at the end of the week

Student: "Where did he go?"
eg: "What?"
Student: "Where did he serve his mission?"
eg: "Who?"
Student: "[Jeremiah]."
eg: "Oh. Um. . . Brazil?"
Student: "Are you sure?"
eg: "I don't remember. I think it was Recistencia."
Several students: "That's in Argentina."
eg: "Well, it was somewhere down there."

And thus began my Friday class. I love my students, I do, but they were so dang chatty today. I kept asking them to stop talking, telling them to stop talking, cracking jokes about them, etc. And all this while I'm being observed by my PA. Who luckily didn't mind, although she did point out that one student was texting all the way through class. His cell phone is going in the fish tank. As soon as I buy a fish tank.

So they were chatty, but it's insane how well this class gets along. They must have bonded on those mornings when I was late. When I asked them why they were so chatty today, one girl answered "We missed each other. We haven't seen each other for a long long time. We love each other." I think she was only half-joking.

And when it came time to work, they buckle down. I let them move into their IFATgroups, which they seem to like, and we used [Tolkien Boy]'s Diagram (aka the Diagram of Death) to analyze Lou Gehrig's speech and then put together a thesis statement. It really does make teaching rhetorical analysis a million times easier, which is always good.

Hmm. Maybe today went better than I initially thought. At least, class did. But the follow up. . . I was walking out to my car and hit a patch of ice. I let out a ladylike "Oh shit" as I hit the ground and the box of donuts I was carrying went flying. The donuts were fine, save some smeared frosting, but my hand and my butt are both bruised and my lap top's computer screen is messed up in the very corner, which worries me.

I've been trying to comfort myself with Diet Coke and soup, but it's not helping thus far. I guess I'll just have to grade some papers.