Tue. March, 9, 2010

We watched "The Listening Project." Kudos to Josh! This movie is an excellent visual supplement to Said, Pratt, and Anzaldua. One student had to leave early, but on his way out he told me he was sorry to leave because he was enjoying the film. After watching half the film, I opened up the discussion. Listening to responses, I could tell the film had a profound impact on everyone's world paradigm due to the thoughtful and insightful perspectives. We didn't have time to finish the film nor our discussion, but we'll do so on Thursday.

Additionally, I handed back 2.1. Reading and commenting on these took a significant amount of time since I sought to offer substantial feedback. I think I put more time into commenting on this piece than any other project in both 107 classes. Many students engaged the prompt and topic from a challenging perspective, grappling with their community, its purpose and message, and how it conveys its sense of identity to others. One student stayed after class and told me this project really offered her a chance to ask herself why she is doing what she is doing. I prefer not to go into details, but she found that although she doesn't question her community's purpose, she sometimes questions the "why" behind it. Needless to say, my heart was gladdened that a project caused my student to significantly question why she was making specific choices. In the end, she found renewed commitment to her choice and community.

Back to the paper... For other students, I wonder how effective my comments will be? This is the last paper--I'm hoping they feel motivated to take my comments and work with them. I ended class ten minutes early and told them to read the comments and if they had any questions, to stay behind so we could talk. Only three students stayed. I was hoping more would stay to discuss where they are. I know it's their grade and life, but I want to motivate them--this will be a question I have for Sunny and Brenda--how to motivate non-English major students to want to improve their writing? I put a lot of time and effort into thinking about and implementing motivational moves in my pedagogy, but feedback from those who have done it for years will be helpful

Thur. March 4, 2010

Students turned in their first draft of the Project 2.1 assignment. Additionally, I asked them to bring in three total copies so we could workshop papers. In work shopping, I put specific questions on the board for them to answer. I prefaced their peer work with the notion of not just saying "good" or "bad", but actually offering substantial feedback. For example, one question called for students not to just list the writer's purpose, but give a thoughtful sentence that summarizes the writer's purpose. Also, they had to list the actual aspects that created each person's community. In other words, the paper focuses on community identity and how this identity is constructed and conveyed to the world at large. They had to use outside sources, scholarly and non-scholarly, and Said to build their argument, so the peer reviewer was called upon to examine and critique whether or not these tasks were effectively accomplished. Further, I called attention to the fact that this exercise is also an attempt for them to build their own critical muscles so they can go home and do the same critiquing of their own papers. In regards to actual progress, I found they worked hard and critiqued well. Many students wrote significant feedback.

I experimented today. I've found many students rely on cliches to try and convey their points. So as a group, we brainstormed cliches and I asked two students to write the cliches on the board. After many good laughs, I pulled a sentence from a student paper and put it on the board. It read, "Sometimes, this is when volunteer spirit has to kick in and we have to do the right thing." I asked students to identify the cliches and see if they could replace these instances with more specific language, language that "really " says what they mean. I thought they did a terrific job of taking in the notion of saying what they mean rather than relying on out-worn phrases. Most took the notion to their peer-reviewing work and began seeing where cliches were limiting them. In the end, I was pleased by our progress and the connections we're making.

Thur. Feb. 25, 2010

Utilizing Blackboard and the projector, we looked at a sample 2.1 paper I had from last quarter. We went through it page-by-page to see how this writer went about constructing their piece--writerly/rhetorical moves, etc. Interestingly, after a few minutes, students began calling my attention to places where the text tripped into "readability issues." I came up with this term as an overall designation for content lapses, grammar, syntax errors, and places that cause the reader to halt. This term became necessary after students called me on the fact that I said I don't put a large onus on grammar, and yet I was calling attention to syntax and grammar errors. However, when I created an umbrella that covers many "errors" that cause lapses in readability, students could see the connection. I had one student read the paper out loud and she began getting frustrated when she had to stop because of these "readability" issues. Other students soon joined in so that as the reader tripped, students were calling attention to "why" she tripped.

Pedagogically speaking, I regularly try to make connections between my students' writing and the world outside of academia. Hence, I was pleased when they called my attention to the fact that a problem could arise if their boss continually "tripped" over readability issues in their writing. In the end, hopefully, we're moving towards to the notion of correcting errors in a positive light so the reader can follow along without "tripping." This seems to be working--we'll see how it goes.

Tue. Feb. 23, 2010

More unpacking of Said's text. Working in groups, students focused on questions that I tried to relate to their own writing--Said's purpose, meaning, how he goes about articulating his argument, writer/rhetorical moves Said makes to bring the reader over to his side, etc. Additionally, since photos are an integral aspect of Project 2, we focused on the messages brought to and conveyed through the photographs in "States." Lastly, we began writing an introduction to 2.1 together. We picked one student who had a firm notion of what he wanted to write about, and then students brainstormed ways to go about beginning writing the project. I wrote the ideas on the board as we went along and then we began crafting the beginning to 2.1 together.

Overall, I'm seeing students are making "synaptical" connections between the writerly moves Said makes and their own writing process. Thye offered moves that pleasantly surprised me, and I think, themselves.

Thur. Feb. 18, 2010

A day of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

The Good...We worked in groups un-packing Said. Some students really came up with some fantastic observations--blew me away with their insights. I felt fantastic being able to point out their successes--most were afraid of saying the wrong thing, but a few words of encouragement and they were rolling. BTW, I put questions on the board, broke the class into five groups and them let them roll.

The Bad... I have a student who insists on disrupting the class.

The Ugly... Having to deal with this kind of situation. However, it's an opportunity for growth.

