Sometimes it seems like the grading will never end! Well, I'm actually almost there. Even though I collected essays on Wednesday of last week, I didn't make time to start grading until Saturday (which is very unusual--I like to get started and finished as quickly as possible, but that's just how it went last week). I also only got through a few over the weekend, which has left me with a lot of grading to do this week! My goal is to return them on Friday, and while I didn't think I'd make it at first, I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel (that's after two days of grading more than 10 essays, which is pretty exhausting)! I wish that I could take a break after I finish grading; but, unfortunately, there's no chance of that. In order to get the grading done, I've set everything else aside, so there's lots to do. In particular, I've got to work on final projects. I haven't even settled on a topic for one final paper yet, so that's got to happen this weekend. Oh, I should probably also mention that I got my test back yesterday, and I was very happy ( and a little surprised!) with the grade. As it turned out, the answer I came up with about the question I struggled with was the right one! (Which made me feel thankful that I didn't keep working on it for another hour.)
In other news, we had our Tuesday night Bible study group at our place for dessert last night. I think it went well. I've often thought it's silly how many people we had over to our last apartment (which was so horrible!) and how few we've had over here. So, I was glad to be able to have our group meet at our apartment. Maybe we'll do that again sometime. I made Special K cookies (Mark's family's recipe), pumpkin chocolate chip bread (my mom's recipe), and pumpkin pie (from the Libby's can). I've never actually made a pumpkin pie before, and this was also my first attempt at pie crust. I used my mom's recipe (actually, it's from one of her friends), and I think it turned out pretty well. It didn't look good (the edges were kind of rough), but it tasted right! The middle was a little under-cooked, but still quite edible. I'll be having a slice from the leftovers later!
The only other thing I can think of to mention is that we've had a major cold snap here. I know it's probably been snowing where some of you are, and, of course, there was no snow here, but it was 30 degrees cooler today than it was yesterday. In fact, Tucson hasn't had a day this cool in October since the 1970s! We didn't even hit 60 today. Tomorrow's supposed to be cold, too. I'm enjoying the change, but the wind today was frigid! I don't think I'll mind when we're back up to the mid-80s this weekend (although Mark will be disappointed!).
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Mexico Pictures
As promised, here are some pictures from Chihuahua! Here, I've only posted ones with me in them, but my friend that took the photos posted all of them on facebook (for those of you who want to see more scenery and stuff).
Here we are with the rental car:
The next few were taken during my presentation:
Notice the cool school logo in the background (and ignore the weird look on my face!):
Here I am at the end--you can see I'm relieved!
This is the coordinator, presenting me with a certificate. They gave us a cool mug, too, but part of the picture peeled off when I put it in the dishwasher... :-(
A picture of the poster for the conference--this was all over the place!
And, a couple of photos from our sight-seeing (if you look closely, you can see me in the top one):
So, there's some pictures from the trip...almost like you were there!
Here we are with the rental car:
The next few were taken during my presentation:
Notice the cool school logo in the background (and ignore the weird look on my face!):
Here I am at the end--you can see I'm relieved!
This is the coordinator, presenting me with a certificate. They gave us a cool mug, too, but part of the picture peeled off when I put it in the dishwasher... :-(
A picture of the poster for the conference--this was all over the place!
And, a couple of photos from our sight-seeing (if you look closely, you can see me in the top one):
So, there's some pictures from the trip...almost like you were there!
Today, I collected the second essay from my students and completed the first take home exam for Dr. Troike. Tomorrow, I have a presentation in my other class (but I'm not really nervous about it; we're all friends!). I think I need to start getting some serious work done on my final projects--the end of the semester will be pretty intense.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Finally Catching Up
It's been a while since I've posted an update, so here goes.
