Pain in the Butt

[barclay_barrios]

There's no way for this not to sound dirty, so I will at least go with anatomical terms. Something's up with my coccyx, that vestigial tailbone we all have. I don't know what happened; I just know I woke up and found sitting extraordinarily painful and standing/walking not all that much better. I'm dosing myself with acetaminophen regularly and that's helping, if just a bit. I don't mean to get TOO personal in this blog. I only bring it up because it's not the only pain I've had today. Today I did some grading. I love teaching--no doubt about that. And I can even enjoy commenting, engaging a student's ideas and offering insights and new directions. But unfortunately commenting is all too often connected to grading in my classes, and grading is always, always a pain. It's not that I am unable to do the work of it, it's just that it IS work--hand cramped from writing or fingers achey from typing, mind stretched to its attention-span limit, the pile of papers never seeming to grow smaller. Teaching is a joy; grading is a labor. My technique for getting through it includes:

• Asking myself beforehand what I want that assignment to achieve (for those cases where we don't already have established criteria).
• Dividing the giant pile of papers into smaller and more manageable piles, reflecting the number I want to get through in a day or a sitting. It makes me feel like I've accomplished something when I get through a pile.
• Reading through all the papers once before I start grading or commenting. This lets me get a sense of the whole set, gives me a chance to engage ideas without being distracted with comments, and gives me a rough sense of the grade for each paper.
• Sorting the papers from weakest to strongest. Then I start with the weakest papers, which need more commenting and concentration. As I go on, I get more tired but the papers demand less of me too.
• Using different colored pens. I am a huge HUGE fan of gel ink pens in cool colors. I use a different one for each paper, which gives my hand and my eyes a little break each time.