students

working with students has been very interesting so far. some really care a lot about their education, their grades, and whether they are getting things in class. others care about their grade and little else. some are not even at that point. some ask for help and listen, some ask for help and obviously don't listen, and some should ask for help and don't.

our class is working on a large paper, piece by piece through the semester. this last week the first big part of it was due. I got a crazy number of emails and people coming by to talk about it (remember, this is relative to the number i usually get, so it isn't really all that crazy). one who came by was visibly stressed and worried about this paper. we talked over things a bit and i gave her some pointers and some examples of what we are looking for. she looked so scared of it that before she left i asked her if she was alright just to make sure she wouldn't cry in the hall or something like that.

i just graded her paper last night and it was one of the best ones in the stack. it was kind of funny, but i was totally proud of her. i was very happy to see her paper. she pulled through, actually listened to what i said, put the time in, and did a great job. it is just funny to me because i have never really worked with students like this before, so the experience of helping her get it and excel was new.

some of the other papers on the other hand....