I got the two sets of Brit Lit essays back to them on Friday. We did what I said we were going to do in class and also about the assignment for Monday’s class, since there is a university-wide experience we are missing class for. Yay! We also voted in class to have the reflective essays replace the research project. Whew. Glad I got out of that too.

I graded the easy homework and in-class stuff for the freshman. 2 of the 3 reflective paper sets are still needing grading. I will grade those tomorrow when hubby is on his way home. I will also help son with his critical analysis.

So my grading isn’t outlandish.

The floors are done in the house and the reworking of the house, including dusting everything, was done by 6 last night for guests. R dusted two fans. Everything else to get the house ready I did. I actually wondered if he spends so little time helping with the house here (on anything) because he doesn’t plan on coming. I hope that is not true.

It’s hard to live apart. We’re grumpy and argue. Sometimes I don’t hear what he is saying. Maybe I have quit listening? I need to work to be more proactive on that. Make sure I know what is going on. We’re supposed to be going to do some filming, but we also have company coming in two hours. I hope the filming can be done in less time.

I’m not thrilled with how my classes are going. Brit Lit is better, I think. I hope it is where it needs to be now. I think it is.

Freshman comp though still isn’t getting the students where they need to be. I feel like I have thrown too much at them possibly. I don’t know. I did slow the semester down a bit yesterday while the movers were moving furniture. I hope I made good choices about what to drop. I really feel like the 111 class is not being as helpful for the students as it needs to be. There is too much that is higher level that the students really aren’t that good at because they are missing lower skills. I could be wrong. I hope so. We’ll see on Thursday when I get the first essays. Based on the two I have received so far, though, it’s definitely going to be a disaster.

Next time I teach fresh comp I am going to totally redo my syllabus and START with the things I think are most important. Then I will move on to the things the department mandates as essential. After that, nothing. That will fill up more than 16 weeks.

Oh, and goodie (sarcasm noted), my spring schedule is out. I am grateful to teach business writing. I hope I get to pick the book. I know I don’t have to follow someone else’s thousand point plan. I am also going to be teaching Brit Lit 2. Not my favorite class, but I did come up with a way to have fun with it in Houston. Hopefully it will work here too. Then I have two second semester freshman classes. I’m not totally thrilled with those as they are a bone of contention between the lit and rhet people. I’m a rhet person, but when the course description says lit, I’m going with lit. ESPECIALLY since the final is a literary analysis. So I will out myself as being in the lit camp if someone examines my syllabus/calendar. Then I’ll never get a chance at being freshman comp director. (Though I am not sure how I will feel about doing that, I would not like never getting the chance to do it.)

Next fall I will teach a class in which I have five weeks of theory to present to grad students. Guess what I’ll be doing next summer? Yep. Studying theory. Especially the “theory favorites” of folks in the department.

House is empty again, now that I don’t have six rooms of furniture in the den. I hate to say this, because R is a minimalist, but I actually was fine with all the furniture in the den. Now there’s little in the den or the living room or my study. R’s office is empty too, but I know it won’t stay that way, so I’m not really worried about it.

He wants to put the brown couches in the living room. I think that is a bit odd because of the color schemes. However, it may work, depending on how big the couch actually is and how much space the room has. I think I will get up now and go measure it.

Hopefully we are going to go do some filming soon.

Update: Couch will fit, though will block door a bit. R says it will be perfect. Hope so.

Filming has been put off till tomorrow. I have 1.5 hours to goof off or clean up or read.