Skip to main content

the thing about teaching is...

Ok, we went back to work today after a week-long break. I wasn't ready to go back (who ever is, really?), and none of the students were. I love my kids and would do just about anything for them. However, I hate grading and lesson plans -- probably the worst part of the job. I would much rather not really plan anything and just let teaching flow from our experiences and discussions in class. I realize this is a highly utopian type classroom to desire and that some measure of planning is essential in everything we do. But goodness, sometimes I think we are made to plan to an extreme degree.
Grading wouldn't be so bad if it weren't so subjective and complicated. You'd think marking a math test would be easy, right? Nope. Partial credit, corrections and retests make it terrible. I spend way more time than I should grading and regrading papers. Also, no matter how objective you try to be, if you know which kid turned in which paper, it's really hard not to let everything you know about that kid influence your grading. It's really hard sometimes.

Sorry about the rant.....just needed to get that out.

Now....today was a beautiful day!! The weather was perfect -- not too hot, not too cold, marvelous blue sky......mmmm :) Too wonderful to sit inside, so crackers and I enjoyed a walk around the neighborhood. Makes me sooo ready for spring and everything that comes with it.....but we are in winter, and so must wait patiently until spring is actually here.....but I do hope it hurries!!



A quote
The seasons are what a symphony ought to be: four perfect movements in harmony with each other. Arthur Rubenstein
Spring shows what God can do with a drab and dirty world. Virgil A. Kraft



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

happy new year! and....a quarter of a century

happy new year, my friends! i hope you celebrated in a fun way and were with people you love :) i was able to see some friends i never get to see new year's eve...and then was back at my parents' house by around 10:15...and was in bed by 11:30.... i did not stay awake to welcome in 2010, but i'm ok with that :) in other news, i'll be a quarter of a century old in a week. 25... i'm not one to freak out about my age (at least not yet) but 25 is a good year, i think. and in honor of my turning 25, i've decided to make lists of 25. because it'll be fun, and who doesn't love a good list? and because i spent yesterday traveling, the first list is a travel list, but is by no means complete or comprehensive....there's no way i could make a full list of everywhere i've been or would like to go.... so, enjoy!! 25 places i've traveled or would like to travel (red = where i've been, blue = where i'd like to go) 1. new orleans,...

motivation!

i think you should know that as i was typing the title to this post, i was singing it to a made up tune in my head... i have two papers due next week. one massive one and one that won't be so difficult. this means however, that i have less than a week to finish both of them and that means that i cannot spend any time doing anything other than work, school, or writing/researching. but. i've developed this "fall break is almost here, i don't want to do anything important right now" mentality. which is curious since i'll be doing school stuff all during fall break simply to catch up and then get ahead a little. so tonight, as i am about to get started on my work, i made a "motivation sheet!" that i can look at when i want to give up: using that verse might be a bit of a stretch, since i doubt the writer was thinking about writing 20 pg papers when he said it, but it seemed to fit. it includes baking and crafting and spending time with people, of cours...

pigeon love

yesterday, i was walking to my car and heard a pigeon. this is not especially unusual because there are pigeons all over the place, their presence just outside my house encouraged by the bird feeder hanging from one of the trees. however, this pigeon caught my attention because it was loud, close and sounded strange. i looked down and saw this pigeon essentially pacing back and forth by the wheels of a car.... where his pigeon friend had been the wheel's unfortunate victim and was no longer with us.  y'all... the pigeon was mourning the loss of his friend. it was so sad and sweet and touching.  i honestly wish i had had a camera to capture the moment. but it got me thinking. about friends, family, community, etc. being missed. don't we all want to be missed and mourned like the poor pigeon was? the kind of people that make the world, our communities, our families, and our friendships better because we are a part of them? and isn't that wh...