....or something.
I'm a bit unsettled until I hear for sure my brother safely made it to Virginia. The house closing is today, and because of some Virginia law, apparently both members of a married couple must be present for the closing.
He didn't leave Chicago until 4:30 yesterday afternoon. Now, granted, he claims to be a night owl, but that means it would have been about 5 am today that he got in. I hope he's OK.
Moving was stressful for me but in no way as stressful as it seems to be for them. Of course, when I moved from Illinois to Oklahoma I didn't have a house to dispose of, and I had considerably less stuff to tote along than they did. And I didn't have a heavily-pregnant spouse to worry about.
***
We didn't get ANY of the promised rain. They were talking about 2", we got four hundredths of an inch. Plus a little drizzle this morning. We're still going to be in a drought. If we don't get much rain this fall, I predict more trees will die, and I'm starting to get worried about other things as well....fieldwork type things.
***
My biggest concern though is a student paper. I have my non majors class write "positional papers" (this is a mandated thing; I must do it). I have the trope of giving them four potential topics, having them vote, and the majority rules. Makes it easier on me and also giving freshmen free rein on topic choice leads to bad places. Also, having a set topic tends to cut down on the "Oh hey, here's a cool thing on the internet. Let's see if I can sneak this copypasta by the teacher."
Well, one of my students decided to create her own topic for this paper. It's not within ten miles of what they were assigned to do. It's a largely opinion rant, instead of the "Hey, investigate this topic and report back."
I'm angry about it because I now get to look like the "bad guy" for giving her a 0. But the only choices I see are (a) give her a zero with a strongly-worded note that this was NOT the topic assigned or (b) give her a partial grade, and let her continue to think it's OK to make up her own rules.
(I am wondering if she was assigned or did a paper on the topic she used for another class, and decided to try recycling. Recycling aluminum cans: good. Recycling college paper topics: bad)
This is someone who has previously demonstrated to me that they have the potential to be a thorn in my side: demanding, with a side of belief that they're entitled to things over and above what other people get.
People make me so tired sometimes.
***
Partly because of the change in the weather, and partly because of having a fieldwork day of walking long distances (perhaps 3 miles) on uneven terrain, I hurt a lot today. My back and knees hurt. (Well, I think I have a stone bruise on one knee when I kneeled down to help my research student put the plants we had collected into the press. I think I kneeled on a rock). So that puts me in a bad mood.
***
I'm getting hit by lots of spam comments. I know, that's a tiny thing and what the cool kids call a First World Problem. But it makes me sad to see a whole bunch of comments and have only one or two of them be real.
And I'm still getting robocalled - almost daily - from that "Law" firm looking for the son of the dead former owner of my house. (Too bad I don't have an "in" with whoever controls the Spirit World: I'd love to have them send her to haunt the firm for a bit). And Rachel from Cardholder Services as well.
I think a lot of my bad response to these is sheer disappointment....some days I feel like the only attention I get is either spam-attention (and therefore, not real) or unwanted attention (as in: someone calling me to tell me to do something). Some days I start to feel like I'm fading a bit around the edges, like I'm turning invisible....
It's just that there are so many little annoying things in the Modern World that don't have to be, and yet they are.
I'm also considering withdrawing from Twitter. I joined to get quick, funny one-liners from people. But instead I get quick political zingers that may contain inaccurate information. And I AM SO DAMN TIRED OF POLITICS, AND SO DAMN TIRED OF THE BUMPERSTICKER MENTALITY OF SWOOP IN, SPREAD RUMORS, AND LEAVE. Sorry, but I am. Supposedly there's a way to block political wank on Facebook; I don't see any way to do so on Twitter other than unfollowing lots of people.
Now, if I could block from seeing retweets....that would eliminate a lot of the problem.
***
Also, my house is a mess. I cleaned a tiny bit last night but have decreed that this afternoon I am going to go home and clean more, even if that means I have to come in Saturday to finish my grading.
But it has been nearly two weeks since I've had more than a few minutes (or time while invigilating an exam) to work on any of my projects, and that makes me sad. I haven't even really kept up with the research reading, because I've been so slammed with grading to do.
***
Yes, someone probably needs a hug. And maybe an ice-cream cone. And some blinkin' free time to do what she wants to.
7 comments:
On the student paper, difficult as it is, I would probably lean toward drawing the line and assigning the zero. If the assignment parameters were clearly laid out and she did not follow through then that could count as not doing the assignment. An opinion rant is not the same as an investigative query.
Are you still in the drop class period? Sometimes if students sense if they can't game the system, they'll drop the class and look for another instructor who will let them get away with that.
And we haven't had rain in weeks and weeks. Instead, we've passed the month mark for triple digits nearly everyday. Does not make me feel great.
I think you have nailed it about your student--she is recycling a paper. Personally, I would nail her butt with a giant ZERO, but I am more assertive in that regard that you (for a variety of reasons). I do wholehearted agree that dealing with that sort of "entitled derpitudinous fuckwittery" is enormously draining.
Hope you get a chance to relax and decompress over the weekend.
8)
Phyllis
I join the others in saying you should give the student a zero on her recycled paper.
I doubt it's any consolation by Rachel has been calling me too. I just hang up on her. If she gets in my voice mail, she'll usually hang up on me so sometimes I purposely not answer the phone just to force the call to voice mail.
I know what you mean about feeling invisible. I try to tell myself that if I was more popular I would get even more spam and in the real world more people wanting my attention, wanting me to do things for them, wanting me to listen to their problems, etc. but doggone it I am interesting and I'm nice. Why don't more people like me?
I haven't been on Twitter in ages. I tried to log on a couple of weeks ago and it kept telling me to try again. I was sure I had the right password but I clicked the "forgot password" link and it wouldn't let me do that either. So I wonder if they delete your account if you don't log on for a long time. I'm on Facebook. I only have 14 friends because I'm very picky - I only "friend" people I know in real life or that I've known online for a really long time but if you send me a friend request I will accept.
I would also give the student a 0. She did not complete the assignment=she did not do the assignment. the end.
Also. yes you can block retweets. you click on the person's name who is RTing and then click on the person icon (located next to the "following button") then the 2nd to last choice is "turn off retweets" I use it all the time.
and I have followed you on twitter, but I cannot tell if you can see me. Not that it matters. But I see you, and you are not fading on the edges.
I use an app on twitter that does indeed let me block retweets. (It also lets me block people temporarily if they're being really annoying, and block hashtags.) It's TweetBot; they're working on developing computer versions.
(I agree about the zero on the paper.)
I may be the only person in the western world who still has an answer phone. For some reason, those robo call people rarely leave a message . . .
Actually, you are one of the most active people I "know" - work, piano, knitting, church, quilting - and I enjoy getting your updates.
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