Adjunct Riot

Okay, so we didn't write that kind of classification in class today. (Congrats, Memory, for, ah, remembering all of those science-y words.) Halloween is LITERALLY my favorite time of year. So today I gave my students a great 8:00 AM start to their crisp 31 October--we wrote a journal exercise about horror films. (And ate Halloween candy. I couldn't resist!) Horror films just beg to be used to learn about classification essays! Film nerd that I am, I think I gave my students a pretty comprehensive viewing experience. Take a load off for a few minutes and enjoy that tingling sensation crawling up your spine! (Clips from Nosferatu (1922), Psycho (1960), The Shining (1980), Scream (1996))  

I think we can chalk this one up as a success. My students turned in their mini-essays in which they explored and evaluated The Alchemist's Santiago's most important character traits. The students then used the identified traits to decide what Santiago's theme song was. (Some of the song choices, I'll admit, were a bit puzzling.) Click the link to find their playlist! The Alchemist Theme Songs  "Chasing Pavements," Adele "Gonna Fly Now (Theme From Rocky )" "Send Me On My Way," Rusted Root "Life is a Highway," Tom Cochrane "Eye of the Tiger," Survivor "Simple Man," Shinedown "If You're Going Through Hell," Rodney Atkins

"The story is really starting to get interesting." -Dear-Sweet-Student-O'-Mine (at least he underlined it!)

One of my female students found a typo in today's discussion questions. Ever graceful in defeat, I gave her an extra credit point. "It's like an early Christmas gift!" she exclaimed. Her friend told me that she (the friend) would look the other way on any future typos if I ignored the run-ons in today's paper. Extortionist. Today did in fact feel a little like the holidays. Half the class was late or missing (and on the class meeting before my evaluation, too!), but the ones who were there seemed light-hearted. I was light-hearted. I gave out an essay assignment for the weekend due on Monday (I must have said that ten times--the little Dickenses from the top of the post wrote it on their assignment sheets twice, for my benefit): The class has to write a character study of Santiago from The Alchemist , ultimately arguing what his theme song is. That got their attention. Faces lit up . I'm going to have some fun grading to do next week. Yes, yes, I promise-...

How quickly one can become deflated. As you know, I work as a Writing Tutor as well as teaching a class. (My twin sister also works in the Writing Lab.) In the Writing Lab, we can't make every paper an "A" paper. Frankly, that's not our job. Our job is to answer specific questions asked by the students. If the students asks me to look at commas and fragments, I'm not going to do a dang thing about their content. That, I'm afraid, is up to them to fix. Bathroom gossip is the worst, isn't it? Not only do I find it kindasorta disgusting when people talk through the stalls to each other, often what they say isn't nice at all. And they can't see who's listening. Long story short, one woman told another that if she was to go into the Writing Lab, don't bother "if you get the short haired twin." (That's me, by the way.) A professor marked her down on a paper, and, of course, her grade is directly my fault. I'm a sensitive...

That was relatively painless. I did have three men from my class follow me like ducklings down into the Writing Lab, clutching their tests and thankful for the extra time I have allowed to finish the midterm. They're so studious and adorable (I say naively, yet to begin grading said midterm tests). By the numbers: 18 students taking this midterm, 2 of whom were early-bird test-takers and 2 of whom arrived to the test tardy by at least 15 minutes. 5 sections testing everything from subjects and verbs to pronouns; 3 prompts to choose from for the Alchemist essay question. 18 Personal Essays due (in folders), 4 of which were turned in naked. 1 caring student who offered her extra folder to clothe the needy.   Bless you, my children. Bless you.

Rather than line-editing their students' final work, she reviews early drafts and responds to the larger ideas. Peer reviews supplement students' efforts to reshape their papers along the way. The approach is less time-consuming for her and ultimately has a more profound impact on students, says Ms. Reynolds [of Duke University]. -"An Old-School Notion: Writing Required"    Shall we all give three cheers?

Midterm, noun. The middle of the school term, a time of tests and essay writing and textbook requisitions, signaling the coming close of autumn. Momentary panic is bound to set in. How can six students in my class of nineteen be failing? What book do I teach next term? Will I be given another class to teach? More importantly, how did my hands get so chapped? I am constantly asking myself these questions, and yet, the panic hasn't closed in. In fact, I ain't even nervous. This time last year, man, was I a wreck. At risk of sounding too much like "The Yellow Wallpaper," I have a "nervous condition." I'm a worry-wort; stress affects me badly. But this midterm, I feel much like the boy from The Alchemist (our class book)--I feel like all the omens are pointing me down the path to my Personal Legend. (Look it up--it's on Sparknotes .) Everything has its time: a time to write midterm tests, a time to grade essays (stifle your groans), a time to ...

There is a satisfying hush as I step off the curb; A silence on the street that means, even for just one moment, That I stopped the world.

"My poetry was born between the hill and the river, it took its voice from the rain, and like the timber, it steeped itself in the forests." --Pablo Neruda