Caught gradingThere is something magical about entering a long weekend with all of the grading caught up & copies for Monday ready to go. Unfortunately, that is magic I've only experienced once or twice in my teaching career. Tonight I sit at conferences wanting to do anything but get caught up on feedback for student writers. I'm tired and my head hurts and getting up the energy for appropriate feedback is a little tough. So, I'm going to take a lap, refill my water bottle, maybe chat with a colleague for a few minutes, and then get back to work. I recently listened to Nora Roberts on "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" talk about writer's block. She claimed she doesn't believe in writer's block because you can always write, it just might be good. Instead, she pushes her self to write every single day & she edits the crap later. For her, the ritual of writing is important, even if a majority of what she writes is deleted. I need to take that advice and apply it to planning, grading, updating my blog, and my work in general. Channel a little Dory and "just keep swimming" since progress is far better than no progress. Find more information about the slice of life blogging challenge by Two Writing Teachers at this link.
Kari Straube is working on her second slice of life challenge in 2017. She spends her days with freshmen in rural Iowa & loves helping them grow. Her English teacher husband encourages her book hoarding habits & people do not like helping them move. She can be contacted at [email protected]
4 Comments
Jennie B
3/2/2017 05:25:13 pm
What's this you speak of? Entering a long weekend with everything ready for Monday?
Reply
susan
3/2/2017 06:40:49 pm
I heard Nora Roberts say that too. Wasn't it amazing? I'll be trying to organize during my planning period tomorrow, but I'll think of you enjoying your long weekend.
Reply
3/2/2017 09:59:46 pm
I have papers from last fall that I have not graded. At this point I'll likely not grade them. The trimester ended long ago anyway, and the kids' writing has improved so much that looking back seems pointless now. Thus, I'll pretend to have no grading this weekend. Think I'll even carry home an empty bag.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
The views on this blog are mine alone and do not reflect those of my employer or anyone else. AuthorKari teaches English I to 9th graders (!) and other electives in rural Iowa. Her husband is also an English teacher, and their friends have sworn to never help them move again because "even libraries don't have that many books." Archives
March 2017
Categories |