Grading

It's always bad. Just as bad. Whether you're a student with two sections or an instructor with four.

The pile never ends, you never get caught up. And after a round or two, you could almost assign grades based on the student's trend.

For those few times that someone surprises me, I read each and every word of each and every assignment, and even offer corrections (even though research shows that most students look at the grade and then toss the assignment without any effort at incorporating changes in the future).

And I can't even hope that they'll be grateful, since they're unaware.

Oh well. Three more teaching days, two more compositions, one more exam, then final grades. Then I get a break!

To write a dissertation chapter.

*sigh*

Bee

I just have to say, I'm so proud.

She's downstairs singing with Petunia and Larry from Veggie Tales, and she's switching octaves depending on which one is singing.

Hooray for a 5-year-old with specific pitch distinction!

Foretelling the future

In the interests of doing absolutely EVERYTHING I can think of to put off writing on the dissertation today(I already cleaned the whole house, complete with kids' rooms and closets, wrote Christmas lists, worked on Christmas lodging logistics for visitors, etc), here's a blog post.

No seriously. I'm glad for Thanksgiving, because it gives me a specific day to think about all the things that are happening in my life, both good and bad.

Last year we had not yet heard about Ben's job. I jokingly sent Christmas lists (which we compile to distribute at my aunt Pat's Thanksgiving gathering) that said "Ben: a job in Ohio. Me: a house in Ohio. Bee: a pig in Ohio. J: a dog in Ohio."

I had no way of knowing then that it would come true. Except the pig (Bee's favorite animal), but that's by design. It's been so nice to be near family, to have the kids get to play out at Gran's and T's, to be able to just drop in places for an hour or so, to do family dinners on Sunday with various people.....it's been a good year.

Finding a teaching job has been great, too. I've managed to keep busy and adjust to a new schedule, Bee is doing GREAT in a new school environment, and J is getting the hang of using words. I credit his time at the campus childcare center, because when he's at home his sister obligingly gives him what he wants when he does the "point and grunt" routine, despite my objections.

We've had some difficult things, too, but I think that's just life. I'm happy to be safe, healthy, near people I love, and watching my kids grow in very positive ways. That's not to say that it couldn't be better - there's always the wish list of things to come. But for now, we just couldn't be better.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!