I completed my first Half Marathon yesterday. Yay me. I have semi-sore quads today (walked around a lot yesterday after I finished to keep from getting too sore) and two annoying blisters on my right foot. Oh well. That goal and hurdle is complete. Now, I can focus on others looming in the distance...

First goal: Complete the Technology Boot Camp this M-W.
Second goal: Pack up the rest of the stuff in the apt. for moving in early June.
Third goal: Completely prep the summer school shell for the June 6 start date of summer classes.
Fourth goal: Start to "fix up" house (really I just want to put new flooring in and paint a little ... among smaller projects).
Fifth goal: Completely revamp the fall Eng 120 online shell with the new edition of everything's an argument.

Okay, so looking at the two weeks ahead of me before summer school starts:
5/23 Tomorrow: Boot Camp @ 9am & edit/revise the videos I shot last time. Check email, and get back to a few people. Reserve moving cart in apt. bldg.
5/24 Tuesday: More Boot Camp stuff. Pack (bedroom - keeping a week's worth of things out to wear?).
5/25 Wednesday: Boot Camp lunch. Pack (bathroom?). Dinner with Alisa?
5/26 Thursday: Pack and work on summer shell!
5/27 Friday: Pack and work on summer shell! Head to Fgo to help sister with her move?
5/28 Saturday: Help her move?
5/29 Sunday: ?!
5/30 Monday: Her birthday + 50% Sale at Savers!
5/31 Tuesday: Pack and work on summer shell! (And it's PayDay!)
6/1 Wednesday: Close on house? Pack and work on summer shell?!
6/2 Thursday + Friday: Babysit Audrey and hang out with sisters.
6/3 - 6/5 Friday - Sunday: Pack and move? Hand out w/Audrey & sisters?

While I'm blogging about being annoyed, I thought I'd put that aside and make a "to do" list for tomorrow. Basically, I need to get to campus around 9 so I can get in a good 3 hours of assessing (each class has stuff due tonight; the bulk of the assessment will be with the online 120 classes) before lunch. After lunch, I will have about an hour to assess before we have an interview-screening-session from 2-4pm. Yeah. I hope I can get in some online coupon checking, too.

Word.

Performance Appraisal to Wade. ||| Assess P3s in English 120, on-campus. ||| Assess P3s in English 120, online: Section 1 and Section 2. ||| Fill out and send in NCTE poem copyright notice. ||| Revise David Sedaris Reading Schedule and have printed off. ||| Figure out tax amendment thingie. ||| Fill out travel voucher for UND conference. ||| Assess assignments handed in last week: English 110 had My Words and Cool Points. English 120 (on-campus, Section 1 online, and Section 2 online) had a Mini-Argument and the CB about the GBP. ||| Assess P4.5 - in English 110 - which is due before midnight.

1. I'm starting an early morning class this week, where my butt will get handed to me I'm sure. (It wasn't a morning workout class like I thought it was.)
2. I have to create an advisee schedule & meet with them this week regarding Fall/Summer'11 registration.
3. Dream$ Auction = Friday.
4. Last Day to Drop with a "W" happens on Friday, April 8, so I should email that out to those who may not pass... notify my English 120 classes and my two English 110 classes.
5. English 110 wraps up P4 tomorrow (P4.5 due at midnight) and then we start David Sedaris and P5 on Wednesday.
6. English 120 is kind of at the beginning of the GBP. I really would like to show those Critical Media movies, so I may have to move the class to the other Library room... they're good videos and they may help students think about GBP topics.
7. I need to blog about the UND Writer's Conference.

I've caught up as far as small assignments go (and late ones that were handed in by excused students), so now it's all about the "big" assignments. I have 23 Paper 2s in the English 120 on-campus Dropbox, 20 in the English 120 online* 2nd section (1 is late), and 23 in the other online section. So, that's 66 papers total, at 1000+ words per paper. And then there's my English 110 crew. They handed in P3 before Spring Break. I have 12 in my 9am class to assess (1 was late & emailed to me) and 19 in my 3pm class; that's 32 papers, at 500+ words per paper.
---I think my plan of attack will be to assess 5-10 P3s everyday and about 5-10 P2s per day, wrapping everything up before my conference next week up north. *crosses fingers*
---*I think I have a few online students who emailed me their papers due to technical issues with eCollege. So, let's say 70 total there.
Beyond all that, I have the following assignments coming in this week... The English 110 students have a worksheet due Wednesday and then an activity with The New, Well-Tempered Sentence due Friday. In the Online English 120, there is a Class Blog (worth some bonus) and P3 due Saturday. As for the on-campus English 120, they have a quiz due Wednesday in addition to the CB and P3. There may be another activity on Thursday in class, too.

