Hateful, Glorious Internet

Finally, after four long days, I have my internet access back! I'm typing this on my computer rather than my phone, definitely my preference. Of course what goes along with the joy of being able to communicate more easily is the burden of responding to four days' emails from students and administrators. I got home around 3:30 (it's now just after 5:00) and have been on the computer taking care of business ever since. Tomorrow is my last day of two of my classes, so I'm really happy to have access to my work email(s) and the academic platform. (Having accounts on both Outlook and Blackboard at two separate institutions is sometimes complicated.)

The end is in sight -- within my grasp, in fact -- for the "horrible class", the one in which I had to kick a student out. His attitude has continued to be nasty, and I've never really "clicked" with that class as a whole. My other class that ends tomorrow is, however, a different story. I will truly miss these kids! They all have tried so hard this term, mostly with great results. Some of them will likely not make farther than developmental classes (which is sad), but many of them will, and I think they might not have believed that in the first week of class. They are proud of themselves and I am proud of them. Some will be in my second-eight-weeks class, and I'm glad.

I'm sure I sounded like a big baby yesterday, crying about my internet in the midst of serious loss of property and life. Our community is getting back to normal and -- good or bad -- internet has to be part of my normal. On my drive to a different campus today, I saw more trees down and stoplights out. Just now on the news I saw that Glynn County (Georgia) schools are closed all week because of flooding, and I received an alert on my phone letting me know there's a gas leak causing a traffic problem about three miles from my house. Raw sewage poured into some of our local waterways because power went out at the water treatment plants. I'm not sure how long it will take our area to get back to normal (I heard that some of our favorite beaches are just gone), but I'm glad I can stay better informed and in closer contact with my students (and others).