unbalanced reaction

Is it just me, or does this batch of undergrads seem especially eager to please?  I had a number of students email me at the end of the semester to reiterate (or, in some cases, indicate for the very first time) how hard they worked this semester.

That part I get.  They don't want me to judge them for their low grade, they really did care about my class, etc. etc.

The next part I don't understand.  A significant number of these "hard workers" then go on ask for a grade increase solely based on their effort.


I find that pretty shocking.  Not the part where they think hard work is the only indicator for a grade.  The part where they would actually ASK for a higher grade based on their perceived effort and not product.


I doubt that this is the strangest post-finals request out there.  Get any particularly awesome ones this year?

They will tell you, after a quick internet search, "I can't believe you don't have a hot pepper yet!"




....and here comes the next academic year.

This train on the track to tenure just keeps chugging.


My goodness, I hope someone remembers to switch the tracks.

No, seriously.  Please?

Obviously, I've been a bit distracted this semester.  I'm sure I'm not the only one who is behind on blog reading....so perhaps a catch-up is in order?


If I could summarize my semester in two sentences, it would go something like this:

Compared with my first two years, I taught better, worked with more undergraduate researchers in lab, and performed more university service than in my first two years combined.  Compared with my first two years, I slept less, drank more, and had more fun (seriously).



Okay.  Time to see what you've all been up to!  I've got some reading to do....

Friday afternoons at my PUI, you can count on one thing: the only people in the building are the assistant professors.



Is it a universal truth that assistant professors work the hardest, or do tenured professors just work smarter?

Yup, that's how quickly the semester has gone by.

It's interesting to think about how different this spring semester is from previous ones.  Things that seemed insurmountable a few semesters ago (daily lecture prep, early morning labs, service, research, students....) always seem to get done.

I don't have any new preps, so what used to take me four to six hours to prep now takes 30 to 90 minutes.  I've got committee meetings under control, and my undergrads can work fairly independently in the lab.


So hang in there, new profs!  We're practically done with the semester, right?


(This is where all you tenured profs out there can let me know that things really hit the fan post tenure....)

Campbell's has a commercial that tells you to "bring some happiness to work."


I don't know about you guys, but we're barely a month into the new semester yet I'm already exhausted.

May seems a long, loooooong way off.  (Because it *is*, I suppose.)


How do you suggest I bring a little bit o' happiness to work?

...or at least that is how it feels sometimes.

Faced with a classroom full students armed with bored faces, armed with texting weapons, teaching can sometimes take an "us versus them" tone.


But just like professors aren't plotting against students, our classes don't meet in the dark of night to plan against us.


The Forbes article is an interesting read.  I wonder what the student version would include?