Black Friday at My House

My husband and I stayed up till midnight, not because we needed to go shopping, but because, as empty nesters, we wanted an adventure. When we arrived at the mall at 12:15 and saw the lines of cars backed up trying to turn in, we decided to take a spin around the neighborhood and head home.

This morning bright and early we made a genius appointment at the Apple Store and headed to a different mall. At 8:30 a.m. the mall was only as full as normal. We finished our business, got help (or didn’t), and wandered the mall for a bit, eating parts of a stale pretzel and looking at gadgets.

By 9:30 the mall was crowded and we headed home, a nice roundabout drive that gave us time to talk.

Lunch was leftovers (cheese dip, not turkey) and then we went to work. DH studied for his exams this week and I began frantically working on the chapter I thought was due at the end of next month, but which is due next week.

We broke for a two-mile hike through the green belts in weather that was about 72 degrees. Then DH went back to study and I cooked supper for the four of us–both boys are home from college.

Everyone cleaned their plates, and the dog licked the bowls, so I stuffed the dishes in the dishwasher and went to check my mail. I got an email that might mean (maybe) that my poem was published. But I’m not sure it meant that and I haven’t really been able to find out.

I guess I will spend a few bucks to order the book and be sadly disappointed if I managed to miss another publication.

Now it is back to my chapter writing and revision.

Thanks-giving V and W

V:
violets
violins, especially when they are fiddles
violas
volunteers
Vues (Saturn Vues)
views, out the window, of the world, of the sky and moon and trees…
variables, so that not everything is the same
variety (see above)

W:
windows
willows
weeping willows
weeping cherries
Wonderland
Williams family
warriors
women
wilderness
welcomes
winter
whispers
whistling
whirling
washtubs
wonder
wandering
whittling
worship
worshipping
will
work
whales
wheels
whole wide world
wishes
wishful thinking

Thanks-giving T and U

T:
thanks
toes
today
tomorrow
toilets
trucks
toys
tea
teal
turquoise
Tandy
Thomas
totes
turtles
truth

U:
umbrellas
undies, especially lacy, frilly, feminine ones
uncles, for me and my boys
unicycles and memories associated with them
universities, esp. mine and those my sons attend
umber
USA
USAirForce
USArmy
USNavy
USMarines
USCoastGuard
unicorns, and books about them
Ur, and the fact that Abram left it
undecided majors
unique gifts

Grading Papers

I can honestly say that I don’t love grading papers, but I don’t think most people do. However, when I was reviewing the papers to see what students might think of their improvement over the class period, I don’t think they will see it. Many people did the best on the first essay (which I let them write over) and did not do as well on the in-class essay (which I would expect). But then they didn’t do as well over the next major paper either, because I did not allow rewrites.

That means that, if they are simply examining the trend, students are going to see:
highest grade, lower grade, even lower grade. I don’t think they are going to think that they learned much from that.

How can I talk to them about the fact that:
1. first paper was re-written for an average of the two grades, so is not indicative of first attempt?
2. second paper was in-class? This is a forced writing assignment with a single chance.
3. third paper was not re-written?
and make them see what they can/have learned from those situations?

I am not sure.

And I’m depressed about both that I don’t know and that the students will not see that their work may have improved over time. The assignments have gotten harder each time, as well. The essay I just handed back or am still grading (depending on which class you were in) is the hardest one we will do all semester. So I expect the papers they are working on now will have much higher grades. However, they won’t get these back until the final, which means they will not be able to use them in their discussion.

I guess the other option is to have them able to re-write the last paper and to choose to write the final over the revisions and what they learned from those.

That might work. But I haven’t finished grading them and they would barely have time to revise.

The final option (it’s a pun, I guess) is to have them read a big pack of paper and make guesses on possible topics from the packet and then answer the question from that for the final. I don’t really have time for that because of the schedule I have assigned. I didn’t know that most folks spend the last two weeks doing the readings and discussing possible final exam questions.

Could I tweak the final exam question? Could I give them a reading or a lecture or something on best ways to study (from StudyHacks or research) and have them apply what they have learned across their classes to the final?

How would I write that?

Reiterative practice (with or without feedback) is the most successful study tool in a student’s repertoire to help a student learn and master material, according to research. How have the classes you took this semester encouraged or discouraged the use of reiterative practice and in what ways might you, as the final arbiter of how you study, realistically improve your study habits?

