The one final thought about teaching has to do with bragging. One of the advantages of teaching writing is that the discipline does not really lend itself to exams, final or otherwise. And in the university structure, the week after classes is reserved for finals.
In the past, I've used this to my advantage. I've had all my work due on the last week of the semester...preferably early into that week. Then I would get all my grading done by the end of the last week of the semester. I would return everything on the last Friday of the semester. Then I would spend the weekend tweaking all my friends who would complain about the stacks of grading still on their docket. I would invite them out for drinks, beg them to stay out late, and when they protested, I would reply "What? You're not done yet??? Why, I've been done for two days." Then I would duck whatever projectile they've thrown my direction.
This year, however, the schedules were weird. My lit class had everything due the Thursday of the last week. Moreover, since it's a lit class, there's a lot of them in there...so that one will take a while. I did have my Comp I scheduled to be in Monday, but they were begging for more time. And then my band got offered a gig at a music fest run by the college radio station, so the due date there got pushed to Wednesday. I'm doing two online classes, and I've realized that, due to a quirk of scheduling, there's actually one less week in Spring than in Fall...so it was either cut the schedule or give them until exam week for their work.
Bottom line? For the first time in ages, I won't be done before finals week. I'm going to be against the wall just like everyone else. Man, I hope no one else gets done early and starts bragging about how they're finished. That would be the worst...
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