I have decided that I am not a fan of grading. Aside from the obscene amount of time that it takes up (roughly 30-45 minutes PER PAPER x 13 papers=6.5 to 9.75 hours of my Saturday) but I don't like assigning a value to the work. It's such an ass backwards system, instead of praising the Little Darlings for the positive aspects of their papers/portfolios, every rubric that I've ever come across merely points out the negative, using words like "lacks" and "fails to." My least favorite category/comment: Reasons this paper received a failing grade--failure to meet paper length requirement. I hate this category. HATE. I despise the fact that a piece of work has to have a limit, and that students write for that limit rather than quality of their argument.

And to top it off, I'm asked to fill out this year long evaluation with goals for next year. I'm trying my damnedest to come up with something positive to pair with the goals, because then they beg you to say, albeit nicely, "well, you really sucked at this, so keep on working on that."

*sigh* I think I'm just pissed I have to do this today. And grade their finals... which is like another 2 hours of a perfectly gorgeous day eaten up.