Clearing the desk (if only metaphorically)

Trying to get some odds and ends cleaned up this morning before class — a few things to grade, make sure I have everything ready for class, and so forth. The first rush of the semester is over, so I have a bit of a breather teaching-wise. The first month, students write a paper a week. While the grading is low-stakes (pass/fail, just a few points), I try to respond carefully to everything. Now the group activities start, but that’s a routine at this point I know well from prior semesters (though that’s certainly not the perspective of the students). The collection of materials for the pre-approved perspective paper topics is now finished, and I wait for their drafts at the beginning of March.

So now I focus on other activities, like the Social Science History Association meeting, for which I’m a network representative and research (and maybe writing). And being the parent who is home when the kids get off the bus.