TOMORROW. FRIDAY. YEAH.
I'm going to do the following:
--- Assess the last batch of P5s (other online class).
--- Put "Dear Dead Person" letters in Gradebook.
--- Meet with 9am & 3pm classes = Remind them that P6 is due at midnight & hand out the Final Test and Shortfolio.
--- Talk to Brad, from the bank, via phone at 10:30am.
--- Send out Wellness Team agenda and minutes for next week's meeting.
--- Make a "look through before summer school" pile of stuff.
--- Make a "look through before next fall" pile of stuff.
--- Coupons online to look through.
--- Google Reader = Read through the Technology for Teachers blog (or do that Saturday after run).
--- Help out at the Math Olympics on campus = Registration starts at 3:45pm. Awards should wrap up around 8? 8:30pm?

TODAY. THURSDAY. SURE.
I did the following:
--- Assessed the second to last batch of P5s.
--- Had lunch with my ma.
--- Looked at the cars/trucks in the Auto Show part of Agawasie Day.
--- Created a video for my little sister. It's her first Mother's Day on Sunday.
--- Ran 6 miles.
--- Got empty CDs from Cheryl so I can make some fun music mixes for tomorrow's Math Olympics.

THIS WEEKEND. YEP. OKAY.
I hope to accomplish the following:
--- Sort clothing that will be taken up to Savers Tuesday.
--- Figure out what I can toss before moving.
--- Google Reader = Blogs to sort through.
--- Make a "Packing" Plan. Which spaces to pack up first, etc.
--- Couponing.
--- Long run Saturday morning & stretching or rest on Sunday.
--- Bake some muffins or cupcakes, etc. to easily take to campus next week?

I have a bit of time in between my classes on Fridays (a 9am and a 3pm), so it's usually "catch up" time and "prep for next week" time mixed in with some fun (like reading Google Reader teaching blogs, watching The Office episodes I've missed, filtering through the pile of "cool things" on my desk, cleaning my desk OFF, etc.)... So, basically, today, I'd like to accomplish the following before I head out of here around 4pm:
+ Prep for next week's classes.
+ Read the latest blog posts at Free Technology for Teachers.
+ Compose a new list from the folder of stuff I started to look through Tuesday (during the Biggest Loser Weigh-Ins).
+ Watch the last 2 episodes of The Office because I missed 'em due to ADK and the Dynamic Duo last night on campus.
+ Hmm.... this will be my fifth & other category! Or maybe this spot is for my new book, listed below. It was my Valentine's Day gift from someone special. )

Lately, I've been REALLY REALLY REALLY trying to focus on those students who "get it" and "show up" and listen and all that basic stuff (I mean, I had lunch with Richard yesterday; he's one of those students who has to have a 115% or he's in my office all flustered). But once in awhile, I have to rant. Vent. Get it out. This morning happens to be one of those moments:

After I assess/grade the online sections, I've always gotten students' emails asking why they got a certain grade, etc. Now, typically, I leave a comment in the Gradebook (which shows up in blue to them) that explains it (This was late, etc.), but sometimes I forget or assume. Yea, that last one is a bugger. I assume they've read the rubric or the syllabus or the directions. My Class Blog grading is rather simple: make sure you have the posts you should (is it three this week or two, which is explained), make sure to comment/respond on what you are supposed to respond too (this article, not that one, etc.), and make sure to at least have 10+ sentences of quality thought in the response. Oh, and they can't be late (Saturday at midnight is the deadline, except for Finals Week). I understand why more of them have questions when it comes to the papers & their grading system because my rubric (yes, I even give them the rubric I'm going to use - How many of my teachers did that? Um, none.) is complex. But it's all there. Chopped up into a table. Yet, some students don't print it off when it's on the "stuff to print off this week" part of our semester's chart.

I really don't think I have a lot of mystery to my assessment.

Heck, I had teachers who never handed back ANYTHING. {I wonder if Steve Ward still has my World Literature papers shoved in some folder; I adored his classes, so it's even tough to critique that aspect of his grading system.}

--- End rant. ---

And... while talking to Richard yesterday, I realized that the fact that I am a wee bit different sometimes doesn't help me or my students. I like to think it does, but when they've had teachers who were mysterious about their grading or about what they wanted from students, students start to not only think English classes "suck," but they start to think that writing is a mystery. A mystery they'll never solve. Then, they take my class. I throw all sorts of possibility at them, and they probably think, "No way. She wants what every other teacher has wanted. She truly does not want me to write what I want to write. She's full of it." But I am not. Not when it comes to student writing. I KNOW they have something to say, but they are the ones who have to figure out how to say it. How to write it so it works for them. Sure, I want the darn thing to be organized, but I want it to be interesting to THEM and to the reader(s).

