Since our next 603 class is supposed to be devoted to issues, I'm going to discuss some things that have really been irking me this semester, as well as some possible ways of dealing with them. For starters, I have some students who like to text/nap/talk while I'm speaking, which is tolerable for me up to a point. It doesn't bother me so much at the beginning of class, when I'm just chatting while waiting on any stragglers, outlining an activity we're going to do, or just discussing generalities. But later on when I'm talking about specific, they-need-to-know information, it drives me crazy to see someone with his/her head leaned back against the wall, eyes closed, or two girls chatting in the corner, about a weekend adventure no doubt, or a guy texting someone.
I know some material is boring and/or too simple for college level intellects, but I wouldn't waste their time going over it if they knew it or if I knew all of them could figure it out. But whenever I assume my students can do things on their own and I tell them something like, "Format your paper so that it looks like the sample paper in A Writer's Reference by Diana Hacker," a large percentage of them invariably turn in something that could have been formatted out of "Derek Zoolander's Guide to College Writing for Kids who Want to Learn to Write and Do Other Things Good Too." So I take the trouble to hold their little hands and draw an example on the board. And I still get some papers that are not formatted correctly. Of course, formatting isn't a big deal in the grand scheme, but it would be nice if some students took the time to get it right. Or to proofread. Or to write coherent and/or cohesive sentences.
I've found that I tend to snap after so much pressure. Earlier this semester, I chewed out a student who hadn't done the assigned reading after struggling to have a discussion with an entire class of people who didn't do the reading. Yesterday, I told one guy who had his eyes closed, "You're not feeling well, are you? I understand. Try to stay awake, though. I want you to hear what I'm saying." Then when I caught another girl -- who usually participates a lot -- sleeping, I just snapped at the whole class, telling them how I was sick and tired of their crap.
I suppose it's all my own fault for being tolerant in the first place. How can I expect them to stay awake/keep their eyes open if I give the first person an understanding pep talk? How can I expect the repeat texters to keep their cell phones in their pockets when all they have to do is say, "I'm sorry" when I look at them and then I just go on with the lecture.
So, I am thinking about taking a hard-core approach from now on. For example, I've told my students that they need to bring A Writer's Reference with them on Tuesday. If someone doesn't have it, I'm considering telling that person to leave since he/she is unprepared for class. But, what if one of my "good" students forgets his/her book? I can't show favoritism (although some definitely deserve the benefit of the doubt whereas others deserve a kick in the butt). I can't bring myself to harshly penalize someone who made his/her first slip-up all semester. So as much as I want to take an uncompromising white-and-black view of things, I'm too cognizant of the grey areas.
Perhaps I would be better-served to address their behavior through their grades. I've given my students a ton of time to learn, prepare for, and write the critical analysis, which is my starting assignment this semester. Due to weather cancellations, they've received even more time. On Tuesday, they're going to get their first graded final drafts back. Surprise, surprise, the students who sleep/text/chat/don't read/don't participate/etc. have written truly awful drafts. Maybe this will be a wake-up call for those who need one, an affirmation for those who deserve it, and a solvent for all of my frustrating discipline/respect problems. Well, at least one can hope it all works like that.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Friday, February 15, 2008
Crazy, Crazy World
As I write this, CNN is covering a former police officer's murder trial. He claims he accidentally elbowed his pregnant girlfriend in the throat, breaking her windpipe, killing her, and then panicked and buried her body in a park. If he is convicted, he will likely receive the death penalty.
A few moments ago, CNN was covering the latest school/university shooting, this one at Northern Illinois University. A police officer explained that the local police responded with amazing speed. The shooting began at 3:26 p.m. Within thirty seconds, two police officers were there. Within another minute and a half, eight policemen were on scene. They were all too late to prevent the gunman--a former graduate student at NIU--from shooting 21 people, killing six plus himself.
On Tuesday, my first class period after this tragedy, I was planning to give my students practice brainstorming. I'd planned to focus their efforts on research paper topics. Instead, I think I might have them brainstorm about what the hell causes monsterous acts like the NIU, Virginia Tech, Columbine, and Jonesboro (AK) shootings, how they could possibly be prevented, why/how sick our culture and society is that people do this stuff. Maybe, hopefully, they can give me some answers.
A few moments ago, CNN was covering the latest school/university shooting, this one at Northern Illinois University. A police officer explained that the local police responded with amazing speed. The shooting began at 3:26 p.m. Within thirty seconds, two police officers were there. Within another minute and a half, eight policemen were on scene. They were all too late to prevent the gunman--a former graduate student at NIU--from shooting 21 people, killing six plus himself.
