That's All, Folks . . .

For all intents and purposes, my school year is at an end. I leave tomorrow afternoon for South Dakota with the family where Kristie and I will be married on Friday.

Now I just have to wrap up a few loose ends around the school. I spent the bulk of my evening in my room finishing grading and entering grades. That was when I noticed a little flashing light on my phone. It was from a concerned mother (and those are often the worst). Apparently her student was 'devastated' by their score on their College Comp research paper (C).

So I returned her call. She wanted to let me know how concerned she was because her student had worked really hard on it and was shocked at their grade, and they were worried about the impact it would have on the student's final grade. Given that the student could revise one of their lowest papers, they still have a shot at an A.

But part of me wanted to laugh in her face. What is she going to do next year when her precious student is off in the world of college? Call up and complain to a professor! Ha. I'd like to see that.

I reassured her that her student peeked at their paper while I wasn't in the room - which should have pissed me off right there and I should have let her have it about that, but I didn't think of it until just now. I said I should have been there to explain my comments, which - taken out of context, so to speak, could have seemed harsh. But they were honest comments. I told the students right away that I don't sugarcoat things when I look at their writing. They never get better if all I tell them is that their words are wonderful.

So I called and left a message with the student. They can stop by tomorrow for an explanation if they like. But in the end they learned the same lesson I have preached from day one in that class, hard work just isn't always enough. Sometimes you have to actually pay attention in class (going over MLA formatting and how to analyze rather than summarize), actually read your sources (they only cited a few times from any other source that their two novels. Not always bad. But in this case, I think it is more the result of lazy research rather than in-depth knowledge with their novels).

Plus, I was nice enough to let the student switch their novel right before the second novel test from "The Grapes of Wrath" to "Of Mice and Men" because they were too damned lazy to get around to reading it in time. Of course, this thought enters my head now rather than when I'm visiting with the mother.

And besides, I wish I would have just told her straight to her face that her student may be an honor student in high school but they are a very average college student. That is one thing I need to work on better next year: telling it like it is, regardless of the cost or impact.

Chalk that one up for next year.

*****

I finished my vows on Friday night. A great idea hit me on the way home a few days earlier, and I left it turning over in my mind. Then it felt ready, and I took a peak in and sure enough, there was an idea staring back at me. So I opened up the labtop and started typing, and sure enough, within an hour, I had most of the vows complete.

I loved playing with the language, trying to get it to say exactly what I wanted, trying to get the words to sound good together, trying to manipulate the syllables and mood. Great stuff. I could have spent another hour on them.

I was going to post them, but Kristie might take a look, though she vowed (no pun intended) to not take a look. But I also like the idea of Kristie being the first one - other than me, of course - to hear/read them. Though, now that I think of it, she has shared her vows with a select few.

Postings will be few and far here over the course of the week. But after Friday, I'll try to post some pictures.