Thursday 10 August 2017

Day 221, 9 Aug 2017: Almost done...

Day 221: ...before the next full moon sets

It is that miserable week in the life of an academic: marking. It is a chore. True, there is the occasional gem but in undergraduate work, there is a fair bit of, shall we say 'dross' one must wade through on the way to the good stuff. And in these days in grade inflation and student demands of getting excellent grades regardless of what they submit, it might as well be marked by a robot. 

It takes a lot of time  when we could be doing other things...like writing our own articles or books. Students rarely seek feedback these days either so there is the dilemma of just how much to write, correct, comment. 

But, it will soon be over, thanks to the truncated time frame admin has bestowed upon us this week: six days instead of the usual two weeks so some IT system can be changed over or upgraded or somesuch. Hopefully it has a marking function. 

All these thoughts rattled through the mind this morning as I woke up to see the full moon setting as the sun was rising, knowing that soon it will be done, before I see the next full moon setting...

Over the clouds

Cloud wisp

Clouds on the horizon

Lily in the morning

Lily in the evening


Except, there will be more marking and grading to come along...that is as sure as the sun rising and the moon setting. 

[Camera : Lumix TZ-85, 5.12am, 4.09pm; iPhone6s, 10.26am, 7.44pm; 9 August 2017]