Here are some pics of Sonia's Corgi. He's about as cute as Monster! We were comparing notes on the phone a while back. Bear has "Corgi Madness Fits" and other traits in common with Monster, including biting his tonenails!

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Here are pics of Jan's grandson, Joshua...

 

The first summer session (the only one I'm teaching, if I can help it), begins today. I'm looking forward to beginning with a new group of students. Glad it's statistics, which I love teaching, though summer is intense. I only teach three days a week, but they are 9 hour days. Long days.

 

Zeke leaves today to spend time with his father and then back to Hawai'i. I haven't been much of a host, but tried my best to make his stay peaceful and relaxed. We saw the new Harry Potter movie; I took him down to Laguna Beach; we went Mall shopping; saw some short films on TV, and talked a lot. It was good to have him here.

 

Now I need to get back to work and get ready for class! Here's a picture of the Monster, my best buddy!

 

 

Well, another day and a half an graduation will be here and spring semester will be done. I'll be teaching statistics in summer school for the first session, then have a little vacation  before starting all over again in the fall. Somehow I just can't think of retiring. I love being a teacher. The students keep me young, and there's lots of fun in the classroom, though some students have too much fun and not enough study and are in for a rude awakening this (every) semester. Some students will blame me for their failure and not own their part in it, and some students will heap praise on me for their success, again not owning their part in it. But it's hard for me to shake how much I love teaching them, even when it's difficult.

 

How, though, will I get through summer school? It's like 50 years ago and Christmas morning. I can think of little except my granddaughter's being born and Tana's health and Jaemon's nerves. Good Lord, how does anyone ever get through the birthing process, parents or children? Blessings on Tana and Jaemon, and God help Grandpa Joe think about teaching!

 

Below is a picture of Jennalise, stolen from Tana's blog, taken months ago. Jennalise, head down and waiting to be born in a little over a month, will be a joy to everyone when she gets here!

 

Finals week is a time of furious grading, getting final grades done, filling out end-of-the-year personnel forms and making sure everything is prepared for the next semester. Two days into it I'm managing to keep on top of it, but it's a whirl. Today I give and grade another exam, and present twenty year awards at the final faculty ceremony. They are honoring Shar today, which means I'll have to bring along a box of kleenex. It also means, since I'm presenting the 20 year awards, I'll have to get dressed up. UGH!

 

On Monday my keyboard died! Took it apart and tried to fix it, but several keys were just too old. Went to Fry's to get a new one and was astounded. They range in price from $5 to $200! That's a forty-fold difference! I must admit I was tempted by the $60 model, which glows in the dark. But for the kind of work I do on a computer all I really need is the basic model with number pad. Wound up getting the $5 model. Wish I was that penurious when buying books! Tana went book shopping with me one day and watched as I effortlessly dropped over $100. My friends kid me about living in a branch library. It's true. My house is full of books and keyboards and computers. They will have to wade through stacks and stacks of books to find my body when I, like my keyboard, finally give up the ghost!

 

Before then, though, I'll enjoy the farm next door to my office. Below is a wonderful picture I took while on a walking break late in the afternoon, waiting to give last night's final.

 

Have a good day and stay safe...

One of those luxurious days with nothing to do, sandwiched in between get finals written and grades caught up last week, and Quaker Meeting for Business tomorrow. Slept late, quit taking the cold symptom reduction medicine I've been on all week, and am feeling half-way human. Putzed around the house this morning cleaning, then worked in the yard a little bit, then watched Harry Potter Goblet of Fire this afternoon. I think I'm enjoying the Harry Potter movies more than the books these days.

 

I got chicken baking in the oven now, and am about to take a long bath while the chicken cooks.

 

I love days like this...Below is a picture of the Bottle Brush tree in the backyard, bright red with blossums. Lots of hummingbirds and a nest of bright yellow birds.

I'd forgotten how nice it is to have someone around the house besides Monster. Zeke from Hawai'i  has been visiting since Sunday and it feels good to have him here. Unfortunately I've been doiing a lot of sleeping and sitting. I caught a cold on Saturday and the worst effect is that I'm run down, functioning at about 25% of normal, barely moving. I did take him out yesterday afternoon to the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, where we had lots of fun picking out our favorite art in each room. Zeke's a cute, funny guy. He's taking off tomorrow for a week in Sacramento visiting other friends, and then he's return here before goiing back to Hawai'i. Only wish I could have had more energy for him.

It's been a long week. The end of the school year is hell on both students and teachers. There are exams to make up and grade, students to help with catch-up (ketchup) if they've gotten behind, end of year forms and summaries to do, and just generally lots and lots of work.

 

The worst part of it is grading. I have several students I like a lot this semester, but they came into my class ill prepared for the level of work that was to be expected of them. It's always hard to help them with the background they should have had before they came into the class. The worst is watching a student really try, especially one you like a lot, only to have them fail. Sometimes personal reasons interfere at the end of the semester. Sometimes they just didn't have the background. Sometimes they have to reevalute their goals. I think sometimes students don't see that every failure is actually felt as a failure by the teacher, too.

 

Now I know that students fail for all kinds of reasons and I have a responsibility as a teacher to make sure I'm not contributing. I hope that students tell me how I might be contributing to their failure. I also know that sometimes a failure will eventually mean more than  a success. One of the failures in my life became one of my most important life lessons. Looking back on it I wouldn't trade that failure for anything after all these years. Somehow, though, it's easier to deal with my own failures than with my student's failure. I take their failure more personally. It hurts more. I'm usually pretty realistic about my own failures. I usually know what I did or didn't do that led to my failure. With some students, though, I'm completely at a loss. Is there some way I could have helped them more, without comprimising the course standards or the student's own ability to learn? Not easy questions.

 

So this is a difficult time of year. One more week of school, and then a week of finals. Then only a weekend between graduation and the start of summer school!

 

No rest for the wicked.