Monday, November 19, 2007

Class

I'm grading... I'm done now. It wasn't as bad as I was anticipating, but I get to do it again! In a week! Woo-hoo! (That was sarcasm if you couldn't tell.) I feel good after I'm done grading, and it's not even (too) bad while I'm doing it, but thinking about having to sit down with a huge pile of (most likely) poorly written papers isn't fun.




Did I tell you about the professor who teaches right after me in the same room? The other day, when he came in, one of my students was standing and waiting for me to talk. He said Hi to her. She was friendly and said Hi to him. Then he started chatting more with her as I packed up my stuff. I realized he thought she was one of his students. He confirmed this by asking if she had a specific question a few seconds later.

I was stunned! How could a person teach a class for almost a semester and NOT recognize if a student was in the class? I honestly think the poor man is overwhelmed, but I was embarrassed by his mistake. I make it a goal to learn all of the names of my students in the first month. I try to learn them more quickly, but some of them don't show up in class very often and it makes it hard!




One of my students thanked me for feedback on her paper. I created quite a bit of writing in the class because I wanted them to write higher quality papers. We'll see if it worked. The problem is, I haven't taught this class before, so I'm not sure the level of quality the papers would normally show. The other instructor who has taught this class before says student quality varies a great deal between classes. In some ways, I think my students are doing pretty well, and in other ways, not. I'll have to go into this later though.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello! It's good to hear you sounding more like your old self.

I'm sorry for the loss of your friend. I am also familiar with the grieving process, and I know how much it sucks. My thoughts are with you.


Over the past few days I have come up with a few questions for you... I hope it's alright to go ahead and post them here.

A long time ago (I don't remember exactly when) you wrote that you felt that the mean age level in your house was (I believe) around 3. What would you say is the mean age/developmental level now?


How is N doing with her bike? I thought that your no-pedal teaching technique is pretty neat. I will do that when I have kids.


Two related questions (with some preamble): In my family I grew up as 'the baby'. By the time I was T's age, I HATED being called 'the baby'. Is T experiencing any of this? Does she identify herself as a 'baby' or a 'big girl'?
Related to this topic, I was wondering about K. You often hear people speak of 'middle child syndrome' and the like. Does K find it difficult to be stuck in the middle? Do you notice 'middle child traits' in her?


Last but not least, the little girl I babysit has recently begun potty training. I was just wondering where T stands with regards to using the potty. And what techniques (if any) do you use when potty training with your girls?


I know you're busy, and part of me feels bad asking you these questions, as if I'm putting something else on your already-full plate. But, take your time and answer them if you feel like it.

Peace out!

JK said...

Hey Alice,

Great questions! I will answer them as soon as I can. It will be fun. :-) Thanks for posting a comment. Questions/comments are always welcome!!

:-)

JK