Conferences

I'm now two-thirds of the way through the conferences with my 101 students. Overall, I think they are going well. Most of them have followed my instructions to submit a draft before hand (giving me time to look at it before the conference so we can spend the whole time during the conference discussing it). I've only had a couple of no-shows, and I was able to work around those who came late today. Some conferences seemed better than others, kind of depending on the students' personalities and how much they had worked on the essay already. I will be very interested to see what they say about the conferences when I get the chance to ask them next week. Today I had 3 hours in a row; tomorrow I'm down to the last 2 hours and 13 students! The down side so far is that I have a lingering cough and my voice is a little weak. My tongue tastes like cough drops...I'm really hoping to shake this cold completely before arriving in ABQ!

It's pretty amazing to think we'll be on the road in about 24 hours. I think it's really hard to believe it's actually Thanksgiving already--not only has the semester gone by quickly, but with the weather here still in the upper 70s, it doesn't really feel like fall. Anyway, I can't wait to head home and see everyone!

Cold

Unfortunately, I'm not talking about the weather. Mark and I have both caught colds. I think he's had one cold already this semester; it's my first. Really, it could be much worse--there was a really nasty stomach thing going around last week--but it's still harder to concentrate with all the sniffles and nose-blowing.

On the up side, the weather is still beautiful here. We're having highs in the low 80s, which is above average; and although Mark would certainly prefer some cooler temperatures, I love that I can still eat my sack lunch outside on a bench. It was pretty weird seeing snow on the news this morning and thinking that I may not see any snow this year (unless it happens to snow in ABQ while we're visiting).

Speaking of visiting, we are really looking forward to heading home for Thanksgiving. Our schedule for the long weekend is already busy, but it'll be fun to see family and friends again. I don't know if any of the H-town staff is still reading this, but since we'll be in town on Wednesday, I'd like to come by the office and say hi. Will anyone be there? Post a comment to let me know...

In the meantime, before heading home, I've got to finish writing my final paper for Linguistics and do a few more little projects for my Methods class. I'm also going to be having conferences with my students on Friday, Monday, and Tuesday, to talk about their third essay. I haven't done conferences yet this semester, so that will be an interesting experience. I've heard from the other GAT's that they are really draining. We'll see how that goes... After the break, I'll be collecting Essay 3, which means I'll be spending most of my time grading. And then the semester will be over before we know it!

iPod

Guess who has an iPod now! It's a very cool story actually--Mark entered a drawing at a booth at PASIC and won a little green iPod shuffle. Just the day before he left town, he was showing me a cool new app on his iPod touch, and I said, wow, that's cool--next time we get a free iPod, it's mine! Well, who knew he'd actually get another free one (the touch came free with his laptop). And, he did decide to give it to me, since he already has two. This booth also turned out to be a good connection for him--it was for a website that is designed to help musicians advertise and manage lessons. The owner liked Mark so much that he's asked him to be the website's representative for AZ when it's all up and running. Maybe Mark will post more stories from PASIC on his blog--he had a really great time and met lots of new people. Anyway, last night Mark helped me load a bunch of CD's into iTunes on my computer and put them on the iPod. It's pretty cool!

Weekend Update

I've been to Phoenix and back now--I had a very nice visit with Aunt Linda and Uncle Chuck. The last couple of days have sure gone by quickly! I had dinner with Aunt Linda and Uncle Chuck on Friday night, then on Saturday, Aunt Linda made pancakes for breakfast (what a treat!), and she and I went to Arizona Mills in search of some great bargains. I tried on lots of stuff but only bought 3 shirts. She bought a few things, too. We had lunch at the Paradise Bakery at the mall. I stayed for dinner, then drove home. It was fun to get away and relax and spend time with some family. I even got a little bit of reading done, too. Mark hasn't called since Thursday, but he's on his way back now. I'm looking forward to hearing more about PASIC and seeing what kind of stuff he bought with his spending money. Hopefully his travel is going smoothly today--he should get here at about 1:20. It'll be nice to have him home again.

On my own...

Since yesterday, Mark is in Austin for PASIC. I took him to the airport early yesterday morning. We both thought it was pretty weird driving to a different airport for the first time. A little thing, but it just reminded us that Tucson hasn't been home for very long. I even managed to take a wrong turn (but Mark got us back on track). The actual conference starts today, so I'm sure he's really having a good time by now. As for me, it was pretty weird getting home at 2:30 yesterday and then being there all by myself all evening. As it turns out, I wasn't particularly productive with school stuff, but I did get a lot done around the house. Which reminds me--I think our vacuum might be quitting. It's starting to sound different (bad) and doesn't seem to be working very well. Might have to add "new vacuum" to my Christmas list.

I still don't feel that interested in making a post all about politics, but I will say that I'm glad the election is over. I'm glad they were able to announce a winner last night instead of having vote counting controversies drag out for days or weeks following the election. I don't feel particularly surprised about the outcome, although I am worried about some of the things that could happen during the next few years. I also know that the president elect can never do all he's promised to do during campaigns, so that's good. Basically, while I'm not thrilled, I'm not terrified either. We'll just have to see what happens. One interesting note--it looks like Arizona has passed Proposition 102, which will amend the constitution to say only a union of one man and one woman will be recognized as a marriage in the state.

