Friday

It seems like quite awhile since I posted last. I've been evaluating essays like a mad man for this RU Ready project another colleague and I are part of. At first it seemed like a good idea (about 3 dollars to read and score - via a rubric - 150 essays). But then the second part of the program began - to read and respond in depth to 13 essays. We were to keep our responses to each under 1000 words (if possible). It would have been a more enjoyable experience if it didn't happen to coincide with the freaking end of the quarter!

As I was devoting about 45 minutes to my first response, I though, "I haven't been paid this little since I was right out of high school and working for minimum wage." But the responses are in the mail.

Now I can get back to teaching. It feels like I haven't found my way in any of my classes yet. Now I can devote my full attention to them. That's when the good stuff happens. But then I remember that it's fourth quarter and devoting full attention to teaching is impossible. Just when I'm finishing the RU Ready responses, the quests for letters of recommendation flow in. Then the historical society program I'm involved in will meet in May. Then I have to work with all the kids who have missed class for any of the plethora of reasons: German trip, choir, track, baseball, softball, track, tennis, tanning sessions for prom (I'm being completely serious there), shopping, vacations, illness. It makes me wonder why we have school in the spring at all.

But I'm back (for the most part) and it feels good.

This weekend should be low key. No basketball tournaments. Kristie has to work for half the day tomorrow. So I'll try to sleep in a bit, but that usually never works.

I just checked out two books for this weekend, just in case. I picked up Robert Louis Stevenson's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" and "A Study in Scarlet" by Arthur Conan Doyle. I enjoyed "The Hound of the Baskervilles" so damn much I couldn't resist getting the latter one. And I've always wanted to read Stevenson's short novel. One of my favorite books is "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and I think it'll be interesting to compare the two. In fact, I'm thinking of adding them to the College Composition reading list for next year (since we have to have a greater emphasis on Brit Lit to appease the AP people).

And I might even get around to finally reading my College Comp papers. The kids have been hounding me for them all week. Last quarter I was a dynamo. I read them, responded to them, and returned them in one or two days. That never happens. So I think I spoiled them. But after reading 150 essays by strangers for the RU Ready program, I'll be damn glad to read some essays from my own students for a change. And I'll be glad to do some real responding to them too.