Middle of the Week Whining

Today has been mostly "teacherly" stuff for Rosie. I am grading in-class essays that my students created the last time we were together. They were to explain what makes a quality, meaningful essay. It is a basic writing course. They were to use the content found in their textbook.

I'm pretty disappointment that they can write a list of things to do to create an essay, and they can write a list of the ingredients an essay should have. What they didn't write is the thorough explanation of what these things are and why they are important. They don't want to write details. We have been preparing for this project since the first week of the semester (third week of February) and intensely preparing the past four weeks. I am not allowed to inflate their scores and to reward them for something they didn't do. If I do, my colleagues who get these students at the next level, get truly ticked.

So I'm flustered. I've been here before. Wondering where to resign (if only for this moment).

My desire is always to encourage my students. Sometimes they give me little with which to do that. What college students need to realize is that if this were easy, everyone would have a college degree. They've come through a k-12 system that was mandatory and, therefore, the grading system was somewhat easier.

So what I usually do is reassure them that I know they are all bright, but what I don't know about them (and don't want to know) is their personal schedule and what is keeping them from doing adequate study and preparation to earn high scores. All of them want a degree; too many of them think that simply attending classes earns them a degree (it doesn't). So I whine! But no wine or I'll never finish grading these papers.


Thanks to everyone who said complimentary words yesterday about my poem. I don't think of myself as a poet, but on rare occasions I think in verse, rather than prose. I'll share some of my others when the moment feels right. I do want to again mention Minton Sparks. I gave the link to her website yesterday -- Mr. Fun & I clicked-on her short video "Jesus, Kitties, and Flowers" last night and thought it was extremely powerful. Don't miss it.

I have a few more hours of evening and need to continue grading. I'll be looking for your blips. Oh, the bottle brush flower is from our backyard. I thought it was prettier than blipping a student paper and my cheapie camera did an okay job. Good night.

Rosie, aka Carol

P.S. Here in Southern California, the wealthy community of Santa Barbara is on fire and homes are burning. We're having extremely warm temperatures which accentuates the crisis. It's all very sad.