All over campus as my colleagues complete their grade reports I hear the same sounds: first, a loud hurrah as the final click sends final grades to the Records Office; next, as the reality of diminishing deadlines rapidly sets in, a sound like air rapidly escaping a deflating balloon.
Lots of stuff on the to-do list--reports to write, messages to send, courses to plan--but without classrooms full of students eagerly awaiting our pearls of wisdom, the sense of urgency just evaporates. No rush. The to-do list will still be there tomorrow.
Meanwhile, we waft around the silent classroom building like so many wasted balloons drifting in the wind. Grade deflation: it's an occupational hazard that leads, sometimes, to drunkenness, despair, and doom. But fortunately there is a cure, and it's waiting just around the corner. It's called fall semester.
3 comments:
I take it the summer African American Lit class is going as an Independent Study course?
Ummm...no. Guess I need to get to work on that summer syllabus. Thanks for the reminder.
Boy, isn't that a switch?
Can I get my hands on the reading list? Not even three days into summer break and I'm in need of some books to put in my que on the nightstand - I might as well kill two birds with one stone.
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