Another Manic Monday

After I spent the entire weekend grading the enormous stack of papers that seems to keep multiplying, I walk into class today and NOT ONE of these sorry, so-called students has read! It was a quick sample of letters to the editor that would have taken 5 seconds to go over and they didn't do it. This, after I sent an email last week explaining where to find it electronically and which selections to read for which day. "Well, I didn't know which day the letters were for, " one of them whined. So you decide it's best to read NOTHING? I seriously could have spit on them.

I remember distinctly when something like this happened when I was an undergrad and the professor just walked out. We sat there for a few minutes and then declared class over and skipped off to our now free afternoon. So I knew better than to just walk out, as badly as I wanted to. I went and made copies of the reading and made them write out answers to boring questions for each reading and turn them in. Do I need to say that I will not actually be reading what they wrote? Plus, we were supposed to write our own sort of ranting letters in class, which I thought would be kinda fun, but now they are adding that to their homework for next class.

These are generally good students, certainly some of the most promising I've had since I've been teaching, and I'm very glad to have a job at all (I just had the anniversary of the masscre, after all), but they better be glad I didn't have pepper spray on me. Arrrggg!

Seriously?! First class of the day--no reading. Last class of the day--no reading. I'm going home. Nothing for me to do here.