So I'm grading this big pile of essays and getting more and more annoyed because I don't see any significant changes from the earlier drafts when it suddenly occurs to me that maybe these are the earlier drafts. Yes: I accidentally downloaded a whole set of papers from the wrong electronic drop-box.
In some ways this is a tremendous relief: my students didn't totally ignore all my comments on their drafts! Hurrah! On the other hand, my error erased all the progress I've made on grading this pile of papers. Better to find that out after grading only three essays instead of 23.
And what if I had finished grading the wrong papers and then lambasted my students for failing to heed my suggestions on their drafts? Ouch! Good thing I stopped myself in time!
Time to sing the Song of the Nearly-Fatal Error. All together now:
I didn't hit "Send,"
stomp off in a huff,
or tell a good friend
"Enough is enough";
I didn't berate
my class for my error,
didn't foment their hate,
derision, and terror.
But I could have.
Yes, I could have.
Something stopped me just in time,
made me turn back on a dime,
thank my lucky stars that I'm
not quite blundering (this time).
But I could have.
More verses, anyone?
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