11/30: listening
...to my students' narrated PowerPoints with their close readings of some Latin passages of their choice. I asked them to talk about ways in which the forms, arrangements, and sounds of the Latin words themselves were strengthening meaning. The class did a really wonderful job with this assignment, both in making their own presentations and in responding to their classmates. It's a case where technology--both the PowerPoint program and our class space in Teams--could be used to a good pedagogical point.
11/29: delaying
...our usual Thanksgiving dinner--a fruit cobbler--until we were feeling better, and that "until" was today.
11/28: spending most of the day
...designing then printing and folding a pamphlet. I woke up from a medicine-induced nap mid-morning with the idea, and I put it into practice. Given that I was too under-the-weather for our normal Thanksgiving walk and cobbler-baking, this was a nice way to have a holiday break from work. And I'll send the pamphlets along with my holiday cards in the coming weeks.
11/27: stitching
...a very limited edition set of pamphlets for my upper-level Latin class. They did erasures of a Latin passage, and I thought it would be nice to compile them in a semi-formal way.
11/26: the day before
...Thanksgiving break has its own feel on campus. Classes are technically still being held, but a lot of students and professors are already gone. I proctored Latin quizzes, held office hours, and did some (seemingly endless) work. It was quiet, which I enjoyed. I also enjoyed toggling between creative and business-y tasks as well as talking with the students who came by office hours in a more relaxed pre-holiday mode.
11/25: good conversation
...in the Percy Jackson class today about Riordan's uses of Homer's Iliad in The Last Olympian.
11/24: despite
...being sick, having some good things in the day. I designed a birthday card for a dear friend, settling on something I like after several non-successes. I listened to Vita Nostra while doing housework. I made a good ginger dressing (sans recipe) for our salad at dinnertime. I finished grading a round of student writing.
11/20: marinated cucumber
...subs, made in an attempt to replicate ones Chris and I used to get in Riverside, CA, 30 years ago.
11/19: a mirative use
...of the Latin subjunctive. While tracking down possibilities for a particular use of the subjunctive in the text I'm reading with the students, I was delighted to discover the words "mirative" and "mirativity."
11/18: laughing
...at jokes from a box of 150 little joke cards. I got them so that I could give them to students when they needed a smile, but I'll be getting smiles along the way from them too.
11/17: hearing
...the word ululating as I was listening to The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik during my morning walk. On Thursday in Latin class we had the word exululavit, which I had paused on to explain to the students. I'm excited to be able to tell them about the coincidental timing.
11/16: spending
...some "free" money I got from signing up for a new credit card. After charging and paying off a certain amount (which I did before letting any interest accrue), I got $200 in bonus money. Today some of that bonus money paid for another year of Artforum. I'm very behind in reading issues, but I don't want to think about what it would feel like to not get it anymore.
11/15: the patience
...of two cats at this very moment. They know it's time for me to feed them for the evening. Phineas is resting in the cat-bed on a small table next to my chair, and Simon is sitting upright a few feet away, looking at me. They don't want to bother me, though they want to know as soon as I make my move. (And they probably want to remind me to make my move but aren't pressing the point except with their presence.)
11/14: pink
...in the sky as I drove home from campus. Getting to see the beginning of sunset on my drive is some consolation for the shortening days.
11/13: finally
...getting my Real ID. I meant to do it in spring 2020--and then COVID happened. And I've kept meaning to do it. But my driver's license expires next week, so I left the house a little earlier than usual and stopped by the revenue office to combine the license renewal with getting a Real ID. I could have gone into the grace period (one month after expiration), but I'm glad I got it checked off my list now instead.
11/12: eating out of my hand
Emma the Cat, that is. He needs to take a pill a day, and for the past 3 days he's eaten it from my palm (once I've covered the pill in juicy wet catfood).
11/11: time to spare
...in Latin class. I had been packing class-time too tightly, which didn't give us enough breathing room. On Friday and again today I didn't do that, so we had time for extra practice as well as less rushing. I'm sure I'll overstuff the lesson plan again (always unintentionally), but it felt good to have two days without unfinished work that needed to flow over into the next class meeting.
11/9: receiving
...a birthday note from my aunt, along with a silk scarf she found in a second-hand store.
11/8: a quiet close
...to the school week. (I have to call it the "school week," because it's now the case that the "work week" never ends.) A student and I met to talk through a collage project he's been doing since the spring. It felt good to discuss his pieces in an unrushed way, and undisturbed by general comings and goings around us since we were the only people left in my part of the hall by that time of the day. The sky outside my windows was dark and close, making it feel even more like we had a temporary special space marked off from the rest of the world for our conversation.
11/7: the arrival
...of a chapbook of erasures which a friend and I collaborated on. As payment, we each got 13 copies from the publisher.
11/6: a variety of good things
Listening to my beginning Latin students' recordings.
Enjoying a good conversation in the Percy Jackson class.
Having nice office hour meetings with students.
Getting closer to being caught up on grading.
Receiving a few pieces of candy from a student.
Being stung by a wasp but hurting from it for just a few seconds.
Writing to a colleague with a concern and having it addressed very quickly and smoothly.
11/4: making headway
...with designing (and writing descriptions of) some assignments for the upper-level Latin class.
11/3: ordering
...some photo prints to test holiday card possibilities. I had worked on some options in mid-October but then delayed getting prints made. I'm glad I took the time to submit an order today: the cards should reach me by mid-November, giving me just enough time to rush-order a bunch of whichever one I choose for holiday mailing.
11/2: morning, afternoon, evening
Morning: voting without a long line.
Afternoon: baking a chocolate gingerbread cake (recipe here).
Evening: doing 3 school tasks.
11/1: good afternoon meetings
...with students. It was a tough week in many ways, so I was especially grateful for thoughtful, unrushed conversations in my office this afternoon.
Oh! And a bonus good thing: a student gave me a little bag of Halloween goodies.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)