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Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Nov. 9th, 2010 08:42 pmWell, my brain is fried. I had to finish grading 9 papers, teach two classes and have extra office hours for four students since next paper is due Friday. So in practical terms, I was working from 6am to 4:30pm non-stop. I’m really thankful for the time change that allowed me to be awake and capable of actual work at 6am. The only break I had until 4:30 was on the car ride to work. I even graded during lunch. I graded six papers before my classes and three in between office hours. I saved the papers of kids who came to office hours to be graded after class so I could give in to them at office hours and maintain an illusion that I had grading under control and finished it all on time. But yay, Paper 3 is finished. I rejoice.
The classes went really well today. I read to them an example of C+ paper and A paper and then showed them why the grade was different. They couldn’t tell just from hearing the connection if it was a strong or a weak connection between two authors. In every body paragraph, they need to use quotes from two authors, explain the quotes and then write out a clear connection that they see between two quotes (which is really hard for most of them). So, on the board, I broke it down to baby steps: This is quote one, this is quote two, this was the connection. Are these the best two quotes for this connection? Is connection clear? etc. Then I made them sit in groups and work on their own connections in drafts of their Paper 4. And I walked around and commented too. Overall, I mostly improvised today but it worked out really well and I really hope it will help them. I noticed that this year I’m much more certain when I explain the paper structure to them and the pace at which we do exercises. I think I really settled into teaching this class.
By 4:30 when I was done with the last paper, my brain could not process any more information. I did have to fill out official course request for next semester and then I finally checked my email. Then I went for a little walk since I really needed oxygen. This evening I watched the latest “How I Met Your Mother” online and now I’m just going to read a bit. I need to finish my vampire book since someone at my library has in on hold, so I can’t renew it and I don’t feel like paying too many late fees.
Oh, there is a new “Jane Eyre” movie coming next year .
The classes went really well today. I read to them an example of C+ paper and A paper and then showed them why the grade was different. They couldn’t tell just from hearing the connection if it was a strong or a weak connection between two authors. In every body paragraph, they need to use quotes from two authors, explain the quotes and then write out a clear connection that they see between two quotes (which is really hard for most of them). So, on the board, I broke it down to baby steps: This is quote one, this is quote two, this was the connection. Are these the best two quotes for this connection? Is connection clear? etc. Then I made them sit in groups and work on their own connections in drafts of their Paper 4. And I walked around and commented too. Overall, I mostly improvised today but it worked out really well and I really hope it will help them. I noticed that this year I’m much more certain when I explain the paper structure to them and the pace at which we do exercises. I think I really settled into teaching this class.
By 4:30 when I was done with the last paper, my brain could not process any more information. I did have to fill out official course request for next semester and then I finally checked my email. Then I went for a little walk since I really needed oxygen. This evening I watched the latest “How I Met Your Mother” online and now I’m just going to read a bit. I need to finish my vampire book since someone at my library has in on hold, so I can’t renew it and I don’t feel like paying too many late fees.
Oh, there is a new “Jane Eyre” movie coming next year .
