Still, yesterday's massive burst of productivity, combined with today's effort to work out a two-week unit on Of Mice and Men, let me to a bit of confusion during my Zoom meetings. My freshmen had one pair of poets to discuss today and my seniors had two poems from a different poet. However, yesterday, I had read a total of seven different authors to get the next few days prepared. Add to that my scan of the entirety of Steinbeck's aforementioned work, and I wasn't entirely certain where I was, let alone who and what we were discussing at one point. It didn't help that one student was referring to the previous day's readings.
Meanwhile, due to our no penalty for late work policy, I'm also receiving writings from students concerning literature that we read and discussed four weeks ago. This is one of the reasons that I usually give a penalty (25% off) for work that is turned in more than a week late. Not only does it help to keep everything fresh in my mind, but it also helps students to focus on the work that we are currently doing rather than continuing to slog through the past (I have many, many alternate assignments that students can complete to make up for missing points).
Still, I really do enjoy the literature that I've been teaching this semester. Some of them are "old friends" whom I haven't read in years, or even decades. It's been nice to get acquainted, even if I've felt a bit crowded.