E for effort

today is one of those rare occasions when i feel like i must be improving somehow as a teacher. i'm sitting here on my lunch break grading the latest essays (compare/contrast) and so far they're GOOD. i've only been through about 6, but i've already written A on 4 essays. that never happens! last year my students' compare/contrast essays were so off the mark i had to offer them ALL the opportunity to further revise or rewrite the essay in order to raise their grades. never a good sign. so i'm doing something right. i look forward to the day when i don't have to do much prep work. when the lessons are so well planned out i don't need a sheet in front of me reminding me what to do. when i can stand and walk around the room and feel like we're all participating in a meaningful discussion. when i see the benefit of all my exercises and feel like i'm not just trying to fill the class time. *sigh* someday.