Looking Ahead to Winter 2012

Although finals week isn't upon us yet, I am already planning for next quarter. Yesterday, before we started our workshopping, I told my students that they get to help pick the readings for next quarter's 107ers. Nothing makes me angrier, as a student, than when professors use the same texts, year after year, for different classes. Asking my students for their feedback at the end of the quarter is my way of making sure my assigned readings and assignments were fair and to see how the students responded to them.

As usual, when I ask for their feedback when planning assignments, they were pretty stoked. I went down the syllabus, reading by reading, and asked if each reading fell under the category of "No, not for next quarter," "Maybe, but the reading didn't play a vital role to the over all course" and "Umm... YES for next quarter!" One of my students suggested that I take a picture of the list, so I did!



I wasn't surprised that Dillard ("Seeing") and Johnson ("Games") were on the No list. They really hated Dillard and, due to time constraints, I didn't get to discuss Johnson in class. As you can see, Pratt's "Arts of the Contact Zone" straddled the fence between Maybe and No. I'm just going to come right out and say that Pratt most likely will not appear on my syllabus for next quarter.

Under the Maybe list, Bridwell-Bowles ("Discourse and Diversity: Experimental Writing Within the Academy), Shen ("The Classroom and the Wider Culture: Identity as a Key to Learning English Composition), and Serros ("JohnwannabeChicano") appear because they didn't resonate with the students. Not one single student voted for them to be on the yes list. Personally, I haven't decided which of these ones I will keep yet.

As for the Yes list, appearances by Alexie ("Superman and Me"), Tan ("Mother Tongue), and Anzaldua ("How to Tame a Wild Tongue") didn't didn't surprise me. I could tell from the day we first discussed each of them that the students really connected to them. More importantly, a few of the students would make connections to the texts weeks after we had discussed them. I think because I was expecting students to not like Berger ("Ways of Seeing"), Spender ("The Politics of Naming"), and Royster ("When the First Voice You Hear is Not Your Own"), I was completely blown away when those two readings got so many Yes list votes. To me, these pieces were dense to read, but even richer with information. I guess that just because they were difficult reads, I expected the students to not suggest them for next quarter. Yet, they surprised me.

I was also pleasantly surprised that the students had such strong feelings toward the They Say/I Say book. Although they had one weekly reading from it, we rarely explicitly referenced those readings in class. Mostly, I used the general concepts taught in the book to springboard into larger issues that go beyond the formulas that the book provides. I referred to the formulas as functioning in the same way the 5-paragraph essay: they are necessary to master in order to move on to bigger and better things. Like the difference between riding a bike with training wheels and without--can't really do too many spectacular tricks if you're riding around with your training wheels still on.

The highlight of this little feedback sesh was when I was wrapping it up and the students stopped me. They pretty much shouted at me that I HAAAAAAVE to use my memoir next quarter to teach workshopping. They said it really helped them understand that different types of writing are ok and possible for them to partake in. (WOWZERS!) One student shouted, "And you HAAAAVE to assign Project 2! If nothing else, assign Project 2! It's so fun!" Her classmates agreed and I couldn't help but smile. I got brave and asked them about Project 1. They got quiet and only a few responded. Mostly, the feedback was that the project really made them think--it was hard. I asked them if they learned from it and with no hesitation, they said yes. I told them I may tweak it for next quarter, but it will accomplish the same goals, ultimately.

I'm really glad that my students feel like they can be honest about my assignments and course readings. My hypothesis is that the students have had so much input in designing Project 2 that it feels like we created it together. I get the feeling like this class is co-created by me and the students. Together, we learn from each other, and I adapt my lesson plans depending on how the group responds to what we're learning about. I'm more than satisfied with my experience in this 107 class as a teacher who learns as much from her students as her students do from her.

--Jaclyn

Workshopping in the FYC

On Friday, my class started workshopping. The first day went well and I prodded students along when their responses were surface-level ones such as: I thought it was interesting... or, it was imaginative. On day two, I can say that I am satisfied with my workshops thus far. Since I want to use this same approach next quarter (fingers crossed that I will still be around this time next quarter), I have decided to give a description of how I got the students to this point.

Monday, November 14th
All quarter long, I have stressed the importance of revision. I told students that all the great writers and the not-so-great writers MUST take full advantage of the opportunity to revise. I have made it a point to show my students my own writing process when drafting up prompts and such. I even allowed 30 minutes of class time to go over my prompt thoroughly before printing it out and bringing it to class with me the following class meeting.

I also have stressed to the students that I would never assign them something that I wouldn't be willing to do. Since workshops can be a terrifying experience, I wanted to make sure that my students knew I am willing to put myself out there and be workshopped too. To accomplish this, I decided that we, as a class, would workshop my memoir piece from Jim Brown's 621 class. I printed out copies of my story and passed them out to my students. I prefaced it by telling my students that "This is a sample of a student's paper." I didn't want to tell them right off the bat that it was my paper for fear that they would hold back with their critiques. The only other bit of information I gave them was that "the first step to workshopping a paper is reading the piece with a pen or pencil in hand."

