Different Story, Same Ending

1. Yesterday I did a horrible job in all four of my classes. Fortunately, tomorrow is the last day of classes, so the length of the downward spiral is bounded. This was the first semester that I taught four classes (fortunately only 2 preps); previous teaching loads have been 2-3 classes per semester. Only twice in my life have I even TAKEN four classes* -- and then I didn't actually have to go to class or do the work or any of that difficult and time-consuming stuff. I've taken on some administrative duties that come with release hours, so I'll have lighter loads for the next 3 years.


2. Too bad there isn't a one-size-fits-all fun activity that I could do in all my classes tomorrow instead of teaching/reviewing/whatever.


3. I'm not really making different versions of the final. Well, I'll make different cover pages to change the date, and I'll xerox it on a few different colors of paper, but the questions will all be the same. I've told the students that they'll be different, explaining how I've written 25 questions and will put 20 from that list on each version.


4. If a student's average is so low that it is mathematically impossible for her to pass the class even with a 100% on the final, am I obligated to grade her exam? Or would a cursory look be sufficient?


5. If you've seen my umbrella, my bifocals (and/or my reading glasses), or my cell phone, could you let me know? My life appears to be infested with kleptomaniac gnomes. Probably it's not well-advised for the only copies of the final exams to be saved on my flash drive.

*Spring 1993: atomic physics, set theory, complex variables, and Virginia Woolf and Winter 1994: Galois theory, topology, data structures and algorithms, and Latin American and Carribean literature.