On Tuesday, my first class period after this tragedy, I was planning to give my students practice brainstorming. I'd planned to focus their efforts on research paper topics. Instead, I think I might have them brainstorm about what the hell causes monsterous acts like the NIU, Virginia Tech, Columbine, and Jonesboro (AK) shootings, how they could possibly be prevented, why/how sick our culture and society is that people do this stuff. Maybe, hopefully, they can give me some answers.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Different Classes, Different Personalities
This semester, I am teaching an 8:00 a.m. class and another class at 9:30 a.m., both on Tuesday/Thursday. I had thought that the 8:00 a.m. class would be very sluggish, reticent, and difficult to get discussing anything. On the contrary, my 8:00 a.m. class is wonderful. A solid majority of the students offer insightful, interesting comments on our assigned readings. There have been passionate, spirited debates about some of the readings and the issues therein. One of my best students actually said he wished my class was a little longer. Indeed, there have been multiple days when I thought we could have kept going for another twenty or thirty minutes.
The 9:30 a.m. class, however, acts as though someone tranquilized them. A small minority of the students offer good comments. Of these, there is seldom any passion or spirit behind their words. The rest of the students basically stare into space. I have tried very hard to call on every student, letting them know that I expect them to participate in discussion. Yet they readily cop out with incoherent grunts and monosyllabic responses. These class periods get out early and still feel long and awkward.
Today, one student actually got up halfway through class, walked out, and never returned. Perhaps he was merely going to the bathroom and then couldn't return because of a disasterous diarrhea episode. More likely, he didn't want to be there anymore. I can understand not wanting to be in class, but it is frustrating when all but a handful feel this way. In fact, I've had tough attendance problems with both classes, partially because of the rampant illness and partially because of the typical absentee-syndrome.
I really would like to blame the students in the 9:30 class. After all, I'm teaching the same stuff the same way to the 8:00 a.m. class and they love it. But the fact is that each class has its own personality, and it's my job to figure out a way to connect with the shy, apathetic class. So far, calling directly on them, giving them freewriting time, having them discuss in groups prior to class-wide discussion, and using provocative readings have not been very effective. Any suggestions?
The 9:30 a.m. class, however, acts as though someone tranquilized them. A small minority of the students offer good comments. Of these, there is seldom any passion or spirit behind their words. The rest of the students basically stare into space. I have tried very hard to call on every student, letting them know that I expect them to participate in discussion. Yet they readily cop out with incoherent grunts and monosyllabic responses. These class periods get out early and still feel long and awkward.
Today, one student actually got up halfway through class, walked out, and never returned. Perhaps he was merely going to the bathroom and then couldn't return because of a disasterous diarrhea episode. More likely, he didn't want to be there anymore. I can understand not wanting to be in class, but it is frustrating when all but a handful feel this way. In fact, I've had tough attendance problems with both classes, partially because of the rampant illness and partially because of the typical absentee-syndrome.
I really would like to blame the students in the 9:30 class. After all, I'm teaching the same stuff the same way to the 8:00 a.m. class and they love it. But the fact is that each class has its own personality, and it's my job to figure out a way to connect with the shy, apathetic class. So far, calling directly on them, giving them freewriting time, having them discuss in groups prior to class-wide discussion, and using provocative readings have not been very effective. Any suggestions?
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
New Edition?
I have mixed feelings about the new edition of The Presence of Others. I haven't read all of the essays, of course, but I have perused the table of contents. It appears that Lunsford and Ruszkiewicz have added some great essays in the gender, ethics, and business/labor sections of the anthology (by the way, I like that they made ethics its own section). They've also dropped a few good readings, most notably Neil Postman's "The Great Symbol Drain." I also think I'll miss Jimmy Carter and Elie Wiesel's essays on the Iraq war, since they're perfect opposites for the critical analysis assignment. But the Iraq war has been debated to death, so I understand dropping those essays.
