Let the grading begin

So today, I'm giving my first "midterm" of the semester. Of course, it's not really the middle of the semester, but I wanted to beat the rush. Actually, we have covered about half of the material because most of the end of the semester is devoted to students' projects and applications. Plus, it seems to me that having a midterm now helps students at the true midpoint in the semester when every other class (including one of my other classes) have their midterm.

So the grading begins today. Because I have a 3-2 teaching load and this semester is the "3," I am expecting a higher grading load than last semester or next semester. But also, one of my writing-intensive classes has almost double the enrollment that it had last year. So I'm expecting to be overwhelmed as the semester continues.