The Other Side Of The Desk

I've never really been Type-A about school.  I only tried hard enough to do what I needed to.  I did well in high school, because advanced classes counted more in your GPA than regular classes.  I excelled in anything having to do with writing, which countered the misery of anything related to history, government, or numbers.

College was interesting, finally.  Except for the numbers.  I had to take both calculus classes over to get the grade acceptable to graduate.  But the Biology.  That was awesome.

In fact, I just kept taking Biology classes until someone handed me a Ph.D.  Well, not really.  But being really interested in a topic helps in learning it, and I managed to have a way with science.  Being a good test-taker doesn't hurt either.

I've mentioned before that I get tuition remission as a benefit at work.  I wanted to take a few classes for professional development, and that snowballed into enrolling into a master's degree program. 

I registered back in June, but was on the waiting list.  I finally got into the class a couple of weeks ago, and have been checking Blackboard every day to see if the class was available.  I ordered the books online (used, so I saved a ton, but they're in perfect condition.  Yay!)  I read the first chapter of one (too much history).

Then last night, course information appears.  The syllabus?  17 pages long.  The grade?  Based on three papers and participation in the discussion board.

Me?  PANIC.

No tests?  Are you sure?  Because I'm really good at tests.  I can study and take tests and ... Really?  No tests?

Two analyses and a response paper.  Each worth a quarter of the final grade.  The rest of the grade requires you to post to the discussion board with something relevant and thoughtful, and then to respond to what everyone else has written that they think is relevant and thoughtful, and your teacher judges and gives you a grade.

In the rational part of my brain, I know I can do this.  I know what is expected and what I need to do to meet those expectations.  However, the other part of my brain seems to be screaming "what if..." and "wtf..." too loud for me to hear the rational part.

But, I'd already read the chapter, so I wrote a draft last night of answers to her discussion board questions, then today I got online and posted it.  I was first, so I'll have to get on later and respond to others and "participate".

So I have no real post for you today because I'm too busy panicking about my answer to significant events in the history of higher education.

Tomorrow come back for Cloth Tushie Tuesday, wherein I talk about diaper laundry.  (If she'd asked about that, I could have written a fabulous discussion board post!)