Reading Blogs, Journals, and Discussion Boards

Grading assignments is just part of the life of an English professor.  It takes time.  It is frustrating.  It is a struggle to remain fair and balanced.  But it is also fun and enjoyable, plus it brings a smile to my face very often!  Today was a day at home for me.  My students were working on source evaluations and they didn't need me to be there physically to help them.  The original plan was for me to spend the day with my grandson who has the croup, but he was taken to the ER last night and admitted to the hospital overnight, so my day today was my own. (He is home now and breathing much easier.)

So here I am.  Reading blogs, checking emails, grading evaluation papers, and looking at Pinterest for recipes to make in my pressure cooker (Instant Pot, if you will).

Grading over 100 summary/analysis/response papers was grueling this fall.  Grading evaluation papers is fun because they are more personable, less stressful to write (I hope), and enjoyable to read because they contain recommendations for restaurants and movies, two things that my husband and I enjoy.  Half Moon Brewery in Kokomo was the subject of at least two evaluations and we plan a dinner there soon after harvest.

This brings me to the AmLit course.  Each time I read the selected aphorisms in a discussion board I have to smile.  Each class is so different in their selections and the trend that is the focus.  Sometimes the selections are very personal, but often there is an influence of current events or concerns about the direction society is going.

Other interesting discussion board posts include those about memorable speeches.  I cannot remember the focus of the speech when I graduated from Indiana State, nor can I remember the subject of my daughter's speech when she graduated from high school in 1999.  I am always impressed by the speeches that have made impressions on my students---and that they remember those! 

In my ENGL 111 classes last week the students completed journal entries in response to two articles from This I Believe, which some of you may remember as our Common Book for the previous two years.  Once again I read approximately 175 journal entries from the four classes, but I enjoyed every one of them.  One related to the 'Designated Celebrator' of family celebrations, and I took comfort (I think) in the fact that just about every person in charge of hosting the family Thanksgiving dinner is stressed out about it.  Including me.  Also it was fun to read about the special talents that are found in each family---the grandmother who always makes the best noodles or the father and sons who run cross country together or the uncle who always brings his guitar and sings as every family event.

Writing is a way to share our lives with each other.  When we can't sit and talk, when we can't actually BE with each other, we can share what is most important, our thoughts and feelings, our fears and our concerns with each other through the written word.  It doesn't take much to do it, just hitting the keys and seeing the words on the screen or putting the pen to the paper.

If you are reading this, respond!  Then open your blog and write a new post.