The south side of Chicago looked like a war zone this morning. For at least a mile of lakefront, there were scores of enormous trees uprooted and lying on their sides. Other trees were twisted and bent in two, their branches facing downward so that it looked like the trees were growing down out of the air. Half of the area was without power. There were police cars and police tape and tree trucks everywhere. On the midway, a huge section of copper gutter from the top of one of the Gothic buildings was resting a good 75 feet away from its place of origin. At the bookstore, stone decorations from the top of the tower had plummeted through a slate terrace, leaving enormous craters and tipping the slate sideways. In my classroom, aside from a couple of students who came late due to alarm clocks that didn�t go off after the power outage, it was pretty much business as usual. They turned in their first assignments today, so now comes my first assessment of both me, and them. How well are they doing? How well am I? What did I explain well? What do I need to explain again? In light of the weather and the power outages, I expected some late assignments and I did get a couple. But for the most part, they found creative ways to get their work in on time, which is most impressive. Today�s student mailbag is lightly paraphrased: Dear Professor H,Here is my homework assignment. I�m sorry I won�t be in class today. I am writing a research paper for another class. Can you believe someone�s making us write a research paper in SECOND WEEK? Dear Student: Yes, actually, I can believe it. Second week is about the only time that assigning a research paper guarantees your students will give it their full attention. Those of us who assign measly homework assignments don�t get the same benefit. It�s not that I don�t appreciate the fact that you got your assignment in on time. And I do appreciate your candor � I have more respect for those who tell it like it is than for those who try to make something up (although the latter is often more entertaining. Do you have any idea how many of my students last year were in automobile accidents? Really, it�s shocking. And they always happened right before an assignment was due! Amazing!) It�s not even that I don�t understand the problem � believe me, I�ve skipped my share of classes to finish papers. But do your professors a favor and don�t let them know that you�re skipping their class so you can do work for another class. Because secretly, we all want to be the best. We all want to be your favorite. We all want to be teaching the class that you skip other classes for. No I don�t have any illusions that music appreciation requires more effort than second year physics. But allow us the illusion and keep your rationale to yourself, please. -----
I am looking forward to an evening of quiet. Right now it is anything but. My husband is vacuuming AJ�s room (which, although lovely of him, is still very noisy) and AJ is trying to hold a conversation with himself and occasionally me above the din. When the screaming ends � when AJ is in bed � I will watch bad TV and grade papers, thus satisfying my dual needs for slothfulness and a sense of a job well done.
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