I’m starting to think having papers to grade isn’t a bad thing… I just spent who knows how much at endless.com & urbanoutfitters.com because I’m caught up on grading. Jeezus, Mary, and Bob.

Hmph. Caught up on grading (for now), so… what to accomplish before the campus holiday party around 3pm? I don’t know where to start. Seriously.

I guess the big one would be getting Creative Writing settled. Looks like I’ll be teaching that as an overload since my English 120 Online will be splitting into two classes. With that said, I’ll have four English 120 sections… two on-campus and two online. Whoa. Add to all that a second 8-weeks English 105! Not a ton of preps at least! And I think I have nothing on Fridays (the on-campus 120s are MWTh) until that second 8-weeks. I may end up running/training for the Marathon on that day. Do my longest runs… boy, is this a stream-of-consciousness blog paragraph or what? Sheesh almighty.

So, yea. Speaking of the Fargo Marathon… I have until December 30th (I think) to sign up at a reduced price. It gets more expensive after that. Hmmm… as my dad says, “We’ll see.” And with the possibility of doing a Biggest Loser Challenge on campus, that’ll add to my motivation to run run run, right? One can hope.

“I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus last night.” Turns out, it was Tiger Woods.

Anyhow…
New desks in the office. Oooh la la. I get easily distracted when there are things to be put back together. Re-arranging to be completed. Oh well. Thus far, I’ve kept up with grading. Stuff was turned in Saturday & Monday; those items were assessed last night. Right now, a few assignment have come in at midnight last night and I had a 10am deadline today for my English 110ers. So, yea. I should get to those things before my 4pm deadline today (for my English 120 on-campus students).

This morning, while getting ready, I cranked some Christmas tunes. Then, I wondered… could I really get in trouble for blasting Holiday music? I mean, REALLY? Even late at night… blasting “Silent Night” would be ironic right? And funny to me. Hmph. Perhaps. Something to try out. An experiment.

“So, this is Christmas; I hope you have fun.”

So, I was SO PUMPED to have my grading caught up that my mind was whirling over what to work on this afternoon… so, I tried to dive into more of the Creative Writing prep for next semester, but I really didn’t know where to start or even where I had left off a month or two ago when I got to work on it. Very confusing. I think that course will take a lot of my time once Finals are over with. I’d like to set up my eCompanion shells to cut down on the time I have to revise them every semester, too. There’s gotta be an easier way since dividing it by weeks is too small; the semesters’s lengths/dates/holidays change too much. Huh.

One nice thing I noticed about my CW prep I did earlier in the semester – I had many helpful handouts printed off and scanned. Lovely. I think I’ll have everything that I’ll want to discuss or have students read; it’ll just be a matter of ORGANIZATION. Yup.

I just got a text from the parental unit. Right now, hopefully, they’re in a plane to Mpls from Chicago. Then they are driving home in this MESS of a storm. Ew. I hope they take their time.

The vibe in this summer school class (online) feels more upbeat than past classes… it could just be my attitude or the students or the fact that the class has been revised so much by me, that it’s flowing together better. No matter what is causing this vibe, I am grateful.

Grading Units 1-4 flew by today, so I think I’ll start organizing my office since I’d like to hang around in case other students want me to take a look at their papers. The first paper is due this Saturday.

It sounds like I may be able to donate my old couches to the Rape & Abuse Center in town… that would be a great relief for me! And I’d be helping someone out too.

Just created a survey for my English 120 Online at surveymonkey.com…
* I have to remember that I use my school email & password on that site.
I need to update the English 105 survey on there and create one for my English 110.
Since I use the same items, usually, each semester (3 papers, one project, one novel, Peer Review, My Words, etc), I could use these surveys over and over with little revisions each semester. The 120 one I just created could easily transform into the 110 one. And they let you take old surveys and use their formats for new ones – nice feature.

> This morning, I mainly worked from home… I have a meeting at noon (iPod & Podcasting committee), English 105 at 2pm (introducing Project 2: The Fake Company to everyone), and then lots of online grading after that class until 5.

+ I graded 5 more 110 papers last night. If I find time tonight, I’d like to get to 5 more which’ll leave 10 for tomorrow/Thursday.

