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At last!

I’ve wanted to post for a few days, but I’ve been trying to wrap everything up for school.

Grades for all three classes have been submitted. I am officially done aside from the changes I want to make to my syllabus over the break. Yay!

I’m glad to have one semester under my belt. It really did take me almost the full semester to adjust to everything, because essentially I was teaching curriculum that was completely different from what I was teaching last year, and I was teaching someone else’s assignments. Now I at least know what works, and what doesn’t. I also know how to articulate what I want from the students better. I think some of them are going to be unhappy with their grades, but I’m learning not to take that as personally. I just keep trying to remind myself that I grade as fairly as possible, and it’s not me giving them a specific grade; it’s what they earn. It’s so strange being on the other side.

I’ve had a few students tell me that they learned a lot, and I hope that they did. It’s always rewarding to see them improve from the beginning of the semester to the end, but sometimes I wish that I knew how they do in the future…whether or not they remember things I’ve said when they write papers for other classes.

Teaching really is like having children in a way. But I only get them for a short time, and then I send them off.

Listen to me; I’m such a sap.

Anyway, I’m done!