Progress/regress report: summer term, the end.

Just entered my second set of course grades and am now done! For ten days or so, anyway, then it's time to gear back up for more jollity. Urgh.

Comp II's final grade distribution surprised me a bit, but Comp I didn't so much. Comp I: 2 B's, 5 C's, and 2 D's. Comp II: 6 B's, 5 C's, and 2 D's. No A's or F's in either bunch, which I should count as...something. Both victory and defeat is what it feels like, and a little bit of relief. Comp II, overall, performed much better on the final exam than I predicted, though there was also a 48 and a 51; interestingly, the student who made the 48 managed to pass by .2 point, whereas the 51 student failed by 1.4 points. The passing student was saved by a near-perfect score in daily work, see. Not to sound like a drill sergeant, but it goes to show that turning in work and being dutiful can make the difference.

As hinted, the biggest feeling I have is one of relief. After every semester, the relief is accompanied by an inescapable sense of futility, too. The deepest, most cynical recesses of me maintain it doesn't matter one whit if I modify my course layout, change assignments, or emphasize until I'm blue in the face the importance of keeping up, doing the work, blah blah--that the grade distributions will more or less stay the same. But the optimistic, naive side of me says my main purpose each new semester is to offer the material, offer the roads to success--that everyone who registers for me has a decent chance to do well.

Shouldn't it be relatively difficult to get an A, anyway? Doesn't that grade signify work, skills, effort, and/or results that are above the usual expected levels? And conversely, shouldn't it be relatively difficult to get an F if you at least show up and give it somewhat of an effort? (Is my standard for an F lower [or higher] than it should be?) In any case, it really is difficult to out-and-out fail one of my courses, but a D? Not as much.

Anyway, enough of that. To do before first day of fall semester:

1. Prep this college success course which I've never taught before. I feel like an infant thrown into the deep end.

2. Nail down my developmental English syllabus. Chances are I'll keep the layout largely the same as before, but the tinkerer in me is saying I should save all the punctuation and small-scale stuff for later, say two-thirds through the term--not until they've had a good solid chance to turn in 4-5 pieces. That would mean I'd have to change the nature of my written comments, too--not sure I want to do all that, but we'll see.

3. Buy some new shirts. OK, *a* new shirt. I think upon it and realize I haven't bought an article of clothing for myself in 9-10 months.

4. Mow the gd lawn AGAIN. I can't believe how much it still sprouts even in these dire summer months. But then, we've had more rain this year than last and so far haven't had the triple-digit living hell we had last August.

5. Do something fun during the weekdays--see some area things I haven't seen. The Flannery O'Connor house, for example, remains high on the list. If the Braves were playing better, I'd hop over to Turner Field--still might.