The metaphor of a mountain of work is sometimes apt, but there are other times when it feels more appropriate to think of a team of mountaineers trying to conquer several peaks at once. This weekend is one of those times. There are about 30 Software Engineering essays waiting to be read and graded. The students had a choice of two topics: either read Royce’s original paper on the waterfall method and compare it to how the method is perceived nowadays, or write about a big software failure and analyse its causes and consequences. It is a formidable task and difficult to start. Moreover, it is best done in one sitting to ensure that the grading is fair. I curse myself every year (this is the third iteration of this task) for having set the essays, but once I get going it is also very rewarding. It is easy enough to evaluate the lower levels of the Bloom taxonomy with tests and even the project, but I feel that the essays provide a true insight into how the students’ thinking develops.

Another peak to conquer this weekend is an ancient quarterly ritual known as “the cleaning of the house”. Despite valiant efforts during the weeks, there comes a kind of saturation point where the unclean nooks and crannies can no longer be tolerated. To be completely honest, my cleaning is a bit of a start-and-stop affair: the dishes in the cupboard are gradually exhausted and although I try to keep up, it seems that demand outstrips supply. So I hope to get a good night’s rest tonight and tackle the rooms one-by-one on the morrow. I can sense that it is also time to switch bedrooms. I do this about every six months, just for the heck of it.

Of course, there are also other tasks that need to be accomplished this weekend, but I’m not exactly in the mood to list all of them. Quite sleepy, in fact.  Good night.