I’m on a grading marathon today with over 30 essays I need to grade. Obviously, I won’t do them all in one day, especially since I get upset when I see people not following the clear instructions I give. So I need to take breaks to feel less shitty and annoyed.
Ultimately, there are people who just won’t learn no matter what you do, and that has to be accepted. But God, why is it so darn hard to accept? I keep obsessing over a handful of failures that I know for a fact are not my fault and forget to feel happy about the many students who achieve great progress and learn a lot.
Clarissa's Blog 
Don’t beat yourself up over it.
Bad is (often) stronger than good.
Click to access 71516.pdf
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Near the end of the semesters, you know what you expect from students. This information helps with grading, as I intersperse crappy papers (or tests in my case) with those from students who I know did well, to cheer myself up. I create small test piles of 5, with at least one and preferably two good papers in the pile. Then after every 5-paper pile I give myself a treat — a cup of tea/coffee, a piece of chocolate, an email and blog break.
Happy grading!
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That’s a great procedure.
The academic year is almost done! Yay!
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Would love to read interesting quotes from the essays, if you see any. 🙂
The Blogger told that the following post was related to this one:
I read it, and agreed to a large extent with that student.
Fully agree with “I love my country and do not feel any shame over the arrogant nature of that love.” In Israel, we even have a special word – chutzpah, which is translated as “supreme self-confidence : nerve, gall” OR ” personal confidence or courage that allows someone to do or say things that may seem shocking to others.” Creating a blooming nation state after 2000 years required a lot of it. 🙂
Disagree with “since a country is an imagined and imaginary space, where else [except arrogance] could one’s love for it conceivably come from?” It can come from observing the country’s not imagined successes and one’s own (modest) contribution to them via paying taxes and IDF service.
Also disagree with Evelina Anville:
“That’s truly bananas. […] Like he is admitting that the love of country is baseless because country is at best imaginary and simultaneously he decides to engage with that baseless love anyway?”
what is meant by “country is at best imaginary”? Nation states exist in the real world and have non imaginary influence. I appreciate that one state at least has the interests of the Jewish people as its main concern. Or, more exactly, the way most Israeli Jews perceive our interests.
\ young men tend to be more patriotic than young women
Not in Israel.
Also, I assume, by “more patriotic” she meant “more militaristic,” which is a different thing.
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“In Israel, we even have a special word – chutzpah,”
It’s long been a part of American English as well (with a large handful of other Yiddish expressions) though the connotations are a little different – it’s more shamelessness and nerve. The classic example is a man who killed his parents and then asked the judge for mercy because he was an orphan…
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“The classic example is a man who killed his parents and then asked the judge for mercy because he was an orphan…”
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“Creating a blooming nation state after 2000 years required a lot of it.”
“I appreciate that one state at least has the interests of the Jewish people as its main concern. Or, more exactly, the way most Israeli Jews perceive our interests.”
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