As I get ready for the Spring semester to start, the weather here in the Mitten is mirroring my mood. It is tempestuous, shifting. Sometimes sunny and cheerful, sometimes chilly and brooding. I'm preparing for my second-to-last semester of teaching writing at my current university; my feelings and thoughts are jumbled. But, in the midst of all the bittersweet-nervous-excited-kind-of-sad emotions, here is some fun teaching stuff I've been into lately:
Kicking off the Spring semester with some cool professional development
breaking out of "grading jail"
hilarious onion article about student evaluations
What about you? Do you have a mixed emotions about transitions (semester or otherwise)? What are your experiences with teachers and grading--either as a teacher yourself or as a student?
2 comments:
Oh grading....I don't even know where to start....I used to carry stacks of paper from school to home and back again, without ever grading a single one!!
I remember Dr. Bowdle would take our term papers on vacation with him, and he would return them to us with sand in between the pages and sometimes even footprints (he claimed he dropped them in the airport).
Good teachers though know that good grading is very important - a chance to offer notes, feedback, and "dialog" with students a bit.
But oh man its a pain too!!!
Jesse~I totally agree that "good teachers know that good grading is important..." And good grading takes time. There is a great essay that outlines my core philosophy of grading called "The Doubting and Believing Games" by Peter Elbow...basically, we can approach students' work based on a negative, fault-finding outlook (the doubting game), or we can assess based on what *is* there, positive aspects to build on (the believing game). Takes time to believe, but oh, so worth it!
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