I feel like I am constantly trying to tear down the statue that states, "Writing is punishment." It's a statue that's been built up by students ever since they got a red-inked essay back or got Fs in spelling or didn't know what a comma was even after weeks of grammar practice worksheets.

Utter Disappointment: Britney Spears' performance on last night's MTV Music Awards. And Sarah Silverman's comedic attempt afterwards was worse - if that's possible.
Utter Exhaustion: Ran almost 5 miles this morning - kind of wanted to throw myself in front of a bus at mile 4.
Utterly Geeky: I'll be attending the Linguistic Circle Conference of Manitoba and ND at the end of the month.
Utterly Too Academic: I'm starting to assign activities that get students connecting back to previous readings that don't seem to have a connection. I've always "lectured" this way ("Hey, remember what we read ____, well this is ____."), but to get THEM to see connections; it's a new way to QUIZ them.
Utter Amazement: This organization craze of mine hit my bedroom closet yesterday. Not only am I going to have an easier time getting dressed, but MAN does one burn calories trying on ump-teen pairs of this and that!

So, if teaching (the load, the preparation, the theory/practice, etc) gets "easier" and "easier," will this whole running thing I am doing? Ugh. I hope so.

It's so weird to be organized. It's like I've turned a new leaf, or whatever "they" say. I use my filing cabinet now - how odd of this used-to-be-pile-r. And, happily, Allison found me more new fonts for the creation of handouts and such. Gotta love having a creative workstudy.

*True story: Yesterday afternoon, I reread some Chinese Literature for my World Lit class (Gish Jen, to be exact) and then had a massive craving for Chinese food, lo mein specifically. And I just had some leftovers. Mm mm.

(*Copyright Megan Bjerke 2007.)

A new study on the horizon... instead of coding a community blog (where students aren't required to write), I'm going to collect Class Blog entries from a few classes (some online, some on-campus using eCompanion) as well as academic essays. I want to see how critical/complex each batch (blogs versus academic essays) will be. I'm intrigued.

"We'll see," as my dad says often.

Opening Week starts us up Wednesday with a big ol' breakfast for everyone on campus... before that occurs though, I'd like to a) get my English 110 syllabus finished & over to the Copy Center, b) get its eCompanion site ready to roll, and c) organize/file, at least, the piles on my desk so I have room.

So, an idea has popped up in my head twice this week... instead of having a massive genres scavenger hunt (which I still could do on a smaller, more focused scale), I would have students take a genre and transform/translate it into another genre. An informative article into a persuasive advertisement? A short story into a poem? A "top ten list" into a commentary? That way, they have to know the message and reasoning behind each genre... there would be much critical thinking occurring too as they "read" the genres and decide how they can be transformed.

As I am organizing things, I am finding much more on revision than I thought I had. I also have many more helpful handouts than I originally thought too. Plus, the folder that Allison started has some great stuff in it too (helpful web sites, handouts, tips on writing).

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.

So I stroll back into the office... I am thinking that I would love to start organizing everything (what's on my computer/USBs, what's on my web site, what's in my filing cabinets, what's piled up on my bookcase, etc), YET I have the whole summer to do this. YET, a counterpoint to that, would be that if I do just a little organizing every week, that the process won't seem as daunting. And it may actually get done. Huh.

I have to decide on a few things soon: whether to get internet at the apt & whether to sign up for .mac account and subsequent web site (since I just found out I won't own sybilpriebe.com for much longer)...

Popped in the office for a quick second. Or 17 or 700 or... 47,000.

I am still wondering what to do with the first units of that online English 120 course.
I want to focus the first units on controversy & people/them,
the next batch of units on controversy & the media (and use my Critical Media clips from NCTE),
and then end with Fahrenheit & controversy & language...
of course, many of these topics overlap.
If one looks at one commercial, he/she may find controversy in the language, how the people are use, and it then becomes a media controversy...

I guess I could use what I just wrote as the introduction.
Amazing.
And like Wade mentioned, I think I'll get the first units squared away, have the Distance Ed people take a peek, and then move on from there...
If I can get those first units figured out over break (today, Thursday, next week...), get it checked out in January, then any extra time I have next semester can focus on wrapping up the rest of the units. Hmmm... I think I just made a plan.