I gave the students sufficient time to read my story. After the majority of the students had finished, we listed 4 positives to the piece. Each time a student would say an "I liked ____" statement, I would ask why and for the student to take us to the exact point in the text to support the claim. Once we reached 4 "concerns" for my story, I let the students openly discuss for a few minutes. When the conversation winded down, I told the students that the story was mine. The class gasped and instantly there were shouts of "I knew it!" and "ohmygoshwhathappenednext!!?"

I know that workshoppping can be scary, but that I put myself out there to be workshopped to show them that it isn't TOO scary. Over all, I was glad that my gamble paid off.

Wednesday, November 16th

Since I was in a gambling mood, I thought of another approach to teaching the art of workshopping. I invited Bridgette, Candice, and Nicole to come to my class and workshop my story. Instead of participating in the workshop, my students were to observe how we workshop because this is how I expect them to behave in their workshops. Before we began, I wrote the following on the board:
What to look for in our workshop:
*What "moves" we make --> how to give constructive criticism
*How the person being workshopped behaves
*What are some differences between peer-editing and workshopping?

With that information given, I began the workshopping session. My group of peers workshopped me for roughly 15 minutes. During that time, I took copious notes and made sure to make eye contact with those who were providing me feedback. Most importantly, I sat in silence. When the session was over, I brought the conversation back to my students and had them address what I had written on the board.

To my surprise, seeing our workshop model really connected the dots for my students! I'm more than satisfied with the way my class is handling workshopping and I look forward to updating my blog with moments of glory (yay) and moments that need reconsideration (nay)!

Slacker!

Yes, I am a slacker. I thought that installing the Blogger app on my phone would help me to blog on the go.

Wrong.

Ultimately, I have failed myself in the same way that my students failed themselves when they didn't read.

I remember in June when the prospect of this TA-ship filled my brain and heart. Back then, my fall quarter consisted of me teaching my 107 class and taking one grad class (617) so that I wasn't so stressed out. Also, my light load would allow time for me to write and get my thesis proposal passed.

The reality of my fall quarter, however, looks much different. Instead of taking one class, I'm taking two classes: I am on campus all five days of the school week. I have admitted defeat with my thesis/proposal and will be taking the test instead. The silver lining is that my 107 class, thank the gods, is even more wonderful than I had anticipated. Despite my awesome experience as a teacher, I still feel like a failure as a student. I've fallen way behind on maintaining this blog, I entirely forget to post to blackboard for my classes, and I now have to take ANOTHER class next quarter because I'm taking the test.

To be frank, this blog post is not me complaining or me looking for some sympathy. Rather, this blog is my way of owning up to my failures of the fall quarter in hopes that I will be able to stop slacking and shape up! I've always taken so much pride in being an "ambitious student" as Rhodes once called me. Right now I'm more lack a slackmaster student!

--A hopeful TA/grad student

"All Downhill From Here"

As I pulled into a parking space in front of UH on Monday, a New Found Glory song was playing. My nerves distracted me, however, and I paid no attention to it.

Why on EARTH did I assign a Royster essay for my students to read? Because it was revolutionary when I read it for the first time and I hoped that maybe even ONE student would have the same reaction to it as I had. Yes, but now you have to teach it to them.

It's ok, I gave them fair warning and posted the article well in advance so that they all had PLENTY of time to read it. Plus, I told them to read for the conversation and not to let the jargon trip them up.

I lesson planned in my office, as I normally do, while Elisa was in class. I came up with a really great quick write, but then realized that they needed me to define some of the terms that Royster uses to better understand the conversations she addresses. I will begin class by offering them the option to quick write first or for me to define terms and THEN they quick write.

I got to class and things went smoothly and just as I had planned: We talked about important happenings from this past weekend, then they chose the option of me defining terms and then a quick write after. I took out my marker and asked them to tell me which terms I needed to define. I stood in front of the whiteboard, ready for the bombardment of words/terms/concepts to arrive. Instead of a shower of words, I got silence.

"I will wait for someone to tell me a term."

At least 5 minutes went by as I paced with my marker in hand.

"Subject positioning," someone shouted from the corner.

I wrote it on the board and then decided to give them a few more since the first one took so long to come up with. I finished defining some terms and I told them to talk about the text before I had them quick write. "Talking with your peers will help you tease out meaning from this dense reading," I explained.

After 30 seconds, I one student from the back corner of the room asked, "What if our surrounding neighbors didn't read?"

Ruh roh. I responded, "Well, then you should migrate to the other side of the classroom and talk with them." As I gestured toward the other side of the classroom, I noticed that they seemed to have the same dumbfounded looks on their faces. Double ruh roh. No one read.

With that horrible thought, I decided to blatantly ask the students if they read. "If you read, raise your hand."

2 hands reluctantly raise. 1 other girl halfheartedly raises her hand. Yes, a grand total of THREE people out of TWENTY-SIX did the reading.

