Sometimes Paradise Does Arrive While Grading and You Think, "Hmmm. Wonder What the Magic Was."

For years, scoring portfolios in Kentucky and then again at schools in Connecticut, I get into a batch of student work and I simply forget I am assessing, and I enjoy what I'm reading - getting into the flow that Csikszentmihalyi discusses. I actually lose the fact that I'm supposed to be an authority and I ride along with the intention of the writer as if I'm reading on the beach for total enjoyment.

This is rarer when assessing philosophical statements, lesson plans, and theories for teaching writing, but last night I got into a batch of undergraduate writing that simply amazed me. In their submitted portfolios I recognized that they've been paying attention not only in my course, but in several courses taught by my colleagues in the Graduate School of Education and Allied Professions and those in the College of Arts and Sciences. They write fluidly, sincerely, with ingenuity and originality. The voice pops from the page and the decisions they make are sound, logical and research-based.

I woke up this morning thinking about this and whether or not I could capture and/or name exactly what it is they are doing. The promote-of-models-in-me wants to label the parts to explain to myself (and perhaps others) why their written work is so effective.

Then I bite my nails, "Wait! Would others feel the same way? I wonder if we might do a Consultant LASW template with the results so we can talk about student work?"

I'm far from finishing my grading and hope to, today, finish at least one of my courses before I dive into the other one (after all, the undergraduates need my grade so they can graduate).

With only a few left to go, I open each with trepidation wondering if I'm about to get a clunker. It's always interesting when you get through a batch that follows the direction, dots their i's and crosses their t's. It's more amazing when they do so and you think, "Oh, they get it. I'd love to teach and work with this kid."

Then, with those that are off-mark, and not hitting the standards set by the course, I wish their was a period of re-doing the work (because the explanation for why they are not hitting the mark and revision would be the true, authentic learning).

Alas. Semesters aren't set up this way and there's a mad-dash to the end.  When I can go to bed, however, with tranquil waters and serenity on my mind, I know it was a good grading bout. Yes, the stress remains that I'm far from finished, but those I made time for today simply put a smile on my face, making me think, "Maybe you do know what you're doing."