Procrastination in Action and Other Randomness
Summer is winding down. This is the week (including the coming weekend) to get my ducks in order planning wise for the beginning of the school year. This includes revising/pulling together my syllabi, though for most of my classes the syllabus is not nitty-gritty in detail like you get in college. But they include the basics, including expectatations, grading policies, etc. I am planning on going the route of Rehoboam this year. Although the metaphor breaks down quickly, because I am also Solomon. I will be tougher than myself, in other words. How so? Homework. I used to penalize late work at ten percent a day, and only accept it late if we didn't cover the answers in class. Now I'm upping it to twenty percent a day, and no late work accepted after a week. This will save me from having to correct packets of ten homework assignments I occasionally get at the end of a marking period, from a slacker who has done little work and wants to do something about their grade last minute. In the past I have fudged a little on the ten percent a day bit and usually given some credit for work no matter how late it is submitted, even if it's only 2 points out of 10. But I decided I am tired of pandering to slackers like that anymore, at least in classes with college bound students. Let the grades drop if they will, I am not going to be a victim of my own leniency any more. This will also allow me to throw away piles of unused handouts much sooner than before, and keep my classroom a little cleaner.
I have work to do, but I am currently procrastinating by writing this. But it feels good. For these are still the leisure days of summer, where there is work to do but no immediate deadline to complete that work by. A very different story during the year. Lesson planning tends to have significant deadlines attached to it, like the next day when the bell rings and the class begins. You kind of have to have a product ready to go. This tends to suppress procrastination. But nothing is suppressing it right now. So I'm enjoying being a procrastinator just a little while longer...
Moving on to other random events/ideas in my life...
I saw a guy driving and clapping the other day. It was weird. I was driving one way, and he the other, so I didn't have time to stare for long. But it looked like he was driving solo in his car. And he definitely appeared to clap his hands a few times as he sat behind the wheel and drove nearer. What is that all about? Was he listening to a book on CD where the hero just came through in the clutch and stopped the bad guys? Was he listening to some music which called for claps in it? Was he out of his mind? Was he in love and celebrating the fact that the girl he just proposed to said yes? It's a mystery.
Another weird fact. There is a guy, probably in his mid twenties, who comes by my condo building at various times and carries on conversations with a girl, also twenty-something, two stories above my condo, on the third floor, via her window. He gets her attention by yelling/calling up to her. I'm pretty sure he does not live near here, but drives to see her. At least one conversation went something like this: "Hey _____ girl's name." Repeated girl's name because she didn't come at first. (I hear commotion and perk my ears to figure out what is going on.) Girl comes. Guy: "Hey, what's going on. Did I wake you up or something. Do you want to go and hang out?" Girl: "I'm not interested right now. Maybe tomorrow?" Ok, I embellished a bit, if it's possible to embellish a mundane conversation and make it still sound mundane. Anyway, multiple visits of this nature have made me wonder: what kind of relationship is this, or who in their twenties doesn't have a phone? It's obvious to me that the guy does not call over first. He just shows up and yells (really just calls loud enough for her to hear) until she comes to the window (a tiny bit like the guy who calls for the key from Maria in Life is Beautiful, for any who might remember that scene). Why doesn't he call and keep his conversations from being heard throughout the neighborhood? Does she not have a phone? Does she have a phone but hasn't given him her number because she is avoiding him? Whatever the case is, it's a little odd.
Ok, enough randomness for now. I do have things to do, so I'll stop. Gotta get things done before giving my life blood away today. Literally. (Some of it.)
I have work to do, but I am currently procrastinating by writing this. But it feels good. For these are still the leisure days of summer, where there is work to do but no immediate deadline to complete that work by. A very different story during the year. Lesson planning tends to have significant deadlines attached to it, like the next day when the bell rings and the class begins. You kind of have to have a product ready to go. This tends to suppress procrastination. But nothing is suppressing it right now. So I'm enjoying being a procrastinator just a little while longer...
Moving on to other random events/ideas in my life...
I saw a guy driving and clapping the other day. It was weird. I was driving one way, and he the other, so I didn't have time to stare for long. But it looked like he was driving solo in his car. And he definitely appeared to clap his hands a few times as he sat behind the wheel and drove nearer. What is that all about? Was he listening to a book on CD where the hero just came through in the clutch and stopped the bad guys? Was he listening to some music which called for claps in it? Was he out of his mind? Was he in love and celebrating the fact that the girl he just proposed to said yes? It's a mystery.
Another weird fact. There is a guy, probably in his mid twenties, who comes by my condo building at various times and carries on conversations with a girl, also twenty-something, two stories above my condo, on the third floor, via her window. He gets her attention by yelling/calling up to her. I'm pretty sure he does not live near here, but drives to see her. At least one conversation went something like this: "Hey _____ girl's name." Repeated girl's name because she didn't come at first. (I hear commotion and perk my ears to figure out what is going on.) Girl comes. Guy: "Hey, what's going on. Did I wake you up or something. Do you want to go and hang out?" Girl: "I'm not interested right now. Maybe tomorrow?" Ok, I embellished a bit, if it's possible to embellish a mundane conversation and make it still sound mundane. Anyway, multiple visits of this nature have made me wonder: what kind of relationship is this, or who in their twenties doesn't have a phone? It's obvious to me that the guy does not call over first. He just shows up and yells (really just calls loud enough for her to hear) until she comes to the window (a tiny bit like the guy who calls for the key from Maria in Life is Beautiful, for any who might remember that scene). Why doesn't he call and keep his conversations from being heard throughout the neighborhood? Does she not have a phone? Does she have a phone but hasn't given him her number because she is avoiding him? Whatever the case is, it's a little odd.
Ok, enough randomness for now. I do have things to do, so I'll stop. Gotta get things done before giving my life blood away today. Literally. (Some of it.)
posted by redsoxwinthisyear at 9:53 AM
3 Comments:
Wow! I totally was thinking about not accepting late papers after two days... I think we're turning into hard and bitter old teachers. Haha - not really. Just aquiring helpful experience!
Agreed. Helpful experience which makes you realize that accepting work so late is not necessarily a sign of kindness and generosity, but merely allowing students to get away with being procrastinators. And what kind of lesson is that teaching them?
Perhaps the last guy fancies himself a sort of Romeo. Now if he could sing and strum a guitar, she might be more receptive, but alas, so many young fellows these days just miss these fine points of wooing! ;-)
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