I'm behind on grading, but trusting that tomorrow I can remedy some of that, I'm going to post about the good moments of the week.
1) It took a considerable amount of time to get into the planned content for my developmental English class today. That is because one slide into the presentation, a student asked one grammar question, which led to another, which led to another. Then, the group of three students actually were appreciative and -- if I stretch my imagination just a little -- excited to learn about coordinating conjunctions. I'm sure they might forget by Monday, and I'll have to remind them again, but for one brief moment, there was excitement as they learned that one simple list of seven coordinating conjunctions could give them to key to joining their sentences. And, for a few exciting moments, we learned that it's not always wrong, contrary to popular belief, to start a sentence with and. The sentence samples being scribbled on the board came from the students for once instead of from me. I know in the grand scheme of life that the difference between a coordinating conjunction and a subordinating conjunction is not all that important, and I'm not saying by any means that my students are unappreciative of what I do because many of them this semester are great and a few have even gone out of their way to verbalize appreciation, but sometimes you just have moments in the classroom that click and make you happy that you are teacher.
2) Our trip to the dog park was pleasant this afternoon. The weather was nice, which made the dogs a little bouncier and the owners a little more talkative. Deogi behaved well for the most part, and when his baser instincts took over, the dogs put him in his place instead of me having to be the hysterical, blushing owner running after him.
3) I made super delicious ham for dinner. I don't normally get excited about food, so the fact that I'm writing this will tell you that the ham was good. There's leftovers for tomorrow too, so that's a bonus.
4) I went to the talent show at the school, and it was great to see the genuine musical talent of some of our students. There were just some goofy acts too, and it was just an all-around good time. I also got to catch up with one of the girls who used to be in my mentoring group because she was on campus. Many faculty and staff were floating around, and I'm reminded of how cool it is that our school is small and invested in each other.
5) I've had an intellectually stimulating week of thinking about things other than school. Positively energizing.
6) I got really positive feedback from my boss about the writing center proposal that I submitted. He even wants to know if one 3-credit course release is enough or if we should think about giving me more release time. I was floored by that and grateful once again for the team of people I work with.
7) I had a great talk with Jillian to wrap up the evening.
Comments (7)
Glad to hear you had a great day. Definitely take the time to enjoy those moments.
Amen for #1. (Well, the others, too, but particularly #1.)
What'd you do to the ham? Was it better than Kirsten's ham? That stuff is good. Actually, now I'm hungry for ham. Thanks.
@Jilleigh15 - I cut up a ham slice and put it into my giant non-stick skillet that my wonderful sister gave me. Then, I opened a can of crushed pineapples and squeezed the juice into the pan. I also threw in some of the pineapples. Then, I threw in a decent amount of brown sugar. I put in 3 or 4 whole cloves (be careful to fish these out when done because biting into one is gross!), and to balance out the sweetness, I added a little garlic powder.I mixed it all up, then I just let it cook at something a little higher than simmer while I buzzed around the kitchen getting things done. I turned the ham a few times, and let all the liquid cook out, even until some of the pineapples got a little brown hint to them. That helps the pineapple juice turn into a kind of glaze.Then, I ate the ham! YUM!
Mmmm...that does sound really good! And ham isn't usually one of my "favorites."
I like daylight savings time simply because it's lighter longer in the evening. It's sometimes a little drab to get home from work in the winter at 5:15-5-30 and it's already dark.
I wasn't this productive in grad school--that's for sure. I can accomplish way more now than I ever did before. It's probably because of several reasons: a) I have an office that is away from home (and tv and food!); b) my co-workers are fairly productive peeps, thus making me want to get a lot done; c) my job requires it; and d) there's always the possibility of a promotion to keep me motivated!
#1 = didn't they learn those on Schoolhouse Rock! OH! That's right! They don't have programs like that anymore! Silly me. What was I thinking? I have decided that if I ever have to teach a "basic writing" course again, I will be buying every Schoolhouse Rock! DVD that relates to English, posting it on Blackboard and creating a release so I know they viewed it. They are probably on YouTube too. No clue how you can "teach" grammar though.