I List I Can / I List I Can

nobody@vox.com(bodhibound) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:24:38 -0800

Today/night:

~~print feedback for stack 1 of unit 2 portfolios, distribute correctly~~
~~print extra credit assignments from email~~
~~read~~/grade extra credit
~~teach 3 classes~~
~~stay in a good mood the whole time (!!!!)~~
~~make & print sign-up sheets for presentations~~
~~grade discussion board posts~~
~~buy printer paper~~
~~buy assorted stuff at grocery store~~
~~eat someth~~ing
~~print discussion board posts~~
~~grade proposals for researched~~ change arguments
grade late submission ethics arguments
read "Everyday Use" for tomorrow
prep African American lit
start the next stack of unit 2 portfolios

Tomorrow:

finish the list above
print Lucille Clifton's poem for African American lit
read/grade the next stack of unit 2 portfolios, or at least put a huge dent in the pile
teach 2 classes
meet Student Girl at office hours
don't forget to do presentation sign-ups in Research Writing
update Final Portfolio prep assignment & get it posted to ereserves
print up a bunch of those

Wednesday:

finish the list above
prep African American lit
write next short essay assignment for African American lit
teach 3 classes
don't forget to do presentation sign-ups in Research Writing, again
some other stuff I've forgotten
go see Keb Mo with SLP :) :) :)

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Listing

nobody@vox.com(bodhibound) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:36:53 -0800

Ok, today, I have:

finished grading a stack of portfolios
prepped for 3 sections
gone to the employee meeting for My Bar
answered student emails

Which doesn't begin to get me out of the hole, really. Whatever---I'm marching on!

Tonight, before I go to sleep, I must:

finish the next stack (major arguments turned in late, so it's not a full stack; phew)

Tomorrow, I must:

print feedback for the first stack to turn back
print the extra credit that got emailed in over the weekend
finish another stack
teach three sections
read a short story and a poem, so I can
prep African American Lit for the week

Which means, Tuesday, I must:

grade discussion board posts for African American lit
finish another stack
teach two sections

Which means, Wednesday, I must:

print feedback for the stack to turn back
finish the stack I most certainly won't have actually finished by then
teach three sections
write the next short essay assignment for African American Lit
grade the extra credit that was emailed in over the weekend
and a few more things I've forgotten

Which means, Thursday, I must:

print feedback for the stack to turn back
teach two sections
take a frickin' break

I can do that. I can totally make it to Thursday, if I get a break then. And I can also, maybe not quite get all of it done and not be totally screwed. It's gonna be fine. Right?

Think good thoughts...

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Grrrnnff

nobody@vox.com(bodhibound) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:55:09 -0800

Good Enough Day, Some Less Awesome Bits

My tooth hurts. Again.
Gotta get some dental insurance, or maybe just some magically found money in an old purse.
Just over half a stack of papers done; two and a half stacks to go.
Shouldn't have spent so much time on the phone, but I got to catch up with friends, which I should always spend more time doing.
Mostly clean house, which is nice. Did tons of dishes and microwave cleaning and whatnot today.
New pajama pants, very softy nice.
Cat peace continues to hold.
Almost all of tomorrow off to play more catch-up.
And SLP will be home. :)

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I Heart Good Advice

nobody@vox.com(bodhibound) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:13:13 -0800

Ahhhhh....

At the very, very good advice of my dear, dear friends Heartswater and PTM, I have canceled my classes at My Institution for tomorrow. I will teach at The Community College, but then I shall go home and grade, grade, grade allllllllllllll day and return, caught up-ish and refreshed-ish, on Tuesday. Or maybe on Wednesday. ;)

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