From the mouths of college students...

I'm generally not a fan of extra credit*, but I do make an exception in my freshman studies courses (the FS course is part of the Freshman Experience, which is a retention/get to know the college & relevant staff/get to know Chicago program). Typically, I offer my FS students the opportunity to earn a few extra points by participating in non-required college events or on the final exam through a series of random questions - some focus on school-related topics (Who is your Department Chair? Who do you go to if you're interested in applying for a student worker position?), a few focus on fun trivia related to our cultural events (aka field trips) or faculty (I always ask them about my favorite singer, as there is a Prince poster in my office & they are required to visit my office the first day of class), and the rest focus on current events (mostly politics).  As I'm sure you can imagine, there are always quite a few interesting answers (apparently, I give off the Kelly Clarkson and Lady Gaga lovin' vibe, as those are always the two most popular wrong guesses); out of all, my favorites come from a fairly simple question that one would think is a no-brainer. There are always a few wrong answers, but this term was especially bad. I'm both amused and horrified by what came out of my class...

Who is the current Vice President?

"The guy who was running with Obama": 1 (well, that's technically true)
"Honestly, I have no idea. I don't think he does much anyway.": 1 (oooh, harsh)
John Kennedy: 1 (um, zombie VP?)
Vader: 1 (ha ha ha)
Vidden: 1 (Vader + Biden = Vidden?)
Nancy: 1 (I'll go with the Drew version)
That crook Blagovich: 1 (VP and a corruption trial? wow, busy year for Blago!)
George Stefanpieless: 1 (little George Stephanopoulos lost all of his pies... so sad)
Obama: 3 (please just let this be a case of rushing/not reading the question closely)
McCain: 3 / Mcane: 1 / Joe McCain: 1 (yes, he is totally the VP... and he & Obama are sooo BFFs)
Biden: 7 / John Biden: 1 / Joe Bidden: 1 (ding ding ding!)
Hilary Clinton: 11 (VP... Secretary of State... it's really all the same)
No answer: 11 (so did they have no clue or were they just above answering the extra credit questions? it's an enigma... wrapped in a mystery)

Yes folks, this is the future of our country. :-)
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*Because (1) if a student is doing sub-par work and/or not completing the work, offering a chance to do extra sub-par work just to make up for the original work does not reinforce the learning goals, (2) in my experience, the students who usually complete the EC are the ones who don't need it grade-wise, (3) the impact it has on the grading process -  students who really need it tend not to truly benefit from it (because they weren't doing satisfactory work to begin with) & it undermines your assessment process, and (4) it's college, not 5th grade. Do your damn work!  Now, I do make the exception in the FS classes because a big part of the course involves social engagement and cultural events - while we do participate in several activities during the term, we are limited in how much we can do in nine weeks. I've found that offering extra credit really helps to boost the participation and gets the students involved in activities they wouldn't do otherwise.

Indy!

There was some pedal boating...

Some canal walking...

An awesome derby bout...

 A lot of fabulous food...

 A bit of imbibing...

 And a few drag queens...

In addition to the fun, there were also many hours of long talks in which we reminisced and brought each other up to date on the new. It was wonderful to have the opportunity to spend so much uninterrupted time with my friend. I've unintentionally lost friends due to the distance between us (the literal distance, that is)... when you're in your thirties, it can often be difficult to maintain long-distance friendships (especially with those you once worked with & talked to in person everyday). It's far too easy to get caught up in the daily grind and not make the time to maintain those friendships that aren't in your immediate vicinity; before you know it, you've lost that thread that once bound the two of you. I'm very lucky that even though large chunks of time will usually pass between our visits, once Pauline & I get together, it really feels like no time has passed at all. She's a fabulous person and I'm very lucky to still have her in my life. :-)

On the road again

I'm leaving tomorrow morning for another mini trip - this time, I'm headed down to Indianapolis to visit my dear friend, Pauline. Due to various work commitments and some other unpleasantries that happened last year, we weren't able to get together for anything more than a quick brunch when she came through Chicago. I haven't really spent any time with her since November '09, which seems like forever ago!  I'm so excited to be able to actually spend some quality girl time together, as it is long overdue. Our plans include some of the usual (awesome food/drinks, exploring random places in the city, long talks) and something new and wickedly awesome: a derby bout (my first! soooo excited!). Hell yeah! :-)