Grading... a thing most un-fun

While I don't have the greatest desire to do grading - I do like seeing the thinking process of students - the inner workings as it were. I was always fascinated by the big picture so cogs and wheels and remember my first understanding of what a cog was - it was from Mr. Cogswell of the Jetson's cartoon show. That grew into an appreciation and an awe for the pictures of the inside of Big Ben -

in England - those cogs were huge - and it was amazing to see how everything seems to work together - in an almost majestic rhythm.
I love seeing students think - and while I don't like grading - I enjoy reading student's journal entries - as I have been doing for the past hour or two. Looking through their thoughts - of what they discovered or were able to see confirmed about themselves in a few multiple choice inventory tests.

There's something powerful about knowing that there's more than one way to learn, and I for one grew up always thinking that there was only one way to learn - and while I did well in school, it never dawned on me that there were other ways of learning - or that my verbal/linguistic background gave me an edge over my psychomotor-needy friends.

When I discovered that there were multiple ways of learning - and that one or perhaps two of those ways - were keys to my own best success - it was amazing. It was like I'd discovered a secret entrance to an island. Education and learning opened up so much more to me - and became far less daunting and far more feasible.

Today, I love learning about learning and seeing others learn. One of the most fascinating things to me is the ah-ha moment for students, seeing it or being a small part of it makes me feel like God let me in on something special in a student's life.