The grading is done, the student complaints are over, and student evals are now in.

It wasn’t a good semester for me–I was disorganized, apathetic, and had my head off elsewhere for so much of it.  I blame a lazy thyroid and the winter from hell, and the PHD program that promised a release from this drudgery, or at least better pay for it.  But either way, I was not expecting good student comments.  My disorganization frustrated them, and I can’t blame them in the slightest.  I was never actually caught up on grading (sometime there will be a post about how much I loathe that particular activity), and my schedule frequently fell apart.

On the bright side, they weren’t the worst evals ever.  I didn’t get rated 1 out of 5 or anything. They were critical where I expected them to be critical, and very kind where I had hoped they would be.  Even when one is expecting to be raked over the coals, it’s nice to know that at least some parts of the class did something for someone.

But there were two winning factors that made the evals still kind of awesome.

1. No one made the “she was a blind professor, so it must have been hard, but…” insert good or bad thing here.  This is always the most puzzling non-sequeter, and its absence was delightful.

2. The big one… someone complained that I graded their courses like an upper-level course!  My grading was unfairly difficult, and I did not grade like it was a first-year course.  I almost wept–I feel like a real teacher now!

As an aside, student you are a silly child–if I had graded all of you like upper-level students, not more than six of you would have passed.  I have expectations, and those do not include coddling you until I think you’ve learned enough to start getting graded harder.  Nothing is as motivating to an over-achiever than a well-deserved B.

All in all, I’m glad to see the back of the semester.  I plan to blog, fill my mind with as much trashy adventure lit as I can get my grubby little paws on, and, oh yeah, probably find a place to live for the big August move.

See you all soon.