My report card

I give myself an A+ for getting my final grades submitted well before the deadline, but all my assessment data still sits in an unsorted pile on my desk. The quality of the data is probably in the B-B+ range, but until it gets assembled into spreadsheets and analyzed to within an inch of its life, I give myself a D on assessment.

I've caught up on all my piles of filing: A+. Part of that filing process involved throwing out large piles of student exams and papers leftover from previous semesters. There is some debate about how long professors ought to hold on to student work and whether old papers and exams can be safely tossed in the paper-recycling box, which could violate students' confidentiality if some curious person were to go rooting through the box. I tossed out papers leftover from fall semester but I didn't want to walk over to the shredders because it's too cold and damp outside, so I tossed them in the recycling box. I figure that makes me pretty average, so I give myself a C.

For summer preparation, I give myself a solid B. I've distributed the schedule for the independent study I'm doing with two English majors who somehow missed taking the required postcolonial survey, and I've ordered about half the books I need for my summer research project. I've been thinking deeply about the project without actually doing much to make it happen (aside from applying for and receiving a summer research grant). Right now, the only thing standing in the way is that big steaming pile of assessment data on my desk. Better grab the shovel and start scooping.