A Glimpse into my World....

So this is finals week; the week that I have dreamed about since February.  Today I completed two finals and have all grades calculated and ready to post.  Only four more classes to go.

Tomorrow is the final class for my college level English Composition class.  Teaching a college level class has been a dream come true - and I truly could not have asked for a better group of students to serve as my guinea pig class.  There have been a few bumps in the road - most notably our second semester is about 3 weeks longer than that of the college with which we are affiliated - and I have misjudged a few units of study.  Irregardless, these have been valuable lessons learned for yours truly (I have many ways in which I plan to tweak the syllabus next year) and the students have been quite supportive the entire time.

These final four weeks have been spent filming narrative stories that the students wrote at the beginning of the semester.  They quickly learned that filming takes much longer than planned - and so we have culled twelve stories down to three - down to just one.  We finished filming last Tuesday - worked on edits in class on Thursday - and plan to show the final version tomorrow after the final.

In my own corny way .... I want to let the students know how much I love them, how much joy they brought into my life, and  how I wish only the best for their future.  So...I have decided to have an Academy Award presentation in class tomorrow.  I found these lovely chocolate "oscar" lollipops online that I ordered in advance, and today I wrote award certificates to commemorate a job well done.  I had asked students to brainstorm different award categories last week - and today I compiled the top three for each student (which they will read on the front of the envelope) and then I selected the one idea that I thought best epitomized that particular student.

I hope to stop by Walmart tomorrow and purchase a couple of red towels to serve as the red carpet (I have no budget - so I must try to make do and this way I can use the towels this summer).  I can't decide whether to download Academy Award winning songs to play throughout the presentation - or if generic music would suit the mood well enough.  I have time to decide - the final is not until noon.

Anyway, this is just a bit of insight into my wacky mind - and my ability to create more work for myself.  I hope the students enjoy my insanity --- as it is truly from the heart.