AFK -- "Away From Keyboard"

Flying out to San Francisco to visit my family and friends for 10 days. Be back in Grinnell on January 4th ... or 5th ... something like that.

Cheers!

Grades Are Done!

Final grades were submitted and I am officially done for the semester. I had about four rounds of grading and adjustments for my second class. It wasn't easy, but I think it's fair for everyone.

Now I can take the rest of the day day to clean up the house, do the laundry, pack my bags because tomorrow, Wednesday, we'll be flying out to San Francisco for ten days to see my family and friends.

It just occurred to me that I have a section to write for the departmental review ...

... two articles to revise for publications ...

... four more applications to send out ...

... two conference papers to write ...

... three syllabi to develop ...

... a department website to revamp ...

... and a list of Asian American books to write up for the students.

Did I forget anything else?

UPDATE (10:42pm):
It just occurred to me how different the grading system is at Grinnell College. At GMU, there was a pull down menu that lists all our options from "A+" to "F" to even some specialized ones such as "SA" which is short for "Stopped Attending." I vaguely remember over a dozen choices. Grinnell's system does not have a drop down menu. In fact, it's just a fill-in box. So it made me wonder what else could I put there? How about the letter "Q"? Or numbers like "6" or the ever popular "7"? How about a combination of letters and numbers like "L33t"? They all seem perfectly acceptable. I just find it hilarious when thinking about who'll be reading it like the Registrar's Office and, of course, the students themselves. They might collectively think, "WTH was this guy smoking?!?" And I would say, "I wish I was! But I just wanted to know what would happen."

Conundrum

CONUNDRUM: co * nun * drum [kuh-nuhn-druh-m]

1. A paradoxical, insoluble, or difficult problem; a dilemma.

So how can you tell the difference between an "A" paper from a "B" when a significant majority of my students wrote exceptional papers?

At other schools, it was easy. You can easily tell who prepared their papers, edited them, and submitted them in a polished format versus papers that were hastily and haphazardly written at 3am. The gulf between an "A" paper from everything else was wide and easy to navigate. With my students, however, it is not that simple or clear cut. On the one hand, they are all "A" papers -- polished, creative, and coherent. On the other hand, I can't possibly give everyone an "A" on their paper and for their final grade.

Can I?

I know my grading standard is based upon past experiences at other institutions and it is fairly straightforward. But at a college where excellence is the standard, I am faced with the reality that I have to be more precise than ever before, that is, not only widening the gulf between an "A" and a "B" paper, but also the pluses and minuses in between.


UPDATE (5:39pm): One class down and one more to go.

UPDATE (6:20pm): Note to self: never grade papers on an empty stomach.

Somebody Was Going to Do It

It was one thing to see President Bush get assaulted by a flying shoe. That was already funny. In fact, it was too surreal, like a scene from a Monty Python episode or slapstick comedy from The Three Stooges.

But I was wondering if President Bush was going to include this moment in his Presidential Library? I guess it wouldn't matter to him anyway since the clip will be housed forever on the internet.

I'm also guessing that the Secret Service didn't want to have these news headlines the next day: "AGENT TAKES SHOE FOR PRESIDENT"? It just doesn't work, does it?

But wait! I have evidence that the person who threw the shoe wasn't an Iraqi TV reporter as the news indicated. It was THIS MAN from an Austin Powers movie! (Thanks to Poplicks.com for this one).

I Didn't Want This Day To Come

In the past when I was teaching at other schools, I would count the days till the end of the semester when I would be finally free of my professional obligations as a teacher. I would breathe a sigh of relief and jump for joy when that day came. I would praise the few students who worked their hardest for me, and piss off the ones who disrespected me. I would pick up my mail in the department office that's been accumulating over the semester and quickly disappear back into the nameless faceless crowd of other adjuncts and professors.

That didn't happen this time around. In fact, I didn't realize today was the last day of the semester. I know I'll see my students in the future and that I'll definitely stay in touch with all of them. But more than anything else, I realize that I didn't want this day to come because I was genuinely enjoying my time and work with the students of Grinnell College.

I have nothing but praise for all of my students!

Damn, I can't believe it's the last day.

Hogwarts and Grinnell College

After a prolonged and careful deliberation from personal and anecdotal observations, I have come to the conclusion that if I had to compare Grinnell students to the four houses at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, they would be HUFFLEPUFF!

Maybe Ravenclaw, but that would be a very long stretch.

Why, you might ask?

Hufflepuff is the most inclusive of the four houses. They value diligence, loyalty, tolerance, and fair play that are attributes that both Grinnell and Hufflepuff share in abundance. Ravenclaw was also a serious contender since they value intelligence, creativity, wit, and wisdom. I would've gladly selected Ravenclaw had wisdom not been a trait but oh well. Besides, out of the four houses, only Hufflepuff had the poorest performance in quidditch matches which seems to be a record comparable to Grinnell's football season for the past several years (this year was promising since they won 3 games).

Some might be offended but I assure you there is absolutely nothing wrong with being a Hufflepuff.

I have many friends who are Hufflepuffs and they do just fine.

PostSecret

From this week's posting on PostSecret ...

So what do you call someone who is "terrified of Chinese people" but is not a racist?


A. Paranoid.

B. Dumbass.

C. Idiot.

D. Racist.

E. All of the above.