Thursday, May 5, 2011
May. 5th, 2011 11:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bearshortyFolder review day. Today was the last day of my writing class where I meet with one of the directors and we go over the folders with all the students’ work and I turn in their final exams and grades and get a second opinion on some grades if I need it. The only people who failed this semester in both my sections (41 students) are the two students who stopped coming and missed too many classes. Everyone else passed and I had 5 “A” in my two classes, which is really good. This writing class, which is mandatory for all the students in the University, is considered one of the hardest classes in the school since they need to write a lot and actually think about their ideas. And this semester I had some good kids. Most took Basic Comp before, so it helped prepare them.
And while my folder review for the Fall semester was the least stressful in all my years of teaching in the writing program, this folder review was the most stressful. I think I had to look at 50 papers today and write some little comments. That is over 250 pages of mostly crappy ideas.
Basically, I worked from 6am to 6pm today non-stop with only a small break for lunch. But I’M DONE. Yay.
And when the students came to pick up their folders in the afternoon I got some appreciation and even some hugs. A lot are happy just to pass this class. And reactions are always weird. Many are happy with a “C+” while some don’t look happy at a “B+” even though they knew they would not get better. But giving the grades out and seeing some jumping for joy at passing this class or getting that “A” is so worth it. Many come a very long way. Four of these students were in my Basic Comp class last semester too, and two got “A”s and both failed that first paper in the fall. One reason I like teaching in the writing program, despite all this grading, is I can see them actually learn and get better over the course of the semester.
You know it is folder review day when at the end of it when you are all done and you should be excited since it is the end of the semester and you are done with the writing classes and no more grading, and all you feel is your brain fried and you just want to rest. I’ll be excited tomorrow.
In my only break, I picked up “Medieval Justice” in the library and it is a go. It looks like a good primer for a more general public and it is well researched. So I will submit my booklist tomorrow probably. And I got pizza, a boston kreme donut for brain sugar and tea.
In the evening, I wrote my jury letter and a make-up final history exam for a student tomorrow. And then I relaxed a bit in front of the TV since my brain is dead. “Community” was amazingly awesome in their first part of the Paintball finale. I do like their take on Westerns and despite the awesomeness of last year’s “modern warfare” episode, this actually matches in quality. I love this show, I can’t say it enough. I also had “Bones” on as I was cross stitching, although I was done with the cross stitching to watch the emotionally manipulative moment at the end. Still, this show is just the background now.
Cross stitch: pumpkin for big bear’s head (and it is a big head, still lots to do) and some pink for big bear’s ears. (I’m making a baby blanket with animals reading for one of my best friends).
And while my folder review for the Fall semester was the least stressful in all my years of teaching in the writing program, this folder review was the most stressful. I think I had to look at 50 papers today and write some little comments. That is over 250 pages of mostly crappy ideas.
Basically, I worked from 6am to 6pm today non-stop with only a small break for lunch. But I’M DONE. Yay.
And when the students came to pick up their folders in the afternoon I got some appreciation and even some hugs. A lot are happy just to pass this class. And reactions are always weird. Many are happy with a “C+” while some don’t look happy at a “B+” even though they knew they would not get better. But giving the grades out and seeing some jumping for joy at passing this class or getting that “A” is so worth it. Many come a very long way. Four of these students were in my Basic Comp class last semester too, and two got “A”s and both failed that first paper in the fall. One reason I like teaching in the writing program, despite all this grading, is I can see them actually learn and get better over the course of the semester.
You know it is folder review day when at the end of it when you are all done and you should be excited since it is the end of the semester and you are done with the writing classes and no more grading, and all you feel is your brain fried and you just want to rest. I’ll be excited tomorrow.
In my only break, I picked up “Medieval Justice” in the library and it is a go. It looks like a good primer for a more general public and it is well researched. So I will submit my booklist tomorrow probably. And I got pizza, a boston kreme donut for brain sugar and tea.
In the evening, I wrote my jury letter and a make-up final history exam for a student tomorrow. And then I relaxed a bit in front of the TV since my brain is dead. “Community” was amazingly awesome in their first part of the Paintball finale. I do like their take on Westerns and despite the awesomeness of last year’s “modern warfare” episode, this actually matches in quality. I love this show, I can’t say it enough. I also had “Bones” on as I was cross stitching, although I was done with the cross stitching to watch the emotionally manipulative moment at the end. Still, this show is just the background now.
Cross stitch: pumpkin for big bear’s head (and it is a big head, still lots to do) and some pink for big bear’s ears. (I’m making a baby blanket with animals reading for one of my best friends).