LIT 111 Frustrations

I think that antipathy might be too strong a word for what I feel toward my literature class this summer, but it's damn close. My students are phenomenal (although I wish some would contribute more to discussions). I've just had too many stressful events in both my personal and professional life this summer that have prevented me from devoting myself to this class as I would like to. What should have been a relaxing and pleasurable experience for me has turned into a chore. I feel that I am failing my students in some regards. To top it all off, I'm not really sure what's appropriate for an introductory literature course. Most of these students are simply fulfilling a gen ed requirement. They don't need to literary analysis skills. If I teach this course again, I think I might turn in into a cultural affairs course where we study novels in relation to current events, looking to literature - to art - as a means of understanding our world in more complex ways. Yes, I think that's exactly what I'll do.

The only comfort I get from this disaster of a semester is that I am payng attention to my own deficiencies and using them to revise my syllabus in beneficial ways for future semesters and future students.

Literacy Narratives

I just recently finished reading and commenting on my COM students' first essays (I know what you're thinking: There are only two weeks left of the semester; how are you just now finishing with the first essay?! I apologize, really. This semester has been a nightmare for me. I've never been so disorganized.) I always love reading these papers. The students have such diverse experiences and the ways in which language has impacted them is often so profound. This summer brought me a group of hard-working students. It shows in their drafts. Only a few were below a 'C' average, but that mostly had to do with confusion regarding the goals of the assignment. Having had such a great experience reading their first essays, I'm really looking forward to seeing what they all have to say about higher education in the U.S. as I read through their second essays this weekend.

Elations & Frustrations

My COM 111 students are pretty amazing (if not as enthusiastic as last semester's students). I have a few very strong writers whose writing I look forward to reading. I doubt any of my students this semester will fail unless they decide to make some stupid choices like not turning assignments in. Last week, we discussed revising, and I tried a new activity that worked well for me as a way to better understand effective organization. I had them literally cut their drafts apart with scissors and peice them back toegther again. Most of the students who offered feedback thought the activity was helpful in one way or another, so I look forward to trying it again the next time I teach this class. Plus, it was just way more fun than staring at a computer screen, randomly (and probably arbitrarily) cutting & pasting. I'll be reading their first essays this weekend, and I can't wait to hear teh stories they have to tell.

My LIT class, on the other hand, is not going as well as I'd like. The students are great (at least half of them are on the fast-track to getting A's in the course. But I feel a little out of my element. I love literature, but comp/rhet is my specialty. I picked all new novels this summer, and the work load is so overwhelming that I am having a hard time keeping up with my own schedule. I have no idea how the students feel about the course so far, but I hope that they enjoy the informal class structure. Hopefully, I can get caught up on grading in that class. I know this is one of their primary frustrations.