I'm finally starting to get caught up with school and teaching. My studying for the SLA theory exam paid off--I only missed one point! (I really didn't expect to do that well, but I was thrilled!). I've also managed to stay caught up on the readings for that class, but I have a presentation to prepare for next week and the week after. I'm sure it'll come together. I've mostly caught up with the readings for Dr. Troike, which is good because we've got a test in his class on Tuesday. It's a take-home test, but I'm hoping to be well-prepared so I don't have to spend every waking hour on it. We'll see how that goes...
What's really incredible is that the semester is already halfway over. I've got to get serious about my final projects (I've done a fair amount of work on one, but I have almost no idea what to do for the other two). Today, I decided what classes I'll be taking in the spring and submitted my teaching availability form. It's so hard to believe it's that time of the year already. (It's also hard to believe I'm just two classes away from having an MA!)
As far as teaching goes, I did finish grading papers, and I returned them last Monday. My students were a little disappointed, but no one argued with me about the grades, which was nice. I did let them rewrite to earn up to 10 points back. The rewrites have been graded, too, so now I have a week off before collecting the next essay. Thankfully, essay 2 has a personal element, which makes them much more fun to read!
Finally, the trip to Chihuahua was good. Things were a little rough on Wednesday; we spent over an hour getting the rental car, discovering that I was too young to help drive, and started hearing a disturbing break noise once we arrived. It all worked out okay (we got our break pads replaced and the rental company took the cost off of our bill), but it was a rough start. Other than those glitches, it went pretty well. I was incredibly nervous before the presentation, but it was fine. I made note of a couple things to do differently in the future, but the audience was really attentive and kind. After the conference, we had a really nice lunch with some of the faculty from the University. That evening, Deida (the friend who organized all of this) took us around town. We got to see some cool things (including part of a concert by a famous musician!). I didn't take my camera, but the others did, so I hope to get some pictures from them to post here soon. It was a good experience, and I'm glad I went. But, I'm also glad I'm home and not planning to leave town again for a while!
I'm finally starting to get caught up with school and teaching. My studying for the SLA theory exam paid off--I only missed one point! (I really didn't expect to do that well, but I was thrilled!). I've also managed to stay caught up on the readings for that class, but I have a presentation to prepare for next week and the week after. I'm sure it'll come together. I've mostly caught up with the readings for Dr. Troike, which is good because we've got a test in his class on Tuesday. It's a take-home test, but I'm hoping to be well-prepared so I don't have to spend every waking hour on it. We'll see how that goes...
What's really incredible is that the semester is already halfway over. I've got to get serious about my final projects (I've done a fair amount of work on one, but I have almost no idea what to do for the other two). Today, I decided what classes I'll be taking in the spring and submitted my teaching availability form. It's so hard to believe it's that time of the year already. (It's also hard to believe I'm just two classes away from having an MA!)
As far as teaching goes, I did finish grading papers, and I returned them last Monday. My students were a little disappointed, but no one argued with me about the grades, which was nice. I did let them rewrite to earn up to 10 points back. The rewrites have been graded, too, so now I have a week off before collecting the next essay. Thankfully, essay 2 has a personal element, which makes them much more fun to read!
Finally, the trip to Chihuahua was good. Things were a little rough on Wednesday; we spent over an hour getting the rental car, discovering that I was too young to help drive, and started hearing a disturbing break noise once we arrived. It all worked out okay (we got our break pads replaced and the rental company took the cost off of our bill), but it was a rough start. Other than those glitches, it went pretty well. I was incredibly nervous before the presentation, but it was fine. I made note of a couple things to do differently in the future, but the audience was really attentive and kind. After the conference, we had a really nice lunch with some of the faculty from the University. That evening, Deida (the friend who organized all of this) took us around town. We got to see some cool things (including part of a concert by a famous musician!). I didn't take my camera, but the others did, so I hope to get some pictures from them to post here soon. It was a good experience, and I'm glad I went. But, I'm also glad I'm home and not planning to leave town again for a while!
Saturday, October 3, 2009
One day at a time
I've been putting off updating this blog, partly because I honestly don't know what to say, and partly because I've felt too busy to take the time to figure it out. Obviously, the last weeks have been difficult. The silver lining has been the support we've had from our friends and family in ABQ, Tucson, and elsewhere.
