"Passing the Class..."


I posted three photos of the snow from yesterday, just to give a sense of it. We got at least a foot, if not more. It's not too unusual to get that much snow at a couple of points during the winter, but getting it this early seems like a bit of a shock. And I'm thrilled with the day because I did all of my grading for my argumentation course! I told myself I would do half of them, since the plan was to do half today and half tomorrow. But as I sat here, I did a few and just wanted to keep going because the thought of being done was so enthralling. It took all day, but we couldn't leave the house, so that was a pretty productive snow day.

It helps that I never comment as much on the final essays. Students can't revise them, and most don't read these comments in detail. I always offer to make more, and some take me up on it, but most don't. I was able to email everyone in two of my classes, also, to let them know where their grades stand right now if they do not turn in the optional revisions due on Monday. I really do not like students to be surprised by their final grades, and I've found that some students do not keep up with their grades as much as they think they do. Some end up happily surprised, while others end up asking me to explain how I came up with that low B or C. It's easier to do that now and have it wrapped up by the time I leave for my Christmas vacation so I don't come back to a ton of emails and phone calls.

One trend I've noticed in my teaching over this last decade is that I really even out the work over the semester. We have quizzes and journal entries each week, and the essays are spaced apart somewhat evenly and are all worth the same percentage. I used to have them worth different amounts, increasing in importance as the semester progressed even if the page length did not grow much. Now, I like having things even, especially at the end of the semester. I taught a class once where we were required to have about half of the grade in the required final essay and exam, which made things very stressful for all involved. With revisions, it's possible to change some of the grades from earlier in the semester, but it's easier to work from a known place and not assumptions.

Still, I'm done with a good chunk of grading, the hardest parts of it. Tomorrow afternoon, after errands and brunch, I can actually do some writing and reading. I don't have any class prep for Monday or grading, unless someone turns in a revision early.

That's the way to end a semester.
- posted by Nels @ 9:52 PM | | | Link |