This would give them multiple paragraphs. Simple version:
1. intro- reiterative practice definition and thesis
2. discouraged classes
3. encouraged classes
4. realistically improve next semester
5. conclusion

More elaborate version:
1. intro
2. class 1 – encouraged
3. class 2 – encouraged
4. class 3 – discouraged
5. class 4 – discouraged
6. class 5 – discouraged
6. realistic implementation 1
7. realistic implementation 2
8. realistic implementation 3
7. conclusion

Variation of more elaborate version:
1. intro
2. class 1 – encouraged
3. class 1 – discouraged
4. class 2 – encouraged
5. class 2 – discouraged
6. class 3 – encouraged
7. class 3 – discouraged
8. realistic implementation 1
9. realistic implementation 2
10. conclusion

Students could bring in a print out of their grades for different classes, assuming they are all on Blackboard.
They could write on those print outs notes about the assignments.
Simply having the grades would let them see which courses gave the most feedback. (And there mine would probably surpass them all.)

What would I gain from this revision?
1. The students would see where they might have learned more in my class than they thought.
2. The students would be critically analyzing both their classes and their study habits for those. (Maybe. But otherwise it would be teacher evaluation. Need to work on that.)
3. Students could have a take-away of a means of improving their grades in other classes.

What would I lose from this revision?
1. I would not be following the final everyone else gave. Thus, I am out of line and fit is jeopardized.
2. I might be seen as encouraging criticism of their other teachers. See fit again.

Okay, so how could I revise this and still have my students look at this class positively?

Revised topic: Reiterative practice (with or without feedback) is the most successful study tool in a student’s repertoire to help a student learn and master material, according to research. How has this class encouraged or discouraged reiterative practice and in what ways might you, as the final arbiter of how you study, realistically improve your study habits for English 112 next semester and/or all of your classes?

Simple version:
1. intro – reiterative, thesis
2. this class encouraged
3. this class discouraged
4. do X next semester
5. conclusion

More elaborate:
1. intro
2. this class encouraged: daily work
3. this class discouraged: daily work
4. this class encouraged: essay assignments
5. this class discouraged: essay assignments
6. do X next semester
7. Not do Y next semester
8. conclusion

Variation:
1. intro
2. daily work- encouraged
3. daily work- discouraged
4. discussion grades- encouraged
5. discussion grades- discouraged
6. essay assignments- encouraged
7. essay assignments- discouraged
8. do X in English
9. do X in other
10. not do Y in English
11. not do Y in other
12. conclusion

That still might lead them to teacher evaluation, but less than the other, I think.

So, daily work encouraged: lots of it, related to writing
daily work discouraged: lots of it, hard to see relationship sometimes
discussion grades: encouraged, related to the conceptual elements throughout
discussion grades: discouraged, ?
essay assignments: encouraged, prewriting, rewriting, peer review
essay assignments: discouraged, in-class essay, rewriting not feasible for all assignments

Maybe I could revise it this way, which I think is closer to what the Director of Comp was thinking:
Reiterative practice (with or without feedback) is the most successful study tool in a student’s repertoire to help a student learn and master material, according to research. How has this class encouraged or discouraged reiterative practice related to the Conceptual Age elements? Where do you think you most appropriately used the Conceptual Age elements and where might you have added them in, with the benefit of hindsight?

For major papers: We used the Conceptual Age elements in the visual rhetoric paper (design, play, narrative), the def/illustration paper (narrative, empathy, symphony), the digital presentation (design, play, narrative, symphony, innovation), the evaluation paper (design, symphony, narrative, meaning), and the proposing a solution paper (design, play, innovation, meaning, symphony, empathy, narrative).

For discussion: Six-word autobiography posts required design, play, narrative, and meaning. Comments could have elicited empathy. Lecture attendance/notes/essay required analysis of conceptual elements.

Okay, I feel a little bit better.

But it does mean I want the students to revise the essay that I haven’t turned back yet. When can I assign that? Not Nov. 29, since they have the present essay. I guess Dec. 5 as a due date. Final essay due then AND the revision. Not good for my grading stack, but I could turn the revision back on Dec. 7 and they could use it for the final.

Then I have the problem of… I have too many As in my classes. 31 out of 47 students are making As. They have done TONS of work.

Maybe I should have them critique their final grade to date. If they have an A, how have they earned that? Or whatever grade? Attendance, homework, daily grades, major essays, revisions when offered… All of those are ways they could argue they did or did not earn the grade they have.

Got to think about that. But first I need to grade the next essay for those students who need them back… Well, I guess since they aren’t going to be due till Dec. 5 I don’t have to, but really I don’t need them hanging over my head. If I can finish one class today and one tomorrow, that would be good.

Thanks-giving: R and S

I am thankful for Ron, my amazing husband.

