Fun and Productivity was had today (yeah, in that order)

I feel like starting this entry with "as it has been", but can't seem to get the sentence to move from there. So, obviously you got a different start. Anyway, it feels like kind of a trend, but I really should keep this entry short because tomorrow is an earrrrrrly morning. and it's Tuesday. so it'll be a long day. I'm perfectly content with not drinking coffee, but I'm a little jealous of being able to have a cup of "wake-up" during a morning meeting.

I mentioned yesterday that I had three projects to focus on today. Well, in "I haven't quite figured out how to beat procrastination" fashion, a good chunk of my day was spent on things that weren't the three projects. First, my progress:

- grading Acada - didn't really accomplish that at all
- working on Grad Banquet PPTs - I did crunch three PPTs into one big PPT, as per the Dean's request. I also added in pictures of the students for the part where we recognize the clubs/organizations that we oversee. Unfortunately, I'm torn on how to showcase Science Olympiad, so I left that blank. Plus, there are a handful of students that are being featured in this big PPT over five times, so I feel like I should look for different photos to add some variety. Are the PPTs at the point where I can show the staff tomorrow? Pretty much yes. Are the PPTs ready for the actual graduation banquet on Friday? Not yet, but that's why I still have a couple of days.
- grading Seminar/Colloquium - I just finished grading a large collection of event reports and weekly reflections. For the most part the students did quite well, although some students forgot to submit certain assignments.

TC

I was going to talk about the fun stuff, but then I remembered. We had a senior prank this morning. A bunch of the second-years crashed the fob doors in pretty much the entire building which meant that there were suddenly 5-10 alarms that just started blasting into the otherwise peaceful night. The group of about 15-20 second-years had some silly string and glitter, but basically just went to the little fountain/garden area outside our building and they came back inside when I had wandered down to go get them. (Pretty sure this was the only time any of those students would have seen me in pajamas.)

In terms of the prank, I don't really care. As another co-worker put it, "it was kind of a weak prank", although I did appreciate that it occurred before another day that was treated like a weekend. I was kind of annoyed by it all because I had gotten into bed about 5 minutes before the alarms went off and there were some students who live right by the fob doors that were rocked from their sleep for a silly, weak prank.

TC

Also, since today was Memorial Day, my celebration was the thanks that I extend to all those that serve in the military, including those who lay down their lives for their country. For that, I say thank you.

TC

Okay, so the fun. Today was treated like a weekend, so there weren't classes and the day felt pretty open-ended. In the afternoon, I learned how to play Euchre with a few students. Before the game, I talked with a different student about the rules, but overall, I felt like I picked up on it pretty quickly. It reminded me of pinochle since there are points where the cards don't have the order we very commonly see: Ace being high, then King, Queen, Jack, 10, etc. After that, we played Spades, which was also a new game for me, but it seemed like a very simplified version of pinochle or hearts.

During the desk shift, the Robotics team had a coronation for the first-year students who will be taking leadership positions next year. It's hard to see my current leadership graduate and leave, but I know that they have been committed to training the first-years and pushing them in the right direction (as compared to leading them by the hand, which needs to happen in some cases, but not all). The current president liked the concept of leadership necklaces, so there were various parts and mechanisms with string or rope on them. The students who run the team always have interesting ideas for end-of-the-year procedures, but I do feel like this helped with the sense of continuation.

After my desk shift, I hung out with students and they were going over quizzes for each other. The quizzes were basically a list of 15 "What is my favorite" questions and it was interesting to see them debate and what an answer could be. I was able to name a few answers, particularly for my second years, but this was also an example of the difference between the student-student relationships and student-staff relationships. I did think about making my own quiz and seeing how the guys do, but that is definitely a task for a day that's not right now. *Pause* Let's pretend that phrase made sense.

TC

Okay, bedtime. Wish me luck on the final Tuesday of the academic year. DFTBA.