Dear Students of 101,
If you haven't been enjoying, to the fullest, your relationship with Russian this fall; if you find yourself not organizing your weekly assignments by printing out my Work for the Week files; if you neglect even a half-hearted attempt at the written assignments; if, indeed, beyond all this, you find yourself, again and again, unaccountably leaving all your Russian at home, mentally and physically, including your textbook, notebook and workbook, accepting in class the use of my own materials as we focus on a grammatical question — you might consider a last-minute drop. Unfortunately it will be "with record", which is a disaffecting prospect.
Or you might consider not only coming to class — your attendance has been generally very good indeed, and when you are ill, you usually let me know, for which I extend my thanks. I appreciate your good humor in class discussions and exercises and your genuine interest in things Slavic and Russian. Many of you are quite talented and deserve to treat yourselves better than you are doing. Treat yourself with the respect you deserve! Remember that this class is not merely a wonderful aesthetic experience. It is also a portal into the learning of a language, requiring conscientious work and devotion and steady development of skills. If you do this you will not only learn Russian, you'll get a decent grade as well.
It is not too late to rescue yourself from a familiar academic nightmare. Come to class with your files, your books and materials, not merely with your delightful personalities and ready curiosity. We have about five weeks plus a final exam remaining, and I put heavy emphasis in grading on the rising arc of achievement in the last weeks of class, from the pass around the far turn into the home stretch.
If you are having trouble, the ERC has tutoring and I have an office hour four times a week, MWF 1:00-2:00 and T 1:20-2:00.
Вперед в светлое будущее! Да здравствует великий русский язык!
More soon,
gmc
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