5 posts tagged “getting the hang of thursdays”

Ah, Thursdays...

Accomplished:

1. Taught the last 'real' session of the professional writing class that's been driving me nuts. The really awful kid didn't show up, which was just lovely, and things went generally well. All we have left is presentations next week. :)
2. My first-year writing course at The Community College also went very well.
3. Graded one full batch of Final Portfolios--all stunning, for the most part. Got lots of nice comments back from students about the class being awesome, about me being a good teacher. Super cool.
4. Final grades posted for that section--2 C-'s, a handful of Bs, and the rest, all well-deserved As. :) :) :)
5. Updated records for the rest of my classes.
6. Spent a lovely evening with the in-laws, who are down for SLP's graduation from college this weekend!!

I do so love the smell of spring.

I do not want to die, not at all, but since it's going to happen eventually, I hope I go out, like 120 years from now, in the very first few days of spring, with that scent in my nose. It reminds me of every wonderful memory, a pastiche of moments in a shifting swirl...

I really am getting the hang of Thursdays. After almost a week of blissful, spring-break sloth, I've kind of kicked ass today.

To Accomplish Tonight:

1. Read/respond to the last few short assignments for my classes at My Institution, the ones emailed in at the last minute
2. Read/respond to the short assignments for my classes at The Community College
3. Update attendance for my classes at The Community College
4. Start the portfolios for my classes at The Community College
5. Finish the fucking laundry
6. 1 more load of dishes (sigh)

It's been a pretty good day so far:

Accomplished:

1. Finally reclaimed the bedroom from the chaos produced by throwing everything in a closet at the last minute before Stepmom's birthday party two weeks ago
2. Moved the bedroom furniture around. Hoping the new arrangement cuts down on the trail of dirty clothes I seem to leave everywhere I go
3. 2 loads of dishes (sigh--yet another trail I leave around the house)
4. 2 loads of laundry (cleaning up the trail from #2)
5. Cleaned the bathroom
6. Straightened up the public rooms
7. Cleaned the catboxes
8. Caught up the emails from students, etc.
9. Spent some time with SLP and cats
10. Posted up here, earlier
11. Found some of the references I need for the seder for this year

1. Read/respond to the last few short assignments for my classes at My Institution, the ones emailed in at the last minute
2. Read/respond to the short assignments for my classes at The Community College
3. Update attendance for my classes at The Community College
4. Start the portfolios for my classes at The Community College
5. Finish the fucking laundry
6. 1 more load of dishes (sigh)
   

1. Finish the portfolios for my classes at The Community College
2. Run a few errands
3. Work at My Bar
4. Bring my W2s home from My Bar
5. Make a list for Saturday
   

I have a lot of observant Christian students this semester. My population is almost always majority Christian, anyway. Maybe I don't have any more than I usually do, but I guess at least more of them are writing about this aspect of their subculture-memberships and identity.

They're all really pretty dolly kids, these ones. One of my girls is so very, very, very enthusiastic about her Lord that she wrote almost 3 pages of her essay about how awesome it is for her to have a relationship with him. It's very moving to read such passion for love, kindness, forgiveness, and helping others. The essay itself has a lot of problems--serious repetition, really weird use of surface conventions (grammar, spelling, etc.), and super kaleidescope organization. It really does make for kind of dizzying reading.

But who gives a fuck about any of that? Jesum Crow, not me, lemme tell you. This kid can write--she's got everything she needs, rich language use, logical use of examples that demonstrate audience awareness, a remarkable work ethic. More than anything, she's got a genuine engagement with the world and an actual, real-live appetite for learning and growing. On top of that, she really does care about people and wants to communicate with them to be helpful. What more could you ask for? By the time she leaves my class, she'll be able to hang in the sophmore academic writing game, easy.

And they're very dear, very sweet to one another, these girls. And even to odd, Jewish old me, which is nice. I swear a lot when I teach. When I was starting out, I was spoken to very strongly about this by my boss, about just how bad it could go. She told us a story about a GA from a few years back who lost his gig when a very devout Christian student, who was offended by his language use, took her mother and went straight to the dean with their complaint. Thanks to this example, I make a huge point about how I'm trying really hard to cut down, but that when I get really going thinking with other people, I often cuss without realizing it. I tell them that they should feel extremely welcome to let me know, if they ever, ever feel that my swearing, or anything else in the classroom, makes them feel uncomfortable. I tell 'em that I happily accept this feedback in any form, that they can cut and paste letters out of a newspaper to write me a note, if they want to stay anonymous.

One of my church girls finally took me up on the offer this term! She wrote me the most wonderful, professional, sweeeeeet email about it. She explained that she had recently decided to give up the habit herself, that she's helping her friends stop swearing, and that she would really appreciate it if I would try to cut down even more. It was great. She made sure to tell me how much she liked my class, too, and even offered me specific examples to show why. It was genuinely one of my proudest moments as a teacher.

Hmmm... These girls--and their brothers in scholarship, too, of course---they're making a pretty warm little sun at the center of my term. Thank god, too, buried as I am in the consequences of my failures in planning! If I had a bunch of sullen little too-cool-for-skools this term, I think I finally would take to drink.

Well, as I type away here, I notice my dishes haven't washed themselves. I have a super-fucking-ton of grading to do, and more planning, as well as some re-planning. My dad will be here in about 10 minutes to drop off a bunch of stuff for my stepmother's birthday party this weekend. (We're hosting. I don't even want to think about writing about that.) I gotta clean the house for 60 guests. Hoo-boy.

No time to give into a powerful tiredness or malaise. I gotta pick up my bed and walk. After all, as my church girl wrote in her essay, "even if you think you dn't have theres allways time to set youre house in order." I shall begin with the dishes.

Glad to say. Namaste.