Also, other Rs:
roses
rain
romance
romance novels
running
restaurants
return policies
Romanian children
roofs (or rooves, as I prefer, despite the incorrectness)
roll-ups, from when my kids were little

S:
me, Suzi
suitcases
sandwiches
Serenity
sunshine
swords
solos
Saturn
the Son
soda pop
silence
sleep
students
stories
stamina
steel
stones
stores
stoves
studs 😉 (Got Ron in the list twice.)
shopping
sofas
salads
snicker doodles
Sundays
Saturdays
somedays
soon
sisters

Thanks-giving P and Q

P:
people
popcorn
porcupines, since they are so amazing
partners
palaces
pink, especially hot and neon
purple, any shade, though royal purple is my favorite of the purples
posies
poems
poetry
poets
passion
participation
principles
portability
promises, especially those which are kept
pumpkins and pumpkin cheesecake made by Bolivia
paint
paintings
painters
pals
pen pals
pets
permission
pens
pencils
prequels

Q:
questions
quotations
quotes
queries
quacking noises
quarters
giving quarter
fourth quarter (esp on games I don’t want to watch)
quarts
quintuplets (and their mothers!)
quill pens
Quixote
quaggas (though I wish they were not extinct)

Thanks-giving N and O

N:
noodles
noggins
noise
names
Northern Lights
Nellie Bly
notions, particularly the actual word
Nancy

O:
onions
Oreos
Orion
oranges
outside
oolong
only children
okra, but only because my daddy loves it
oceans, because they are beautiful
orgasms
olives, because the B-berry family adore them

Thanks-giving L and M

L
love
laughter
learning
loneliness, because it teaches how much joy there is in others

M
my sons, especially my son M
marriage, especially to my beloved husband
mothers, especially mine who is now dancing in Heaven
miracles
mercy
make-believe, because we can create
marveling, because we should never lose our ability to be amazed at God’s goodness and creativity
music
movies, because my husband loves them
March, because I was born then. So was my favorite (and only) nephew.

Christmas Gift Idea

an inexpensive homemade bath/hand scrub that everyone liked so much they requested more. I make it myself for everyday use, and it is great for gardeners’ hands. Use either coarse cane sugar or regular brown sugar, mix in almond or grapeseed oil (I use almond) until you get the desired scrub consistency, then add peppermint oil. You come out of the shower, or away from the sink, smelling like a Christmas cookie, and I don’t have to use moisturizer when I use it. By the way, buy the oil from the food oil section at the grocery store

This is a good idea for folks at work. At least the ladies that I know well.

Thanks-giving: I and J

Immigrants.
Indians (both American and not, since I am related to both).
Israel.
Illness, since it often draws us closer to God.
Italics.
Ink, because how would I write?
Illustrations, both verbal and visual.
Itemized deductions.
Income. Yes, income.

J
Jesus.
J middle name of oldest son.
January, when my husband was born and also my baby sister.
June and July when the sun shines a long time.
Journeys, since mine has been so long and varied.
Jokes.
Juries, because we have a pretty special system in our country.
Justice, or at least the hope of it for major crimes.
J my sister.

Thanks-giving G and H

Thank you, God, for:

G
God.
Grace, yours and my niece.
Growth
Good times
Grandparents

H
My Haston family.
Householders, even though most are gone.
Heaven, because I know that is where my momma is.
Holding hands, because that is so incredibly wonderful.
Hats, because they are fun.
Home, heart, and houses, although I am hoping that our Houston house sells.

Thanks-giving E and F

I am very grateful for:

E
my oldest son, E
everything God has graciously given me over my lifetime
eating
ears to hear
everybody I know and love

F
fall, even when the trees are blooming not turning, like they are here
frontiers to conquer (educational or otherwise)
friends
family
folks I know and love (and, in light of the bus wreck from my school, the fact that none of my loved ones are in the hospital or dead from that accident)
freedom, a luxury that many in the world will never know
freshmen, who make up the bulk of my students
Fridays, because DH is usually able to be with me
Fort Worth, because we had a good meeting for work and fun walking around downtown with hubby

Thanks-giving C and D

C
(Third day of November)
Christ
my children
courage
Christmas
celebrations in general
chicken tenders
church
church friends
chapel

(Fourth day of November)
D
Davises
Deverkas
Delonys
dog
darkness
doorbells
dancing
debonair darling (R just won’t work for every day of the month!)

Thanksgiving Thanks

I’ve missed several things already in November (even though it is only the second day). One thing I missed was the deadline for a conference. The other thing was my annual Thanksgiving “Thank you, God” list. I can’t fix the conference, but I can catch up on my thanks list.

I am grateful for:
A

all my friends
A-town, my “new” home
apples, especially bright green Granny Smith apples
animals, especially my dog Serenity Houdini
arms that can hold and hug (both mine and others’)
AK, my precious niece
AC, my precious nephew

B
beauty
God’s bounty
my boys
babies
butter, especially for popcorn or eggs
blue glass 🙂