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.