Hey there!

Hey, long time no see!

My radio silence has been due to a totally exhausting end of term. It didn't help that I perhaps foolishly decided to go out of town one weekend for a workshop -- a good workshop, and worth the drive and the time away, but it didn't help the workload. I've pretty much done nothing but teach and grade every day for the last two weeks. I've even been dreaming about grading, which is not so good for the relaxing sleep.

But the end is nigh. I finished grading the last few optional revisions yesterday morning, just in time to go proctor the English exam yesterday afternoon. And although I do not love grading exams, it is something of a relief to just be able to grade without also having to do class prep.

Here's the crazy FGS schedule: Exams are Friday, Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday morning; then we have Thanksgving break, with the Monday after Thanksgiving off as a faculty workday; then the new term begins on Tuesday; grades and comments (the evaluative paragraph each teacher writes about each student's work that term) are due Thursday morning. In other words, the Thanksgiving holiday is never actually that much of a holiday. BUT, if one is lucky enough to have one of the first exams, as English was this year, then it's possible to squeeze some R&R in there. The departments are on a rotating schedule, and English will have the very last exam in June (which will actually not be a big deal for me because it will only be my sophomores taking the exam; my AP students are exempt), but we got the very first exam this term. So my goal is to get all of the exams graded by Monday afternoon, and then D. and I can drive to my family for the holiday with high hearts and clean consciences.

Well, as high a heart as we ever had going to see my family. D in particular is really NOT looking forward to the visit, and it is true that I have dissolved into tears on more than one Thanksgiving visit to my family. But family is family, and I haven't seen my mom and brother in a year (normally I would go again on Spring Break, but last year I went to South Africa instead), and it is always better to go at Thanksgiving than at Christmas, since the former is a much less fraught holiday than the latter. And we'll drive back on Saturday, missing most if not all of the post-holiday traffic, and I'll then have a couple of days to prepare for the new term and write up all 61 of my student comments. Easy-peasy.

Anyway, that's the scoop here at chez WN. Just thought I'd check in and say "hello!" after all this time!

Comments

[Nitewriter]

Safe travels. I'm with you about the holidays. Now that the kids are grown and we have no grandkids, we generally travel over both holidays. It's such a relief not to have to clean, cook, decorate, etc. Have a good Thanksgiving.

[What Now?]

Thanks, Nitewriter -- and welcome to the blog!