Done with grading. My partner stopped short of accusing me of slacking in this respect (in terms of offering crap feedback), but she did indicate that ‘things don’t add up’ in regards to my grading speed. Truth be told, I gave far less feedback than I am personally comfortable with. I was, once again, a poor manager of my time.
So, what does that mean moving forward?
I take lessons like this to heart. Every time I write a note to a student I need to recognize that I am impacting that student’s emotional and mental health (see below–I wrote the thoughts first while searching for exactly what I wanted to say today). I also need to recognize that failure to provide enough feedback has the same impact. If you say nothing it does little to promote growth.
With that in mind I am going to move forward towards the summer and fall redesigns (a yearly process) with more emphasis on quick hit assignments that I can give really good feedback about. This way the students are growing from the process and continuing to learn to recognize writing as a process.
Meanwhile I need to continue to respect teaching as a process and get better from step to step, stage to stage. I had someone in my college who ‘ranks’ higher than me recently explain to me that ‘focusing on the students is a good place to start.’ I took immediate offense to the idea, because I see it as a good place to live.
Speaking of places to live… that is a topic for the next blog. Real issues there. I’m discovering that I have a lot to say about it and not a clear sense of how the words ought to go. And on that subject change, back to…
Some Thoughts:
- Okay, now it is really time to start watching basketball.
- This is shaping up to be a particularly difficult week in terms of emotional health.
- 1 and 2 are entirely unrelated.
- While we are on the subject of health, I am starting to come to grips with the different types of so-called wellness. Emotional is only one of many layers that may or may not corroborate to form overall wellness. Mental and physical are two other layers that do in truth seem corresponding. Perhaps emotional is the glue that holds the three together.
- All three are a work in progress as we speak.