When Teaching English Becomes Math, Part 2

I knew everyone would want some news on how I was faring underneath this pile of Junior Research papers, ha ha ha!  So, here is the latest report: 

I am down to the final 17 papers to grade!  I would like to have them finished and back to students in one week, Monday, March 7^th.  So, if I read 3 a day, I can do it!  The thing is, something (or many things) will happen that will cause me not to be able to do 3 per day and I will have to redo this very complicated (for an English teacher) Math equation several times before all is said and done.

That being said, I would like to comment on the papers I have read so far.  I am so proud of my students.  Writing a Research Paper is tough!  It is extremely labor intensive and requires the components of many parts to come together in a final product.  Also, many people often forget that writing is a skill – just like shooting a basketball, ice-skating, or cooking.  Just like running, trying to lose weight, or making hand-crafted birdhouses.  Sure, there are a few people that are naturally good at it.  But, all the rest of us, have to keep at it.  We have to keep writing, keep revising, keep reading about writing, keep editing, keep brainstorming, keep going to the Purdue OWL website when we have questions about MLA formatting, keep on keeping on!  And as with most skills, the more you keep practicing, the better you get.  No, you may never be Steph Curry, Bobby Flay, or whoever is the world-renowned maker of handcrafted birdhouses, but you will get better.  I promise, you will get better. 

 
 

The papers I have read so far are very good!  I am looking forward to reading the rest. 

And now I will channel my inner-Dorothy and click my ruby slippers together, because if my Math is right, “3 per day, 3 per day, 3 per day…”   and I am done!