Grades Due Tomorrow
Mercifully, this semester is coming to an end. Grades are due tomorrow. In retrospect, I had way too much due at the end of the semester. I had students turn in their final papers at the time of the final exam. Grading the exams and papers for 110 students about killed me. In the future I need to have the papers be due much earlier. Also, I've had several students share with me their life stories of hardship and why they feel I ought to give them a higher grade. Many students tell you about how they'll lose their scholarships if you don't give them a B. I think there might be several professors here at Xavier that change grades based on things like this. I'm not one of them, and I wish the students would have done more earlier instead of putting me in that position. I will be happy to finally turn the grades in tomorrow. This Saturday is graduation, and I have my funny outfit that they make me wear. I really need some free time in May to finish several projects in the works. Especially the atlas. Then in early June I'm at Wabash and after 12 hours at home, I'm off to dig at Tel Zeitah and travel around Egypt. Then home for about two weeks and then school starts. Ugh. I love teaching and will enjoy digging and exploring this summer, but I need a break. I'm exploring grant opportunities to get some release time to write. I would love to get a Fulbright. I'll explore this in more detail.