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.

1st Day of Summer Classes

The first day of classes went well. I think it is going to be a good semester. I'll be glad when we get through some of the preliminary work and can start having some more fun in class.

End of the Semester

Well, the semester has been officially over for a few days now.  I find myself relieved that the work is done and I can now take a break, some time to myself to catch up on some reading, watch the movies I missed while I was engrossed in my responsibilities to my students, and quite simply to watch some TV & just veg. 

Inundated by this relief as I am, I also find myself saddened beyond belief.  Each semester brings into by life a new wave of students who, once the semester is over, are pulled back into the world like a receding tide.  This transition is always difficult for me, to meet so many fascinating people, most of whom I will never see or hear from again.  Whatever grades they received in this class, whatever effort they put forth, for a moment in time, they were a part of my life; in fact, they were my life as I do little else besides “work.”  So many people who have touched my life and changed me in some way, whether it be minute or profound.  I will never be the same. 

Every moment, I’m thinking how I could have served them better, inspired them more, infused them with my own passion for language and for learning.  More than anything I want them to know that education does not have to be passionless, that writing does not have to be passionless.  In fact, writing has, since its existence, been the primary medium for expressing the deepest passions of human experience: love, sex, war, survival, freedom. 

It breaks my heart to see the lack of interest so many students exhibit in the conditions of their existence.  I want them to question everything, but instead they simply accept things the way they are.  I overhear their frustrations with course requirements, but most never demand to know why they have to take gen ed courses.  I listen to their mumbled grumbles about assignments, but most never approach the instructor to inquire about the purpose of the homework.  Granted, many instructors, administrators, and other people in positions of power get pissed when confronted with such questions, but—damn it—it’s my students’ right to know.  The truth of the matter is that those who respond to such questioning with anger or indignation very likely don’t have an answer other than “because I said so,” which is nothing less than unacceptable and offensive.

I’m not suggesting that everything is worth rebelling against, but don’t be pushed around by unknown forces.    Find the truth.  And if that truth is objectionable, do something about it.  It’s true—you might fail.  But at least you can say you didn’t sit back and do nothing.  How many times can I say it?  You have one of the greatest powers on earth at your disposal, but like any weapon, you must learn to use it.

Language is not an arbitrary college requirement.  It’s a weapon, a powerful weapon., one you can use to protect or destroy.  I hope you will protect your rights; I hope you will protect yourself; I hope you will protect your loved ones.  And I hope you will destroy unjust rules and regulations that stand in the way of your success; I hope you will destroy the forces intent on keeping you from achieving your goals and living your dreams.   

Transitions

Last week we worked on transition strategies.  It's really the first time I've done more than show students a list of transitions words - the most basic form of transition.  After doing some research on rhetorical strategies for coherence, I think I put together a decent PowerPoint.  I'm still not sure about the activity.  My morning class was phenomenal, identifying and implementing each transition strategy except transitional paragraphs (which wouldn't have made sense in the example essay anyway).  They even picked up on a few ordering problems I hadn't paid any attention to in the past.  Needless to say, I left that class elated.  I love it when my students awe me like that.  My afternoon class, however, had trouble engaging with the activity.  It's not as if I planned the most exciting activity, but I don't know that I could have made it any more interesting.  I enjoy making lesson plans that are fun and interesting, but not everything can be.  Sometimes you just have to buckle down and set yourself to the task at hand because it is important foundational information.  Half the class treated the activity as gossip hour.  I should have just thrown them out of class.  Next time.

Anyway, I hope to develop this activity more before I use it again.  Since I'm teaching this class over the summer, I'll use it as an opportunity to do that.  Perhaps I'll get some suggestions from my students.  They usually have good ideas.

Frustrated

Now that we are nearing the end of the semester, I find students slacking off on assignments.  I think after midterm conferences they feel secure enough in their grades to ease off a bit on homework.  I don't think they understand the interconnectivity of grades in the course.  If they didn't complete the invention activities or draft work for an essay project, they can't get above a D for some categories on the evaluation rubric such as "Engaging the Writing Process," "Collaborating with Peers," or "Seeking Feedback & Assistance Responsibly."  Most of them are hovering around a 'C,' but blowing off even a few homework assignments could very easily push their grades down into the 'D' range by finals...especially those students who aren't revising.  For the next two writing projects, I'm refusing to read or respond to unrevised drafts.  Perhaps that will give them the motivation they need to put some real effort into their writing.  I know most of them don't care about this course - it's just another dreaded requirement. I do my best to make the class engaging.  I hate seeing them throw away the greatest power they will ever have at their disposal.  They don't get it.  And I don't know how to make it real for them.  Perhaps I can't.