and my students shall blog

in first-year english, students almost always write some kind of one week journal, just to get a feel for that kind of writing. we read excerpts from joan didion and anne frank, we talk about why people write in journals, etc.

this semester, instead of having them physically write, i'm having the create blogs. i'd say about 75% were completely resistant (which surprised me, since every one of them has a facebook...perhaps blogging has a stigma?), but i am LOVING reading them. some are really boring, some are pseudo-intellectual, but most are just what the students care to share about their days, and as a person who finds joy in the mundane (and apparently, also in voyuerism...why else would i like to know what some student in my class was doing on a saturday morning at home?), they are giving me great pleasure. i hope they continue to write in them even after next thursday is over. :)

new semester, new year, new attitude?

okay, so last semester didn't go as well as i would have liked. i still ended up with an A and an A-, but really, after reading the comments on both my papers, i'm disappointed in myself. i know i can do better, i just didn't try much until the last week of school, and that never works out.

so, i'm going to be much better this semester! i have to be, because it's the last one and i'd like to leave on a high note. i'm already doing well. i did homework today for my grammar class on friday, i started reading the book that needs to be done by monday, and i'm pretty much done planning my class tomorrow morning. i just re-organized my desk, backpack, and bags, too, so that makes me feel much better. now if only i could clean the living room (it would be a lot easier if my roommate weren't sleeping in it indefinitely), i would be on cloud 9!

actually i had a really great day today. class got out at 12, then i bought my books, took the 2:10 bus home, went to brooke's and ate some of the delicous beef stew she had cooked up, read and did homework, went to get mexican food with sarah around 6:30, then came home, chatted with pete for a few minutes, and came up here to organize. my one sadness is that i didn't make it to my weight watchers meeting tonight, but i will go tomorrow instead.

i am so excited about this year going so well already!!!