Flattery, Wine, and Grades

I was feeling pretty down on myself after my first attempt at grading papers for my class. The students were far from at the level I had thought they would be at and I felt horrible for the grades I gave them. Some were failing, some were not.

Well...tonight for my seminar, I had a half bottle of wine, had a great seminar, and thought they were really doing a great job with this week's assignment/concepts. They were answering questions, giving examples, non-stop interaction.

Then my office hours started and I spent too long helping a student learn how to save a Word document (she submitted a "works" doc, a rtf, and a .doc but couldn't remember how to submit the .doc which is all I accept). Then she ended up telling me I was the best teacher she has ever had and thanked me for my patience. I felt pretty darn good hearing that but then I graded her paper. The poor girl can't write! I had the hardest time reading her "sentences" and felt horrible. She tries harder than all my other students but she needs a composition class. I refered her to the writing center and gave her a few pointers. I am not an english teacher but when I start spouting sentence and paragraph structure advice, they have to be missing alot. The worst part of it is, I know she understands the concepts because she gives good examples in class. She just can't spit it out on paper. I gave her encouraging advice hoping she will seek help at the Writing Center. If she can get her thoughts out in a semi-cohesive form, she will pass the class with a strong C or low B. If she doesn't get writing help...she might not pass. Bummer...I want to see her succeed.

3 weeks down, 7 left to go. So far, so good. The only thing I am hating, is Monday's on the computer for 15 hours straight. My eyes are killing me.