A Toast!

To the McWaringles!

And, to cute little kids who bring toast for everyone!

The whole ride to work I was remembering the scary Santa room in Universal's Asylum maze last year and imagining the insane christmas music ND will install in Beverly Hills. Oh yes! There will be pipe organs! Mwah ha ha ha!

I hope VW has put a note up and gone to get lunch.

It's very odd ot read that as I sit here at a coffeeshop and eat a scone and coffee....

Hey, meara, are you going to need the Shopper's Tour of the City in the next few days?

YES! Sent you an email an hour or two ago...whee!

Happy Anniversary, Nora and Tom!

Fay, that is ADORKABLE. I love it. Toast Day! Yay!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO MY MOST FAVORITE MCWARINGLES!!

I did not go get lunch, but this student also seems to be a no-show. Five more minutes, then I'm totally getting lunch.

Could I get some advice on an e-mail I'm about to send to the professor of the classes I tutor for? I have to change the way the students sign up for tutoring, because, well, I was a little overwhelmed with appointments this week. I need to set some limits, so this e-mail is to address that with her, and to make a plan to address it with the class. Thoughts?

I just wanted to check in about a couple of things. First, I need to make a change in the way tutoring appointments are scheduled. I got so much business, that, well, it was almost too much. It's great, and I'm so thrilled that the students are taking advantage of the service, but I can't do 20 (or more!) appointments during the week. I wanted to finish out the appointments I scheduled for this week, because I really feel that I made a commitment to the students, so I am doing that. But, I have made a new plan that I would like to put into action.

The plan is three-fold:

1. If a student has met with me before, they should not sign up on the sheet that goes around at the beginning of the week. They should e-mail me directly to schedule an appointment.

2. On Mondays we will still pass around a sign-up sheet with the appointments I still have available. New students can sign up on that sheet.

3. Once the sheet is full, new students can still sign up, but they'll need to sign up on the back of the sheet with their name, e-mail address, and availability. Those students will be referred to one of my colleagues, who will contact them directly. Then they will work with that tutor for the rest of the semester.

I know this is probably a bit confusing, so I would like to come back and visit the classes again to let the students know "the plan" and make sure I directly address any concerns they have about this plan. So, that brings me to my second thing. Could I come visit each class for a few minutes next Wednesday. I won't take long. I know you're going to have a lot to address after being gone and since the papers are due. I just don't want this to go too long, and I'd really like to tell them about the change in person--hopefully, if I do that, they'll be able to see my commitment and understand that there is still help available...it just can't always be with me.

Let me know your thoughts...

vw that all makes sense to me. You're having trouble juggling students so you'd like to introduce a new system. Students who have already seen you can make appointments via email, new students can sign up on Monday for an open slot, or on the back of the sheet if all slots are full. It's very informal in tone, did you want help making it more professional or were you just making sure it was clear?

Happy Anniversary Nora & Tom!

Sean, lots of ~ma for your mom.

vw, it looks fine, but since I've seen you write a number of times that you've had no-show students, I really think you need a plan for dealing with them, too.

I mostly just wanted to make sure it's clear. I'm not worried about it being formal. We have a very good working relationship.

vw, it looks fine, but since I've seen you write a number of times that you've had no-show students, I really think you need a plan for dealing with them, too.

Oh, yeah. I didn't mention that, but I'm going to let them know about the "three strikes you're out policy" that the university has. If they skip three times, they don't get tutoring from academic support for *any* subject. I didn't mention that in the e-mail, because I know she'll be supportive of that. Actually, if she finds out how many people have skipped, she's gonna be on their asses. So, I'd rather just deal with that myself.