And we're sliding into the last three weeks of this semester---

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go...

We have about three weeks left of this semester, and there's still so much to do. Will the world come to a screeching halt if we don't get it all done? No, but it would be nice if I could get the kids across the finish line. 

Today, I think we'll form a plan that will do just that: I'll review what's left to do and what's next. In my creative writing class, we are reading Our Town as part of this last section of study, "Literature of Place." In the College Comp I class, we are embarking on literary analysis, using short fiction. Today, I'll begin with a favorite short story by Howard Frank Mosher, "High Water." The characters are clearly drawn, mostly through dialogue, but also in how they respond to and contend with the physical environment. Over the next two weeks, we will read eight short stories from a wide variety of authors, and then they'll choose their individual favorites to work on a short analysis paper. This is my favorite kind of writing about literature, so we'll see how it goes. I predict that of the 9 students in my class, 6 will get it, 3 will struggle. It's always the same 3, though, who struggle, which is interesting. They are students who, by their own account, did not engage well with literature as young children. There's a connection, I think, but I have not puzzled it out or done any substantive research. I just know that if you love language, and love reading, then working with it later on is a little easier than if you are viewing the page as an adversary.

At any rate, we'll make our way through the next couple of weeks, and then we'll have one weekend to wrap it up, get grades finished, and flip to a whole new semester with new students, new subject matter, and new challenges to encounter. I think it's a lot to ask, to get that done in 48 hours, but hey, I don't make the rules. I wish we could flip on the three-day weekend for Civil Rights Day, but again, I'm not in charge of the calendar. 

So, buckle up, right?

Have a good one,

C