Remember my cranky professor post from a few weeks back? Well, it's stuff like this that makes teaching so worthwhile.

Our athletic department has a program that allows student athletes to recognize faculty and staff for outstanding service. Imagine my surprise (or SHOCK, I should say) when I got an email this past week informing me I had been selected for this honor. A student I've had in three classes nominated me. She's a phenomenal soccer player and an excellent student. I about cried when I read the email. I will be presented with a certificate today at halftime - and get this - the game is against Iowa! How cool is that? Of course, I will be cheering for us, not the Hawkeyes, but I do have to admit my fondness and loyalty to my alma mater. I've been told the Hawks are bigger and more athletic than we are - should be a good game. We are 4-0 in Summit league play. This is a non-conference game, of course - and the Big Ten is quite a tough conference (um, unless you're talking about football this year. That's another story...).

I'll post a picture later. Should be fun and the weather is gorgeous today!! High of 84 - quite unusual. Tomorrow, of course, is supposed to be 60s and rainy. Just in time for the big conference I've been busting my butt to organize for the past month. Can't wait until tomorrow is over...

Baby Butterfly

My 3-year-old does a fantastic job at pretending. This morning we are playing "baby butterfly" - a game where he pretends to hatch out of a cocoon, eats some food and drinks some nectar, grows wings and zooms around our first floor. It's totally adorable. He also likes to pretend he's a monster, tormado, kitty, baby bird, volcano, lightening...It's quite cute. Many Saturday mornings are spent this way. He prefers it to TV, too, so that's an added bonus.

In other family-related news, I've been given the all-clear for another kiddo, which is very exciting. Hopefully I'll have some news to post soon. I'm hoping it's soon, 'cause I ain't getting any younger! We were lucky with O, but that was four years ago and I wasn't considered Advanced Maternal Age (my OB agrees that's a terribly outdated phrase). Did you know there are magazines specifically targeted toward us older knocked-up ladies? I discovered this while waiting for my appointment Thursday. These publications have funny names, such as Plum and feature nutty Scientologists like Jenna Elfman on their covers. Judging from the advertisements inside, all of us AMA ladies must also be really wealthy. Does a giant bag of money come with each positive pregnancy test?

It's too early in the semester to feel this way...

So the joke amongst us cranky profs at some point each semester is, "This university would be great if it weren't for all those damn students!" Usually it's toward midterms or finals. Of course, it's not true. We wouldn't be here without the students (I doubt they reciprocate the group hug sentiment). Anyway, I'm already at that point and I'm nearing the end of week TWO.

No one in my honors intro class knew what Tiananmen Square was. When I talked about the importance of critical thinking in my Information Gathering class this morning, I got groans and eye rolls when I mentioned the role it played in helping the media bring to light events such as the Civil Rights movement, Vietnam, etc.

Students sleep in classes all the time now (and not just my classes, so I know it's not just me). They refuse to complete the basic requirements of courses. I gave a quiz today and 10% of the class was absent. This was our third class session. Ugh! I feel like a cranky old lady, but seriously - why are many of these young adults here if they refuse to learn, refuse to open their minds and learn ANYTHING other than what they brought with them to college. And you know what? Just because I want you to open your mind a bit and expand your world doesn't mean I'm some evil liberal prof bitch.

I'm at a state school and much emphasis is placed on Ag and engineering, but that doesn't mean you can't learn something - that you can't enjoy classes that discuss things unrelated to seed genetics, duck migration and waste water treatment. It's like this generation truly believes it's cool to be mediocre. It's certainly NOT cool to put any effort into anything (except drinking). They are more anti-intellectual than any group of students I've ever known. It's really quite sad.

Rant over. I need to grade quizzes. I'm sure that will cheer me up.