Red-letter day

Today is my two-and-a-half-year anniversary at work. It seems silly to even draw attention to that fact, except that it's also a milestone--I've officially broken my previous record for consecutive employment at a single job. I almost put it in a Facebook status update, and then I realized how pathetic that is for someone who is 31 years old--not to mention that it probably doesn't make me a great role model for all of my student "friends." But since I felt the need to commemorate it, I figured posting it pseudonymously on the Internet was the way to go.

Today is also noteworthy in that it was my last day of teaching. Classes don't technically end for another week, but freshman seminar doesn't meet during finals week to enable the students to focus on their "real" classes. I wrestled with what do do as my wrap-up activity and ended up spending a ridiculous amount of time putting together a rousing game of Freshman Seminar Jeopardy. As per usual, my Thursday class got into the spirit, with much trash-talking and yelling and mock physical violence, while my Friday class stared apathetically and murmured answers after much prompting. And as per usual, my Thursday class got most of the questions wrong and then wagered away all of their points so that the final score was tied at 0-0-0, while my Friday class got most of the questions right and barely cracked a smile when I handed out the "trophies" (chocolate Santas).

The three-way tie in the first class threw me for a loop, because I had no tiebreaker question or contingency plan. So I grabbed the textbook, made up a random question, and told them that whichever team got it right would win the game. Which would have worked fine, except that they all got it wrong as well. At which point I said, "Get out of my classroom." And they did. It was totally unplanned but ended up being a stroke of brilliance--it kept me from having to give some sort of closing speech, and they thought it was a riot and left laughing. The instructor who has them immediately afterward said they all came in and bragged about how they'd done so badly at Jeopardy that Mme. Defarge had thrown them out of class.

Today's class stumbled along and ended lamely as usual. When I announced that we were playing Jeopardy, one student who I have had a difficult relationship with all semester--he is scrupulously polite but regards me with a bemused expression whenever I open my mouth--actually snorted with laughter. I don't know what look flashed across my face (murderous rage? total defeat? both at once?), because he came up to me after class and apologized, saying that he wasn't laughing at me, that he watches Jeopardy every day, etc., etc.

That group is taking English next semester, so they'll have me several times for guest lectures and field trips. I'm dreading it a little but also really interested in seeing what they're like in someone else's class. They are all intelligent, pleasant, and mostly respectful students, and I feel bad that I kind of hate them. I've been telling myself that we just didn't click, but secretly I'll be a little relieved if I find out that they're apathetic and lackluster in all their classes, not just mine. (Last week's guest speaker was great on Thursday and floundered badly on Friday, bolstering my case that it's not me, it's them.)

So now it's all over but the grading, which really isn't grading because I don't even have to give comments this time; I just have to log the assignments in and determine who's passed and who's failed. After all the drama over his gibberish-filled midterm essay, my big dumb lump of a student will ultimately be receiving a failing grade because he missed more than the allowable number of classes. This was a huge shock to him, of course, when he found out about it today (when he dropped by randomly after not attending his actual class), to turn in his final essay. This was actually his second attempt; the first time he came in to the library the day before it was due to brag that he had it done and we discovered that he had written a completely different essay than the one that was assigned. I truly pity whoever gets him next. I just hope it won't be for an English class, because I think that having to proofread his research paper will spell the end of my tenure at this job. So much for record-breaking streaks of consecutive employment.

Windfalls

A couple of weeks ago I came back from a rare lunch out to find a crowd waiting outside my classroom. This was in part attributable to the fact that I hadn't unlocked the room before I left(especially embarrassing since I was also late for class--another first). But the size of the group mystified me until one of my colleagues popped out and presented me with a giant check, a la Ed McMahon. A student organization dedicated to the betterment of the school holds regular fundraisers and asks participants to vote for how the money should be spent. $101 in Belgian waffle profits was awarded to the library. I was floored.

Since the money came from students, I've been collecting their suggestions for how to spend it, and they've had some great ones. Today a student came in requesting a magazine. I was preparing to add it to my wish list when he took out his wallet. "The library needs a Photoshop magazine," he told me. "A subscription is $90, so here's $100." My jaw literally dropped.

Even more amazing, he's not a student who I know well or who uses the library regularly. However, he is one of the students who worked on the library promotion project over the summer, so in addition to being an amazing gesture, it was a really nice affirmation of that program.

It's been a semester of crises of confidence, and I've regularly come home questioning my effectiveness as a librarian and as a teacher. This doesn't erase all of those days, but it's definitely helped.