Grading

Well it is coming up on that time of the semester, when student grades are due. I started figuring them out yesterday, although one assignment is still outstanding, just to make sure I had the spreadsheet formatted correctly and everything else entered into it.

Although it is always stressful assigning grades, a part of me definitely enjoys it. Enjoys seeing the entirety of the semester, summed up in one number. Enjoys the feeling of getting to make a final decision about small details. Enjoys in a way the responsibility of saying something, for good or for bad, about a student. I have been entrusted with evaluating them, and that is a nice feeling.

It is something I do not get to experience in my museum work. In a historic museum, you don't evaluate the visitors, you are just grateful they came. The dynamic is completely opposite.

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