Since we got back in town, I've been struggling to get caught up with school and teaching. Last weekend was devoted almost entirely to studying for my first exam in SLA Theory; since that test, I've put most of my energy into grading papers (which were turned in while I was in ABQ). At this moment, I'm down to the last 6, but then I have to go back through and make the final call on the letter grades. Sometimes I spend too much time deliberating (for example, between a C+ and D-). Ultimately, the difference in point value isn't that much, but the students certainly have different reactions to those two grades (I certainly would!). The grading has been time consuming, and particularly unpleasant because the essays are pretty weak. I guess I'll have to offer some kind of re-write option.
Since I had so much work to catch up on, I really haven't spent much time thinking about anything else. Maybe in some ways, that's made things easier, but I fear it will catch up with me eventually. I'll have to make time to work through my own emotions and to find ways to support Mark as he does the same. Right now, I just feel drained. (But, to be fair, I always feel that way after grading papers, and I've already done 12 today, which may be close to a record.)
The business will continue this week. Once my papers are graded, I'll have a pretty good amount of reading to catch up on for one of my classes. On Wednesday, I'm leaving town to present at that conference in Chihuahua. I'm not nearly as excited about going as I was a month ago; but my teaching advisor encouraged me to go, and because several other people in my classes are going, too, one class I would have missed has been cancelled, and the other professor promised not to cover any new content. So, at least I don't have to worry about falling further behind in class. The details for the trip are really coming together last minute, which I'm not really comfortable with, but I'm trying to go with the flow. It looks like we'll be driving a rental car down (no driver as originally proposed) and staying in a hotel (but we don't know which one). We'll all present on Thursday (mine is first thing in the morning), then drive home Friday. It'll be a long time in the car, but I expect to enjoy the company. I'm also very thankful to be coming home quickly so I can have Saturday and Sunday to do my normal routine and spend some time with Mark.
Anyway, that more or less covers what's going on at this point. It's probably time to get back to work.
Since we got back in town, I've been struggling to get caught up with school and teaching. Last weekend was devoted almost entirely to studying for my first exam in SLA Theory; since that test, I've put most of my energy into grading papers (which were turned in while I was in ABQ). At this moment, I'm down to the last 6, but then I have to go back through and make the final call on the letter grades. Sometimes I spend too much time deliberating (for example, between a C+ and D-). Ultimately, the difference in point value isn't that much, but the students certainly have different reactions to those two grades (I certainly would!). The grading has been time consuming, and particularly unpleasant because the essays are pretty weak. I guess I'll have to offer some kind of re-write option.
Since I had so much work to catch up on, I really haven't spent much time thinking about anything else. Maybe in some ways, that's made things easier, but I fear it will catch up with me eventually. I'll have to make time to work through my own emotions and to find ways to support Mark as he does the same. Right now, I just feel drained. (But, to be fair, I always feel that way after grading papers, and I've already done 12 today, which may be close to a record.)
The business will continue this week. Once my papers are graded, I'll have a pretty good amount of reading to catch up on for one of my classes. On Wednesday, I'm leaving town to present at that conference in Chihuahua. I'm not nearly as excited about going as I was a month ago; but my teaching advisor encouraged me to go, and because several other people in my classes are going, too, one class I would have missed has been cancelled, and the other professor promised not to cover any new content. So, at least I don't have to worry about falling further behind in class. The details for the trip are really coming together last minute, which I'm not really comfortable with, but I'm trying to go with the flow. It looks like we'll be driving a rental car down (no driver as originally proposed) and staying in a hotel (but we don't know which one). We'll all present on Thursday (mine is first thing in the morning), then drive home Friday. It'll be a long time in the car, but I expect to enjoy the company. I'm also very thankful to be coming home quickly so I can have Saturday and Sunday to do my normal routine and spend some time with Mark.
Anyway, that more or less covers what's going on at this point. It's probably time to get back to work.
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