Sunday, December 4, 2011

Ups and Downs

Last night The Lovely Daughter drove me to my church-town, and this morning I preached.  A superb evening of conversation with the best woman in my life, and a welcoming congregation that seemed willing to overlook a few inevitable glitches.  I'm back home for the week, soaking up every opportunity to rest, as if I were a sponge soaking up water.  Now that I am pretty much pain-free (still sleeping in a recliner, though), my body seems determined to sleep and sleep and sleep.  I stand up and it says, "Sit."  So I do.

On the downside, after seeking some advice from colleagues over the week-end, I had to email a student tonight to explain the consequences of page-after-page plagiarism of a paper.  I am well aware, from my own experiences and those of my closest friends, that parents can withstand bad news over the holidays, but I still hate to be the one who sends the damning  missive.  I'm by no mean an easy grader, but I believe that in most circumstances, if a student shows up and turns in some semblance of all required work, no matter how dismal, he or she should get credit for the course.  It's difficult for a student to earn an A in one of my classes, and equally difficult to come up with an F ~ unfortunately this young person figured out one of the few ways to achieve the latter.

Wikipedia.  Sigh. 

P.S. There are still many of you to whom I owe much more desirable missives.  I appreciate your patience  ~ I'm working on this most pleasant of tasks!

2 comments:

  1. I too avoid failing someone because I have a similar mindset... all I need to see is an effort to make it through the class. Thanks for that post with Fleetwood Mac

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  2. Remember your body is healing on a cellular level - fighting infection, knitting tissue back
    together and is very busy. Our bodies are tired and need sleep and rest because of all the inner healing activity. So honor your body and the rest it needs right now in order to heal well. Just some acquired wisdom I hope you find
    helpful and which gives you permission to rest.

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