Two Weeks In

Well, we are now two weeks in the Spring semester, and everything seems to be calming down. I had squished too much in to the first two weeks, so we slowed things down just a bit. I didn't expect to spend so much time on the technological components of the course. Something to remember in the future.

We started on Project 1, the literacy narrative. Students always find the content a bit challenging, though I don't really understand why. Maybe one of students will enlighten me some day. Students struggled with the invention exercises a little. I know that the way I am asking them to approach writing this semester may be radically different from what they have experienced in the past. I don't mind taking extra class time to work through some of these activities. My ultimate goal is to help them become more effective writers. The system I have set up this semester - modeled after courses I have taught elsewhere and read about in my research studies - has proven results. It will take some time for them to acclimate to a new way of approaching writing, and some might outright rebel against the process I am teaching, but I can't wait to see the writing they are producing at the end of the course. The last time I taught this system, the improvement was so drastic, I could hardly believe it. Students weren't just improving either, they were actually getting excited about incorporating what they had learned in the writing they were producing. I hope I can recreate that excitement this semester.