Monday

Kristie, KoKo, Gail, and I met in Grand Forks for dinner and shopping before heading over the Chester Fritz for “The Great Russian Nutcracker.” The colors were spectacular and the dancers were great. But the second act after intermission seemed to go on forever. If it’s not a football game, it’s difficult to devote three hours to something. By 9:30 I was wishing the girl would wake up from her dream, get her nutcracker doll and get the show over with!

Now if we could just find some money to shell out for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra when they hit the Allerus center in December.

All in a day . . .

Corrected the remaining College Comp novel tests. Burned the final Edgar Allan Poe imovies to DVDs. And added sound to some students imovie that didn’t work out last week. Designed an introductory assignment for our new Lit and Language 11 unit, “A House Divided,” which focuses on the Civil War. I guess that God-awful Civil War class from this summer came in handy after all. The class wasn’t God-awful, just the readings. Discussed irony and point of view, preparing students for “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.” Met with a former student, who is now attending NDSU. He wanted some sources for an upcoming speech -- against the five paragraph essay format! Who would have ever thought I’d slowly turn out my own legion of soldiers prepared to combat the McEssay! He actually has to deliver a speech - in the five paragraph, thesis-support format - in which he discredits the very format. The head of the speech department is his professor, so I made sure he notified her of his intent. She is all for it. Prepared an introductory assignment for our new Lit and Language 12 Unit, “The Victorians” and prepared an introductory assignment for Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray.” Finished final grades for two of my classes. Discussed and gave notes on Queen Victoria and Social Darwinism. Read a student’s college application essay and offered advice. Prepared to write a letter of recommendation for another student. Graded more College Comp novel tests. Prepared for the next College Comp paper, a persuasive essay, and finished the novel tests Prepared a peer editing guide for the current College Comp paper, a how to guide. Tried to get a discussion going in College Comp about rhetoric and the Toulmin Method of persuasion, with typical minim results. Turned the class loose to edit their rough drafts. Finished grading the novel tests and returned them with their final grades attached. Cleaned off most of my desk. Called it a day and headed home.

Wonder what tomorrow will bring . . .