From a teaching perspective, I think it would be great to make copies of good readings from the old anthology (such as Postman's "Symbol Drain") to use in addition to the new anthology. From the student's perspective, I'm not sure that the new readings are necessarily worth the higher cost of a brand new edition. Perhaps a good middle ground would be to wait a year or two until there will be plenty of used copies of the new edition available via bookstores and the internet. After all, I have a feeling that most current T.A.s will use the same readings from the old edition since they are familiar with those readings, with maybe a few new ones added to the syllabus. In which case, I would be seriously upset if I were a 110 student who had to pay a lot more for the same old readings. (Of course, a 110 student will have no idea if this is the case, but I think teachers should put themselves in their student's shoes as much as possible, especially when deciding what would be best for their learning, finances, preparation for future classes, etc.)
From a teaching perspective, I think it would be great to make copies of good readings from the old anthology (such as Postman's "Symbol Drain") to use in addition to the new anthology. From the student's perspective, I'm not sure that the new readings are necessarily worth the higher cost of a brand new edition. Perhaps a good middle ground would be to wait a year or two until there will be plenty of used copies of the new edition available via bookstores and the internet. After all, I have a feeling that most current T.A.s will use the same readings from the old edition since they are familiar with those readings, with maybe a few new ones added to the syllabus. In which case, I would be seriously upset if I were a 110 student who had to pay a lot more for the same old readings. (Of course, a 110 student will have no idea if this is the case, but I think teachers should put themselves in their student's shoes as much as possible, especially when deciding what would be best for their learning, finances, preparation for future classes, etc.)
Friday, January 18, 2008
Writing What We Teach and Sharing What We Write
While working on the Writing What We Teach assignment, I have been conscientiously commenting on my own writing. I've made an effort to describe and explain various rhetorical moves, why I'm making them, what I'm trying to accomplish through them, etc. I've also been keeping track of potential pitfalls, mistakes, and things for further consideration. By sharing this essay and my self-comments with my students, I hope to give them guidance for how to approach the critical analysis.
Unexpectedly, I've found that commenting on my own writing has put a magnifying glass, so to speak, to my process--both my writing and thought processes. I think I'm always aware of the decisions I make as I write and the rationale behind them, but pausing every so often to actively ponder and explain them has heightened this awareness. I think there are several lessons to be learned from this experience.
First, I've reminded myself that a writer always has some kind of reason to his madness. If we as Composition teachers can keep this at the forefront of our minds, perhaps we can discern the rationale behind our struggling student's work and then help them to understand and build on it. Second, we can help our students realize that they ought to have specific reasoning behind their decisions to do this or that in their writing. The next step is helping them improve this reasoning, thus making better decisions. Of course, there is great potential (and danger) to make our students into models of ourselves. Accordingly, much of my self-commenting concerns the subjectivity of my choices, how I could just as easily choose a different way (to cut this introductory phrase or not to cut?) and the pros and cons of the various choices and options. Third, it might be beneficial to our students to have them comment on their own writing in a similar fashion, thereby making them more aware of the thought-processes behind their writing. And finally, self-commenting during drafting could be an excellent tool for researching student writing processes.
I want to close by referencing Mina Shaughnessy. As she told us, in so many words, we need to understand the logic behind our student's mistakes in order to correct them. By commenting on my critical analysis and sharing these comments with my students, hopefully I'll help them understand their own logic through discussion of my rhetorical choices.
Unexpectedly, I've found that commenting on my own writing has put a magnifying glass, so to speak, to my process--both my writing and thought processes. I think I'm always aware of the decisions I make as I write and the rationale behind them, but pausing every so often to actively ponder and explain them has heightened this awareness. I think there are several lessons to be learned from this experience.
First, I've reminded myself that a writer always has some kind of reason to his madness. If we as Composition teachers can keep this at the forefront of our minds, perhaps we can discern the rationale behind our struggling student's work and then help them to understand and build on it. Second, we can help our students realize that they ought to have specific reasoning behind their decisions to do this or that in their writing. The next step is helping them improve this reasoning, thus making better decisions. Of course, there is great potential (and danger) to make our students into models of ourselves. Accordingly, much of my self-commenting concerns the subjectivity of my choices, how I could just as easily choose a different way (to cut this introductory phrase or not to cut?) and the pros and cons of the various choices and options. Third, it might be beneficial to our students to have them comment on their own writing in a similar fashion, thereby making them more aware of the thought-processes behind their writing. And finally, self-commenting during drafting could be an excellent tool for researching student writing processes.
I want to close by referencing Mina Shaughnessy. As she told us, in so many words, we need to understand the logic behind our student's mistakes in order to correct them. By commenting on my critical analysis and sharing these comments with my students, hopefully I'll help them understand their own logic through discussion of my rhetorical choices.
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