OK. I've done it now. The marathon's done. And now when I read back, particularly over some of those last few posts, I am a bit embarrassed. They sound pretty smug. Pretty self-satisfied.
One might even say pretty self-absorbed. I'm sorry. I'll pretend it's an excuse that I was trying to psych myself up for something I wasn't sure I could even do. Now I can drop it. I promise I'll try not to adopt that attitude or tone or whatever it was again. Not flattering. If I do start training for a triathlon, I'll try to be careful to avoid that attitude.
I'm doing better walking now. But it's still sort of hard walking up stairs, and even harder walking down. I was never even close to this sore after any of my training runs. I guess I just never did as much before. The funny thing is I really feel like I want to go for a run. How weird is that? It seems weird to me, anyway. I can barely walk, and it's raining and in the upper 30s, and what I want to do is go for a run. Not long or hard, but something at least to get the legs loosened up and the blood flowing. Several experienced people have, however, recommended that I not do that, for a few reasons that may or may not be good. I don't know. But I'm going to stay inside for now. Maybe I'll go for a bike ride tomorrow night. I've really neglected the bike in the last couple of months. Time to fix that.
Anyway, what I DO need to do now is finish the semester. I've got one more final to give in the morning and then have to get everything graded and turned in, and it will be done. A few weeks without classes will be welcomed.
Next semester I'll have three 2302 classes on MWF, starting at 7 a.m. (one is an LGI, as I guess I've said before, now that I've repeated myself) That's pretty early, but it shouldn't bother me. I wonder if I'll be able to enforce my normal 5 minute tardy limit. That does seem kind of rigid, doesn't it? I like it because it reduces interruptions. I really don't deal very well with interruptions. In many ways I think I'm good in the classroom. But I have trouble with some things. For example, it drives me NUTS!!! when I catch a student texting during class. Some instructors I know don't even notice it. Or they at least pretend not to. I have tried to ignore it, but I just can't let it go. Somehow I feel like it's simple immaturity on my part that I let it bother me, or even object to it at all. I know people who are able simply to focus on what they're doing to the point that they don't notice "trivial" things (things that probably have no value to them) going on around them. I've always admired that, never having been able to do it myself. It makes them seem more mature and confident and in charge of themselves and... whatever. Some people can apparently sit at a desk or a computer and not even hear conversations happening just a few feet away from them. Not me. In the classroom I'm tuned in every time students whisper to each other in the back row. That's not a good thing.
Anyway, I need to stop. I'm not even ready for my final tomorrow.
Don't you love Dwight McCall? (more bluegrass, but more contemporary than Ralph or Bill)
Later...
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1 comment:
Just my two cents: Texting in a classroom is not "trivial."
By ignoring it, instructors send the message that having one's body in class is sufficient. When we don't call the student on it, it tells everyone sitting around that student that we don't really care if they're engaged with the class--or the other human beings in the room.
I guess I don't see the point in even attending in that case.
It's also legitimate to say, "Well, it distracts me!"
(I'm climbing off my soapbox now.)
And--hey--you have a reason to be full of yourself: You set a difficult goal, worked hard, and achieved it. So crow on, my brother!
jb
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