And here I had been stressing out about teaching Royster and so proud of myself when I came up with a lesson plan. Time to scrap that plan (for now) and come up with an improvised plan B. My improvised plan B looked something like this:

--find out why they didn't read
--narrow their excuses down to the ones that were not preventable--which were "the reading was too dense" and "it was boring."
--collaboratively come up with strategies for reading texts that are boring and long (because this will not be the only time you will have to read something you don't want to. That is what college is all about."
--point out that we are all responsible for our own actions and non-actions. Relying on peers to pick up our slack can bite us in the ass, at it has today.
--if you don't put for the effort to read, I will not put forth the effort of telling you what you didn't read; that robs you of your own, personal interpretation of the text and allows for only MY interpretation of it.

By the end of the class, not one single student would look me in the eye. They had the same look that my dog has after he does something wrong and I swat him on the muzzle. Needless to say, I left class feeling unsure, afraid, and frustrated.

Unlike most Mondays, I decided to stay on campus surrounded by my peers instead of driving home during my long 6-hour break. Elisa, Logan, Rachael, Darcy, Brenda, and Bridgette were my sounding boards. At the end of the day, I did not feel unsure of how I handled my first truly bad day in class. As Logan pointed out, the day wasn't bad because I still taught them something even if it wasn't the same something that I had planned on teaching them.

Conference Wrap-Up

This past week I had conferences. Since Elisa had conferences last week, I was able to steal her grading strategy of grading the papers in the order that the students had their appointments. In Monday's batch, I had a nice range of writers. Wednesday's group will filled with a bunch of strong writers, which left me feeling confident and proud about my prompt. Yes, my prompt was a success and my students were running with it just as I had hoped. On Thursday night, however, the final batch of papers deflated my puffed out chest. All but two of the papers did not follow the prompt. As a result, the papers got less-than-stellar grades. The conferences yesterday were not as rough as I had anticipated them to be. I put on my "keepin' it real" attitude and the students seemed to respond well to that. I noticed that the conferences where the papers were average, I asked the students how THEY thought they did. We talked about the paper before I gave them their graded copy. When our talk was over, I would give the student back his or her paper and I would sit in silence while the student looked over my comments. All but one of my conferences were productive and positive. The one that wasn't involved a student who is a good writer, but she skirted around the prompt. She came into the conference very excited, most likely anticipating an A. Additionally, the student was peeved that I had docked her 1 point on all of her journal entries for not following MLA citation and heading format. Other than those slight snags, my conferences went well thanks to my grading rubric and dedicated students! Let's see how excited I feel when the final revisions are submitted on Wednesday.

My question to my readers: Would you dock a student 1 point (out of a 25 point journal) due to lack of proper MLA-style heading and/or citation?

Re-entering Blogville

In the lost episodes to my blog, I workshopped my Project 1 prompt with a tutor at the writing center, passed out my prompt, and assigned an experimental Thought of the Week Journal for my class. Here is the prompt:

This week, we discussed Tan's "Mother Tongue" and Anzaldua's "How to Tame a Wild Tongue." In regards to the latter, the essay is not a conventional text: it makes unexpected demands on the reader. The text is, as Anzaldua says elsewhere in her book, "an assemblage, a montage, a beaded work, ...a crazy dance." In response to the conversations that Tan and Anzaldua address (discourse communities and voice to name a few), I invite you to create a body of text that uniquely represents you.

I also made a video, which I will post here that does more than words can when I think about this experimental Journal #4.

And Then They Spoke

Monday 10/10

I got to class today prepared and excited to talk about Amy Tan's "Mother Tongue." Much to my surprise, the students were equally as excited to give opinions and make connections to the text. First off, the students and I wrote down some key conversations that Tan addresses: language, dialects, and identity. I introduced the students to the term discourse community and I wanted to make sure I made it as concrete as possible. My activity for today started with getting the students to pair up with someone they have not yet worked with in the class. I had the students sit silently for one minute and think of all the many discourse communities that each individual student belongs to. After the minute was over, and the students seemed eager for that silent minute to be over, I gave the students the following directions:

1) Introduce yourselves to your partner
2) Share some of your discourse communities with your partner
3) Find a mutual discourse community that you and your partner both belong to
4) Collaboratively write your own definition for that community

Most of the students, about 99% of them, seemed to really enjoy talking about themselves and finding out that they had similar interests/backgrounds as their partners. I had each pair share their mutually-agreed-upon discourse community with the class along with their definition of that community. After each pair spoke, I asked the class who would "like" this post if it were on Facebook and who would "dislike" it. The students, and I, really got a kick out of the whole activity. They seemed to be genuinely engaged and enthusiastic about discourse communities, which was a term I introduced to them at the beginning of class.

For the first time, I couldn't get my students to STOP talking! It was truly great. Elisa, who just so happened to be sitting in on my class, said I was a liar for complaining about my silent students. Well, I'm glad that they made me into a liar and that they choose to become talkative on a day when a fellow TA could be witness to it!