Just Bursting with Energy!

Well, there they are -- today's students exercising their minds, turning pages, pushing pencils, checking the clock, and chit-chatting . . . simply overwhelming excitement.

I have snuck (is that a word?) photos of these students all day from here behind my instructor station. If my camera were a little quieter, it would be helpful, but most of these folks don't seem to detect the clicking sound. That's a relief because I don't know what I would say if they wanted an explanation. "Ah, well, I'm blipping."

Honestly, I've waited all day for some excitement to unfold here in this room--a parade to march through, the basketball team to dribble past, the president to escort an entourage of dignitaries in to take a look--but nope! just the sound of rapid typing on computer keys, of paper being pulled through the printer, of a chair occasionally swiveling toward the door, and of course, the sound of the door opening and closing, opening and closing, all day long.

Then I have the fun of students asking me -- "is this sentence too long?" and then showing me this:


"The birds flew over the river, the ducks swam in the water, the turtles bathed in the sun"

and my reply, "No it's not too long, but it is not a complete thought, but it is a nice list." Then we discuss why it is not complete and he or she moves back to the desk to repair the writing. Another student tells me that he can't think of a concluding sentence for his paragraph. I explain politely that I cannot do that for him, unless of course he wants me to earn his grade. Then the winner of today's questions is when a student, but usually several throughout the day, ask if I can fix their paper so that it is grammatically correct. I smile and explain to that student,

"Of course I can. Will I? No! That's your job as the writer and student. If I make your paper correct will it be my paper or yours?"

"Oh," the student sighs. "I guess I have to fix it!"

So I say to them that I will answer specific questions about any area of the paper. They can read it to me and ask me questions all the way through, but I will not point out errors because I am not allowed to "fix" their papers.

The most exciting moment of my day came mid-afternoon when Mr. Fun sent me a text to let me know that he was in the parking lot with a 16 ounce cup of caffeine! Woohoo! He couldn't bring it into me because the campus police just love to ticket vehicles that do not have a parking permit. So I left the room full of students to walk outside, graciously thank him, begged him to kidnap me, and then came back to finish my day of incredibly easy, but boring work, for truly decent pay.

Day 3 in the Writing Center will conclude in 45 minutes. Excitement is mounting! Is it wrong to admit that going home is the best part of the day? I hope not because I've just admitted that.

Honestly, when I started this page, I thought I had absolutely nothing to communicate. What's wrong with me (don't answer that) . . . why can't I just write one paragraph and be done?

That's it for June! Good night from Southern California.
Rosie (& Mr. Fun), aka Carol