Gilda

She's supposed to sit in on my two freshman classes, freshman composition and World Masterpieces of literature, take notes, be prepared to cover either class if I should need her to, and do whatever paperwork I assign to her, mainly correcting quizzes. I wouldn't have an assistant grade writing assignments or essays, but objective quizzes and the multiple choice sections of major tests, that stuff is objective.

This is her job. She's getting tuition, fees, housing, and meals, which adds up to a pretty good sum.

And, as I was told during orientation, this is one of my benefits. She does my grunt work to free me up to plan my classes, supervise student teachers, and do research.

I met with her Monday and talked about it. I asked her, very nicely, to make more of an effort to attend all of the required classes and get the grading I assign her finished. She apologized profusely, told me she'd be in the classes and get her grading done, and made excuses about scheduling conflicts with her job.

[sigh] This was supposed to be a benefit for both of us. She gets a free education, learns how to teach at the college level, and gets supported while doing it. I get some relief from paper work, someone to do supplemental instruction with students needing remediation, and my classes are covered if I for some reason need to be absent.

With the added stress of not knowing if she's going to be getting her work done on top of my job demands, not being able to find her when I need her for something, and then having to make up the work I expected her to do, having an assitant has turned out to be more work than just doing it all myself would be.

I considered hiring an assassin, because then I'd be able to get a replacement. As it is, I have little choice but to assume she's not going to be there for me and let it go. It's not worth the trouble.

Gilda

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I'm against ending blackness. I believe that everyone has a right to be black, it's a choice, and I support that.

~Steven Colbert