Final marks

Today was my last day at the University. I was touched by the many people who visited to wish me well and the little gifts they surprised me with - a beautiful book on the history of Slovakia, a bunch of fresh daffodils, hand-made crafts from the Folk Art Center. They are all deeply appreciated, and I shall treasure them and my memories of teaching here.

I also visited a presentation of the final project of one of my aesthetics students for her "Magister" (Master's) degree. Maria (in the back right) is the teacher completing her degree, with some of the children. She developed a marvelous children's art education project that demonstrated the sophisticated interdisciplinarity and active learning long promoted by the Getty in Los Angeles.

I spent part of the day signing the "index" books that each student has to record coursework with final marks. These little books look like passports with extra pages, something I've never seen before as a way of tracking courses. I left all my student records with my department chair, just in case any questions come up in the future. I understand that the University is installing an on-line system for entering grades, something we have now at Cal State and love for the convenience for meeting this traditional responsibility.

I made a quick stop at the Fulbright office this morning to drop off my final report and say good-bye and especially "thank you" to the wonderful staff. I also had a delightful meeting with a vice-dean and my department head to share some of my experiences and impressions of teaching at the University. Very busy day!

I am now seriously busy with final packing and especially shipping. It looks like it will take four Slovenská Pošta boxes for all the things I need to ship back to California. Thank goodness the main post office is open seven days a week!

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