No more Friday afternoon meetings!

So many endings! The last class, the last exam, the last grades all submitted, but the semester isn't really over until the last Friday afternoon meeting has been adjourned. No more Friday afternoon meetings! That's something to celebrate. Here's hoping that whatever committee I'm assigned to next year won't meet on Friday afternoons--but the only way to find out is to attend another meeting.

Next week I'll attend the annual all-morning meeting in which Faculty Council sets committee assignments for next year. Last year I left that meeting early because my brother called and told me that I'd better hit the road if I wanted to see Dad before he died. I still didn't make it in time. This year I intend to keep a low profile to avoid being appointed chair of anything and hope for a committee that doesn't meet on Friday afternoons.

Last Friday afternoon I was with the grandkids, providing some backup while my daughter is singing all over Italy with her choir. I got to take the adorables to playgrounds and T-ball practice and preschool and church and I only lost track of two-thirds of them one time. Yes, I had to grade final exams while keeping half an eye on rambunctious imps, but the work got done despite distractions.

And then I had to submit reports on students who earned D or F grades, which included one-third of the students in one of my classes. In every case, students who earned a D or F had failed to submit a major assignment--didn't show up for an exam, didn't submit an essay. They also struggled on other assignments, but a big fat 0 puts a pretty significant dent in the final grade. Sometimes showing up matters.

Yesterday 20 people showed up for the workshop I'd arranged for current and future department chairs, and they were a really fun bunch. Now I've got my work cut out me for fall: to revise and complete the chairs' manual and prepare a whole different workshop in August. But I've got the whole summer to work on that so I certainly don't need to even think about it after sitting through my final Friday afternoon meeting. 

I feel like celebrating but somehow I just don't have the energy.