Tue. Feb. 16, 2010

Another conference day. I'm liking conference day and the one-on-one opportunity. I wish I had more time throughout the quarter to have at least one more conference day. Students are firmly situated in 1.3 and they will be turning them in next Tuesday. No complaints--wait, I had one student who didn't want to engage the prompt. She felt she didn't want to talk about contact zones and instead wrote on the idea of safe-houses. I like the idea, but her piece didn't address safe-houses either. So this was a good opportunity for me to understand a students motivations. During our conference, she shared information about her previous experiences that told me she has trouble with listening to authority--this materialized in her school and work situation. That piece of knowledge helped me to not take her situation personally and rather understand she is working off past programming. My hope is to help her see following some authority--in this case the prompt and myself--can be beneficial.

Tue. Feb. 9, 2010

Conferences today. My mind is ready for a rest. I began at 10 am with a half hour conference and then went into the writing center to tutor for 2.5 hours before finishing off the day in my office with my class conferences. I must say--I really like conferencing. It gives me chance to talk one-on-one with my students. Lets me get into their heads, see what makes them tick, and to get a pulse on how they're viewing the class. On their own, most mentioned they're enjoying it--so I feel like I'm doing something right--even if only some of the time. Tutoring has been a helpful foundation for conferences--the practice of listening and then getting right to the point in a short time period. All is well....Out!

Thu. Feb. 4, 2010

Nice day today... We worked in class on writing transition for 1.1 into 1.2. I modeled from a prior piece (last quarter), and the students seem to grasp where we were headed. I then asked them to write their own transitions--which worked fairly well. I felt good having them implement a move we had just practiced together.

Tue. Feb. 4, 2010

Another good day, although I felt drained afterward since we worked diligently on crating in intro to 1.2 and revised 1.1. I switched east/est sides of the class today so students don't feel left out or "subjugated." Overall, things seem to be going well. They've given me 1.1 final drafts and are turning in 1.2 first drafts on Thursday. I'm amazed at the own learning curve--in other words, things that created havoc last quarter, such as how to fill a class with a days worth work, just aren't as stressful this go-around. BTW, I'm enjoying teaching Pratt and Anzaldua more this quarter, as well as linking the writing projects to their writings--I think this is because I have a fuller understanding of the connections between the readings and what I'm seeking to teach concerning my students writing about said readings.

Thu. Jan 28, 2010

Okay, so I confronted a student situation today and it worked out well. At our last TA meeting, I mentioned a student I've had trouble with--a negative attitude and disrespectful. Today, I had the front and back rows switch--putting this student up front--along with another talker. the situation turned around! Having these two students up front put them jn a situation where they had to squarely interact with me--and they did fairly well. The point is that moving them up front physically took their ability to talk out of their hands. Chloe suggested this move to me after I told her about the situation--she had gotten it from Mary Boland. On Tuesday, I'll switch the sides of the class so students don't feel singled out.

Thur. Jan. 21, 2010

An okay day, today. I had a challenging situation come up with a disgruntled student after class. Turns out, he's frustrated because he feels we're moving too slow for him. I reminded him I have 28 students and he's only one of them. I suggested he use this as a learning experience, that in his career, he'll come across situations that will challenge him to be patient and he can use this experience as one way to become better at handling adversity. i'm going to check withhim next week to see where he's at. This is good for me as well--I'm seeing the old adage in better clarity--no pain, no gain.

Tue. Jan. 20, 2010

Today was our first foray into Pratt and "Arts of the Contact Zone." I tried to get students situated into the text by the class reading a fair amount of the piece together--each student reading a paragraph. I'm not sure if this worked too well. We had discussion afterward, but it was mostly me asking questions and getting short responses. By the looks on their faces, I don't think they related Pratt's text to their lives. Thursday, we're going to watch Dave Chapelle's "Clarence Bigsby" skit. Last quarter, we watched this skit and the students laughed and relaxed when they watched Chapelle's version of an authoethnography. In regards to the accompanying writing assignment, I'm not making students create a parody (a la Chapelle), or even truly write an autoethnography, just engage the contact zone and think about writing to the representations others have of them.

Thur. Jan. 14, 2010

Things going well. Thursday's class encouraged me because my students did a goood job of engaging our discussion. I didn't have to prod or pull, they walked right in to Bartholomae's introduction and staked a place to sit. The idea I had for each student to talk about what they highlighted worked. Each person was able to share why the piece spoke to them. I look forward to trying this with Pratt. This is a lively group--I wonder if the afternoon classes are regualry this way. It could be that we're in winter quarter, so the nervous apprehension of university has worn off. Either way, like I mentioned, I'm encouraged--I'll seek to convey and translate my enthusiasm over to my students.

Tue. Jan. 14, 2010

Back at it--class went well. Students this quarter seem a bit more like they've been around the block. Last quarter, I had to spell things out at times--this group looked at me when I asked them if they knew how to access BB like I was from another planet. Also, when I assigned the first day's reading, there were no sighs, just matter of fact grunts. Good stuff!

This quarter, I decided to let them peruse the syllabus and come back on day 2 with questions--last quarter, I went over the syllabus on the first day. I'm excited to get into this quarter--for Thursday, I scanned the introduction to "Ways" and asked them to mark it up with highlighters, pencil, etc. I want to see how they go about placing emphasis on what's meaningful to them. We're going to talk about what's important to each reader, first summarizing the piece and then working to find which parts of the text they make meaning from. Then, my notion is to explain that from this standpoint they can begin to incorporate the new information in order to forward it and add to the conversation. We'll see how it goes.