Today, or tomorrow, I need to (or I'd like to):
___ Assess English 110 P2 Papers. I think I have about 40 of them to get to.
___ Throw the WC Quiz grades into the Gradebook after Amanda assesses them.
Tomorrow or Friday:
___ Plan ahead to the Monday after Spring Break so I can return and have handouts ready.
___ Catch up on my Google Reader teaching blogs.

I'm not going to worry about the P2s coming in this Saturday from my English 120ers or the P3s coming in from the English 110ers. Hopefully, I won't touch 'em over Spring Break either. Unless I get really bored. I'm not assigning anything over break, so I hope students don't think I'm going to do anything... ) I plan to sleep and fish and spend quality time with some cool people. Yeppers.

And sometimes, the horse is going to give up on you. It's okay. We just have to "roll with the punches."
After my 9am class, I chatted it up with my department chair for a wee bit. The two questions that popped up were: "How flexible do we need to be this week?" and "How accessible do we need to be, in general." The two days I detest every semester are Hunting Friday and this upcoming Friday, the one before Spring Break. Hey, if students want to leave early, so be it. If their parents "bought their plane tickets for Wednesday," oh well. If they want to start their week-long hibernation Thursday night, that's their choice. All I ask is that they just take the loss in points for whatever they miss instead of asking me to teach them Friday's stuff on Monday or Wednesday. Friday's stuff is for Friday. If I give everyone the Friday stuff early, no one will show up Friday. We have stuff on designated days; that's how this works... last time I checked.

Anyhow, I need a list. Don't we all?
Today, I'd like to send off the minutes and agenda for the upcoming Wellness meeting (Wednesday) and then create my World Literature posters (and shoot them over to the Copy Center), so Amanda can put 'em up tomorrow.
I probably should make a list of things to assess this week too:
___ P2 paper, English 110, two classes (about 40? total to assess)
___ Online English 120 assignments from last week, two classes
___ Online English 120 email about sending me their P2 drafts for extra feedback...
_x_ On-campus English 120 email about what to do this week during conferences.

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. )

Tenure portfolio. Given to Wade = check.
Minutes for the ADK meeting. Written up = check.
Emailed a student who wanted to get into my class. Check.
Double-checked my sign-in sheets to the printoffs from PeopleSoft. Check.
Got coffee from Cheryl. Check.
Email inbox. Check.
Check in on Online English 120 students (comment in Student Lounge).

Figure out what to cover in English 120 today at 1pm.
Figure out what to cover in English 110 tomorrow.
Look through my Delicious Links (started to, now need to follow-through!)
Look through folders on Desktop like Klondike Bar (recheck Syllabus folder and Projects folder).
Watch a few TED videos, videos about teaching online, and other random videos mentioned elsewhere (tomorrow & Monday).
Look at lists of Tips/etc. mentioned on FreeTechnologyForTeachers.com...
Google reader = teacher blogs.

Look at PBS.com for the Frontline story called "Suicide Tourist."
Also, look for TED video w/Pinkerton about violence's history.

Someday soon: Filter through all my USBs/FlashDrives. Some need a lot deleted off of them!

My brain hurts. But it's a good hurt, kids, so don't worry about me.

Talk about a chaotic list of things to accomplish in a morning... I've: purchased some stylish loafers on ebay, paid credit card bills, copied off two essays that I need for classes next week, talked with five advisees (one on the phone, one via email), checked in on my online classes, printed of graphic organizers that students will use in class today, ate a relatively healthy lunch (slice of red potato pizza from Prantes & a fruit/yogurt mini-salad &h2o), had a few conversations on Facebook regarding school and the Twins, and updated the eCompanion course.
= I am a multi-tasker!

Twas the week before Spring Break...
when all through the school
not a creature was worried,
as if that was the rule. ?

To do this week: Finish up final grading for English 105 & put into ThinkWave (Tuesday) as well as PeopleSoft (Friday), have second 8-weeks' syllabus for 105 printed off (in Allison's pile), conduct Writing Conferences with English 110 students (today through Wednesday), grade Rule of the Bone tests (sometime), grade Paper 2s (sometime), grade My Words & MPC (sometime), grade English 120 stuff (Tuesday)... prepare for things after Spring Break (what's happening in English 110 after?... and re-read Fahrenheit 451 for English 120)