put a fork in me

I'm done!

Class tomorrow morning, pass back portfolios Wednesday, and put Spring 07 behind me. Papers are written, portfolios are graded, and I'm on autopilot. Phew!

14 out of 23

Well, I just got back from teaching my last class for this semester. Only 14 of my 23 students turned in portfolios on time. I'm not sure what my policy is for late ones. Still, even with this tiny half a class, they managed to eat all 4 large pizzas I ordered.

I'm overwhelmed with relief that this semester is over (almost). It's been a stressful one, for whatever reason I'm not sure. My MFA courses weren't too tough or demanding, and although my students gave me some trouble, over all it wasn't too bad. So why do I feel like I can breath again for the first time in 15 weeks? Strange.

So, it's time to grade portfolios, finish up one last assignment, and get on with my life. As I mentioned yesterday, that means moving and trying to find a summer job, but it also means compiling my thesis manuscript so that I can start ordering it and looking for poems that haven't been written yet. Previously, I've been toting around a folder with a bunch of rough drafts at various stages of revision and calling that my thesis, but I went through that folder the other night and realized about half of those drafts won't make it into the manuscript, so it's time to clean up and look at it realistically. Also, I need to put together a chapbook manuscript so I can enter some contests in the fall.

It's strange to start thinking about chapbooks seriously. Back when I first did it, I just thought: hey, I have 20 pages of good poems. That's a chapbook. Now I realize how much more complicated it is, and I think I have 3, maybe 4 beginnings of chapbooks: there's the one where I deal with my felon grandfather (only 3-4 poems right now, so who knows when it will be long enough), the one about my childhood (probably almost ready to go), the Bird-Witching Carla poems (which mostly overlap the childhood poems, so then what?), and the newer stuff I've been writing about working class relationships. I need to decide which one to focus on first. But that feels like deciding which one of your kids you'll feed because you don't have enough food for all of them. Or something? It doesn't feel right to neglect one in favor of the other is what I'm trying to say. So...hopefully I will hurry up and make a decision.

Back to work.

April Showers

If you read Puddlecuff's blog yesterday, you know it's been raining in Akron. I actually love the spring rain, so for once I'm not complaining about the weather. I am feeling hopeful, anxious, ready for summer.

Oh, and guess what...my paper is done, see:

There is a light at the end of the tunnel after all.

On another happy note, my class is getting much better. I still have 23 on my roster, but most days I have about 12 in class. They're trying harder and participating more, so I can't complain. Maybe I've got this teaching stuff down after all.

My students are either the most creative or the most unlucky when it comes to absences. They've had a myriad of health problems, a father with cancer, a grandmother who passed away, a baby (I know that one's legit), car accidents, and a bar fight that ended in a trip to the emergency room and a concussion. I hope they don't rub off on me--I don't need any more run-ins with the demonic little league team. Anybody have creative/unlucky students this semester?