Update

I didn't mean for so much time to go by between posts; I guess it's a combination of feeling like I didn't have anything interesting to say and being stuck in a mid-semester slump. Mark and I have both noticed that we really miss UNM's fall break. Last week, after the intense weekend of grading papers, I felt pretty burned out. I thought I would get a lot of work done for the classes I'm taking, but despite staying busy each day, I don't think I was very successful at working ahead. At any rate, I've enjoyed having a more laid-back weekend. Looking ahead, the rest of the semester is going to go by so fast--especially the two weeks after Thanksgiving. I'll have a lot to do for teaching, so I'm trying to be especially disciplined during the next two weeks in terms of working ahead on Linguistics and Methods stuff.

Mark and I have decided to start visiting new churches again. We had been going to one for a couple months, I guess, but the teaching didn't really satisfy us. We were mostly going because we enjoyed the small group, but after finishing a quick study of 1 Timothy, the leader decided to go through a long devotional book on developing a quiet time. Mark and I weren't really interested in that study, for various reasons, so we decided to start looking for churches again. We liked the one we visited today, but the pastor was out of town. So I think we'll go back another time to see what the regular teaching is like. I hope we'll find the place that seems right for us before long.

Also, yesterday we bought our DTV converter box (with coupon). We are so impressed! We're suddenly getting about twice as many channels, and they are all crystal-clear! If we had known what a difference it would make, we would definitely have purchased a box sooner. So, any of you watching TV with an antenna, request your coupon and get your converter--it's worth it! (Especially considering that it only cost us $10).

This week will be a little out of the ordinary--Mark will be gone Tuesday-Sunday at PASIC in Austin, TX. That leaves me here on my own (hopefully working ahead...). I plan to take advantage of him being gone and spend more time at home and less time at school. Maybe I can finally get our landlord to finish the last couple things around here since I'll be more available. Also, on Friday I'm going to drive up to Phoenix to see Aunt Linda and Uncle Chuck. I plan to spend the night with them and do some outlet mall shopping on Saturday. Of course, Mark is very excited about his trip. Should be a good week.

Reflections on Grading

The grading is done! (That is, except for a few essays that have not been turned in yet...) Here's what I've learned the second time around:

• The essays didn't improve as much as I hoped they would. After grading the first set, I made a bunch of notes about what the major weaknesses were. I also had the students do some reflective writing the day they turned in the papers, which gave me some feedback about what they thought was most/least helpful from our class activities. So, based on those two things, I made changes in my approach for the workshopping days. I thought there would be a dramatic improvement in the grades, but there wasn't. I realize now that my expectations were probably too high--it takes much longer than two weeks and one essay to become a better writer. Thankfully, there was some improvement. For example, I reminded them explicitly not to use contractions. I saw a whole lot fewer contractions in this set than in the last. So, they did improve, just not dramatically. (Though there were a couple of individuals who did).
  
• I don't like giving D's and F's, but I don't give very many A's either. I don't like giving the really bad grades because I feel bad for the students. I know how upset I would be and don't want to cause them to feel that way. I really have to talk myself into assigning those grades even when the writing (or other circumstances--like following my policy of taking off a letter grade for each day an essay is late) calls for them. On the other hand, I'm stingy with A's. (Mark pointed it out, too, as I talked with him about grading--he thinks it's unfair). The problem is that there seems to be a weakness in each paper, so there is a reason not to give it an A. I did have a few this time around, but not many. I had a lot of B+ grades, though--close, but not quite! Maybe I am being to strict about A's, but I think in the end, there will be more A's in the grades at the end of the semester. Many of the B+ papers came from students who have done all the journals and in-class writing, so that portion of the grade will push them up to an A at the end of the semester. Because of that, I think it's okay to be stingy with A's on essays--it gives them something to strive for on the next one, then on the final. (Also, UA doesn't use pluses and minuses for semester grades, so someone with a B+ average will probably end up with an A, unless they've had trouble with attendance or turning in regular HW assignments.)

I think those are my major reflections. I collected the essays on Wednesday and will be handing them back today--a very quick turnaround. It wasn't much faster in terms of time per paper, but I jumped right into grading this time instead of waiting for the preceptorship grading workshop. I think I did 17 or so on Saturday, but I'm sure I'd rather get them done and returned than have them hanging over my head for two weeks!

Besides grading papers, I got to go to the Wind Ensemble concert on Sunday afternoon. It was the first of Mark's concerts at UA that I've attended. It was kind of strange not only sitting by myself, but realizing that I didn't know anyone else there besides Mark! But, it was a good concert. Those of you who have been to his concerts at UNM will appreciate that he finished putting equipment away in 10 minutes! That was incredible because it took between 30 minutes and an hour at UNM. Here, the equipment is stored in a room on the same floor as the hall, just down the hallway, so the tear-down time is much shorter! Since the concert was at 3pm, we were actually home before 5, which was pretty incredible.