Rules were made to be broken, and my students seem to really “get” that rule. It’s too bad, yet it helps me with the grading aspect of the class. Student doesn’t hand in paper on time = I don’t have to grade it. And, once again, this “problem” only pertains to about 20% (or less) of my students, so I should just focus on those who hand in their work on time. I should applaud them.

And when it comes to rules about other things, like fashion & style, I am beginning to think that fads about anything are just something for magazines to write about. This is IN and that is OUT. Oh really? If something looks good on a person, he/she should just keep wearing it. Unless it’s hideous. Or ghastly (like a sweater with fuzzies on it or jeans that are so destroyed, they are see-through). And the fads really don’t change all that much. If I had a magazine, I would have a section devoted to “those things you thought were OUT are always IN.” Suckers.

I was starting to believe that my iBook was invisible. She’s 5+ years old, but she showed me a “sign” a few days ago. The screen goes black when it’s leaned back 90 degrees+, so, I guess the rule about getting a new computer every so many years will pertain to my life afterall. I am due for a beautiful iMac desktop anyhow.

A rule that I break? Celebrating Valentine’s Day with a lot of hoopla.

It’s difficult to get any really good sleep at the beginning of any semester and, again, at the end of the semester. Only the diffculty now lies in the grading anxiety, the excitement of the holiday season, and the anticipated break from students (because, no offense, we need it right about now – who figured out 16 or 17 weeks was enough? hmph).

I know I won’t get through half of the stuff I’d like to do over break. That’s a given. But at least I know that and accept it. I used to think I would get my spring classes prepared wonderfully AND have time to read about 5 books. Not so much. I think this break needs to focus as much on my family (I’ll get to see g’pa for the first time since his heart attack) and friends as possible. In fact, I have decided to use my Office Hrs this week (when students will be picking up final grades & assignments) for spring preparation. That way, I can try to relax over break and not have the “I still have to do _____” hanging over my head.

Speaking of configuring grades… I really need to look into that HTML EZ through UND. I think I signed up last year, but never got around to actually using the dang thing. It would really help out with the adding up of points at the end since it’s got a built-in gradebook feature, I hear. I dislike math (hey, that’s why I am in English) – especially simple math. And lots of it. Luckily, I handed out mid-term grades, so I just have to add up the last half of the semester. For 90+ students. Eeeek.

Meanwhile, I had a fairly relaxing weekend even with the grading, the shopping, the writing of Christmas cards/newsletters, the wrapping attempts, the last washing of the bug, the naps, and the watching of football.

p.s. Happy Birthday little Bug! You are 7 today!

At the office (gasp!) grading papers (gasp!). I think the rainbow-colored stocking cap is helping me concentrate. I say this because I am getting through the papers fairly quickly and also because I came up with an idea of calling the first few weeks of English 110 a “Building Up of Topics” unit. This unit would include an “All About You” packet where they create a few Top Ten lists of things they like, a list of “I believe…” statements, and the River Map idea (creating a river of your memories – got the idea at NCTE), etc. Additional idea – Within that unit and the rest of the semester, have “What’s Wrong Here?” lessons/activities where students are shown a chunk of a paper and asked to figure out what went “wrong.” WWH lessons. Better than the WWF!? I really like the idea of focusing those first weeks on 1) figuring out what they can write about well (what are they experts at), 2) an in-depth look at the process of writing, and 3) mini-lessons on grammar-based things as teeny tiny review… and 4) how writing/reading/researching skills connect to everyday life/”the real world.”

[How crazy is the weather! It's like spring outside... 48 degrees?! This is North Dakota, right?]

Last night, I decorated my place… watched the not-so-corny lighting of the NYC tree, played around with more PowerPoint possiblities (killing two birds = creating samples of projects while also creating ones that can be used in my online English 120 class themed in controversy), read a few more papers, and… searched for my stupid cell phone charger.

“You may say I am a dreamer, but I am not the only one.” – John Lennon

“Instant karma’s gonna get you; gonna knock you right on your head.” – John Lennon

Today: Create Interview Assignment for English 105′s class tomorrow, grade a few more 110 papers, send out an announcement to World Lit students on what we’ll be reading for the Open Topic next week, and get some cider/cookies downstairs from 2-4pm. Oh, and we have a dept meeting in about 30 min.