Semester over

I finally finished figuring grades. Now for the inevitable round of emails-- why did I get the grade I deserved instead of the grade I wanted???

I hate that. Some students that I genuinely like are not getting the grades they want. That does make me sad.

Semester is over though. I think next semester I am going to require more revision again. Students hate that. And contrary to popular belief, I do not set out to make students miserable.

I need to find the cord for my external hard drive so I can find Todd's resume. Then I need to go to Home Depot and get some paint so I can paint the inside of my closet and my bedroom. I have a scrap of wall paper that Walker excavated from the wall during the demolition that is has a beautiful dusky green background that I love.

This weekend, Dad came down and helped us with our project. In the meantime, I worked on getting the closet ready. We removed everything from our closet. All the clothes, shelves, everything. Now what was in my closet has exploded all over my house. It kind of looks like I am having a garage sale in my living room. This will get better soon, I am sure. Todd has promised tonight to get the sheetrock and paneling that we need to finish out the closet so we can get hanging bars back up and have a closet again. And I may have a garage sale as well, next week.

I think I am going to go eat lunch now. Maybe better blood sugar will help my outlook on life.

Speaking of home improvement... http://www.raisetheranch.com/blog.html

Semester ending

I have been sad most of the day today... That just doesn't happen that often.

Today was a day of goodbyes. Tammy moved out of our office (and I have to move out next week). I had to talk to Olivia's childcare director yesterday about a date to pull her out. I met for the last time with my 8:00am State Hall class. Most of those people have been in my class all year. I had them in both Comp I and Comp II-- this is the first time I have taught the sequence in order. It was wonderful to see how they grew as writers as the year went on. Several of them told me how much they enjoyed my class this morning. So all I have wanted to do all day is just cry.

Today was my Honors final, too. Most of the students did really, really well on the final. That makes me happy. But today was my last day with them as well. And my last day with Magi as my assistant.

I snagged Tim as he walked by my office to ask where he is going next year. He got a nice funding package at University of Tennessee's MA program. That makes me happy. And my assistant from last semester, Samantha, got a really nice funding package from Kansas (as did her fiancee). They were in my classes my first year teaching for Honors (they were sophomores, and so smart they were intimidating). Now they are leaving, too.

I thought I would be happy to see the last of this semester. And I am, truthfully. This has been a difficult, frustrating semester. But I really wish I had more time with my students.