Be Grateful # 17

Last night, we saw a production of Tennessee Williams' play Period of Adjustment through Theatre Squared.  I enjoyed it but I had been hoping for a laugh-out-loud play like the one we saw in September.  I am still processing it.  Thankfully, my husband offered a brilliant analysis of it this morning on our way to work that helped me put it in perspective.  And I really adored this '60s set.

1)  I am thankful I am DONE with this semester (other than entering final grades on Monday)!

2)  I am thankful I have time now to craft, cook, clean, and enjoy Christmas.  :)

3)  I am thankful that I started working on next semester already.  I am also thankful that I was very productive this week, working away in my office to Christmas music.

4)  I am thankful for new experiences, like getting to try Bordino's FINALLY (AMAZING sirloin and creme brulee!) and seeing new plays and going to Silver Dollar City for the first time this weekend.  And I am thankful to have these experiences with new and old friends.

5)  I am thankful I'm learning what makes really great writing while still appreciating grammatical topics.  (No, I don't mean to imply that grammar is not important to writing because it is essential to and inherent in it, but sometimes, you have bigger fish to fry than deferred prepositions.)  I just want folks to understand and appreciate why grammars exist in language, so then they can break all of those prescriptive rules to have fun.  ;)

6)  I am thankful for feeling and being appreciated.  For my students' final exam, they had to write an in-class argumentative essay in which they argued for the grade they felt they deserve (in addition to a small grammar component).  I so enjoyed grading them, and not just because my students often praised and thanked me for my work.  Many laughs and even a few tears resulted as they crowed--sometimes deservingly and sometimes not--about what they accomplished and lamented their failures.  I learned so much about them and what they experienced in and out of the classroom this year, and it allowed them to take an honest look at their own strengths and weaknesses and how much they progressed through this course and through college.  (It's Comp. I, so for many, this is the first semester in school.)  My greatest hope is that I help set them up to be successful in college, that they learn a lot about how to improve their writing, and that they enjoy the process.  Back in August, I came up with this idea for my final exam, and I am so glad I used it because it allowed me to assess my students, allowed them to assess me, allowed them to assess themselves, and allowed me to assess myself.  I am ready to come back in the spring even bigger and better!