End of semester stories - persistence pays off

End of semester stories - persistence pays off

I released the class standings for the three sections I am handling this semester. Included were their scores for assignments I gave throughout the semester and for the long exams that included those I assigned as take-home work and for which discussions among students were encouraged in order to facilitate learning.

I got emails from four students regarding their scores and tentative grades. One student asked if its possible to have one exam rechecked as he was percentage points away from getting a 1.0. I quickly checked his scores and decided to give him an early Christmas gift as simple rounding off his average will improve his already excellent grade. I am usually generous with grades even if its not the Christmas season. I just don't feel like its worth stressing over percentage points and cases of a few points in exams.

Another student asked why he got a very low score in an exam. I remembered him as one who did not bother to include/attach solutions to his exam but instead submitted only the answers. How could I give full or even partial credit when it is not clear to me that the student did his work and understood the topics covered in the exam? I promptly replied to him asking if he already got the papers back and read what I wrote on his papers. He replied with a 'Thanks' and I never heard from him again.

I got a message from one student who believed she was able to submit one assignment and confirmed with her partner (it was a group project) about their submission on time. Turns out I have no record of their submission and I replied that perhaps her partner failed to submit it on their behalf. She had good scores in exams and assignments but her partner had average scores so I suspected perhaps that the other person wasn't able to submit their work but was afraid to admit it. There was no effort from him to support her. I recalled that there was a confusion where the assignments were to be submitted because half the class placed theirs in the wrong pigeon hole (this was the first homework) in our new building. And so I asked her to check for maybe their paper was still there (students were notorious for leaving their assignments or returned/corrected work so these usually accumulate by the end of the semester). To cut a long story short, she was able to find their paper in the pile and along the way also found the papers of 3 other classmates. I was able to correct their standings and this resulted in higher grades.

I wonder how many students are as persistent these days? I wouldn't categorize her as the grade- conscious type as she was not begging for points or asking for additional work to get a higher grade. The student 'fought' for what she thought she worked for that she wasn't able to get credit for. The other students (total 4) didn't even make an effort to rectify their situations and I suspect they didn't even check what was recorded as non-submissions. I was tempted not to change the scores and grades of the others, in a way making a point or lesson here, but that was not the right thing to do. I took the inspiration of the persistent student for the benefit of the others. Persistence pays off and the effort of one benefited others.

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Diner at Maginhawa Street, UP Village

Diner at Maginhawa Street, UP Village

We were again looking for some place new to eat lunch at in UP Village and tried one at a new building just across the apartments along Maginhawa Street where we used to live at almost two decades ago. We found this American Diner-style restaurant where we thought we could have a quick meal. It was similar to one we tried in another part of UP Village so we figured from the menu outside the restaurant.

The interiors shouted American-style diner with the words fries, cheese steak and milkshake prominently displayed.

The decors screamed "USA!"

There were few diners when we were there probably because classes were still out at UP and Ateneo

Iced tea

Our main meal needed some proper plating for it to look more appealing than this.

The food we had was so-so. We thought we could probably have the same quality of food at places like Rodic's. It was a hot meal but there seemed to be something missing from our food. Needless to say, we're not looking forward to eating there again.

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Strap replacement for a Swatch

Strap replacement for a Swatch

I have several Swatch watches in my small collection. One is supposed to be a commemorative watch from UP's centennial in 2008. Such commemorative watches were the "in" thing a decade ago when different schools basically chose an old Swatch model that featured elements related to the school (usually the color so blue for Ateneo, green for La Salle, maroon for UP and so on) and had straps manufactured to match with the watch. Some strap designs are more wearable than others and in the case of the UP watch, it wasn't something you'd want to wear as an everyday watch. And so I decided to have the strap changed.

This Swatch is a simple one in terms of face design but features luminous hands and points corresponding to the hours

Water resistance is at 5 bar or 50m. It is a quartz watch and batteries are easily replaced using a small coin to unlock the battery compartment at the back.

I decided to go for a leather strap. This made the watch something I could wear for different occasions whether it be for casuals, work or even formals.

I think this Swatch cost me 5,000 pesos almost a decade ago. The price is actually a little but more than half that amount but this was an item for a fundraiser so it was worth it.

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