An A+ Post . . .

Last updated on: December 8, 2015 at 7:13 pm by Sarah Conrad Sours

An A+ Post . . . 2015-12-08T19:13:11-06:00 Sarah Conrad Sours

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

My friend Anna Gissing wrote a lovely meditation over at Emerging Scholars Blog on the most dreaded part of my job: grading.

Grading would be fun if we could please everyone. If all of our students cared about the course and did their best work, we’d enjoy giving them feedback, even if they needed to improve. If students considered grades an assessment to let them know where they needed to improve and where they were excelling, it might be easier to hand down grades. But grading sometimes brings out relational junk.

Yep. That’s it, right on the money.

I wish I could say that I’m ready to treat grading as a spiritual practice. She’s right that it can be–she’s right that any worthy work can be deeply theological and therefore spiritual.

But, alas, right now I’m just trying to get through it all.

She’s also right about all the reasons professors tend to dread grading. If she’ll permit me a rephrase: it is a genuinely moral enterprise, a solemn responsibility. It’s a thing that matters, and it matters that it be done well.

If it were merely drudgery, it wouldn’t be so dreadful.

Alas, right now I’m just trying to get through it all.

But I will try with a renewed appreciation for the value of work well done, thanks to this piece.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

December 2, 2015

Teaching that Makes a Difference

Next Post

December 29, 2015 How Introverts Work: Quietly, Even in Large Groups

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month July 2017 February 2017 October 2016 August 2016 June 2016 April 2016 March 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What are the names of the two witnesses in Revelation who prophesy for 1,260 days?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Moses and Elijah Peter and Paul They are not named Enoch and Elijah