End of Days (harhar)

Here's the scoop on the last two days:

Tuesday. I went in and asked what the students always wanted to know about grammar but were afraid to ask (apologies to Woody Allen). They came up with a good list. I added comma splices, the colon, and the dash (for kicks). I split the class into pairs and gave each group a writing handbook. They were tasked with teaching the class about the grammar element they chose. It went okay. My hope is that it will at least start to de-mystify these elements and students will know they can find out about them in handbooks. The students liked it. We talked about when you proofread your paper and how to proofread for these elements.

Thursday. I had copies of 2 very fine project 2's. We read them as our last texts in the class and talked about them. Then the students did a qw about what they know about writing and how it has or hasn't changed since the start of the quarter (I gave them back the in-class essay they wrote in the 1st week about themselves as writers). We chatted about this and said goodbye.

Weekly Round-up

S'lright . . . here's the skinny on Thurs and turkey-day Tuesday:

Thursday:
Finished group reports about Said. Tried to show them a YouTube interview with Said in which they were to look for connections to autoethnography, contact zone, etc, but broken blinds made it impossible to see the screen. Assigned this work for them to do on their own. We also talked a bit about budget situation and their inability to find enough open classes. Will bring complaint form in for them and get them to write letters to State Legislature.

Tuesday:
Talked about Said interview. Then, peer workshop inspired by Chloe's and Erica's classes.

Workshop
Pairs, exchange papers

First read, on a piece of paper
· What is the project?
· What is at stake?
· What writerly strategies do you see?
· Integration of quotes, artifacts
· Form, organization
· Recommendations for revision

Second read, on the essay itself
· Check marks where you are interested
· Plus signs where they could expand, add to text
· Suggestions for moving text
· Squiggle under awkward sentences
· Circle where need quote sandwich

End in sight and feeling alright

Apparently, my theme for this last part of the course is "working with . . .(artifacts, quotes, photos, etc)." I have been hitting this in every class in one way or another.

Here is my class plan from last Thursday: We spent the first part of class discussing "Our Secret." I had them count off so they were in different groups of 3, then they had to address these questions: What is the meaning of the title? Why this way of writing? What argument is the way it is written making? How does the form affect the content?

Next, we made a web or constellation of relationships between the elements in the text. We used the white board and the groups took turn putting up pieces. They found this extremely helpful.

In the second half of class I had them chose an artifact they had gathered for project 2 and write an interpretation of the artifact. Then, we chose a quote from Griffin that back up an interpretation of the text we agreed on. I projected Word onto the screen and as a group we wrote the quote sandwich.


Today:

First discussion of Said. I had them write a meaningful question about Said to shape class discussion. This question should reflect the work we've been doing. Then, I put them into groups of 3 of my choosing and assigned each one of these questions. They had to come up with 10 minutes ways of talking about the question, relating it specifically to the text and posing further questions to the class. We spent 45 minutes in big group discussion talking about the photos in the essay (2 groups had questions about this). We will pick up this work on Thurs.

Kinda Coming Together

Alrighty, here's the scoop:

Conferences: Went well. It was interesting to talk to students about their papers (which were the graded 1.2 papers) and find out many of the A- students were worried they were doing terribly. I think this is partially because they took risks in the papers and were unsure if it was really okay to do that.

Last week:
Tues. Our first day talking about Griffin's piece. The first thing we did was a qw about the 1.3 revision they turned in. Then I discussed titling your essay and quote sandwiches and asked them to make those changes in pen on their papers.

Next, we turned to Griffin and read aloud the first 5 pages looking for connections, transitions, etc. We used this to talk about how a writer helps readers see how elements (even in a collage essay) relate to each other. We then named moves a writer could make to do this.

Finally, I handed out 2.1, an assignment I wasn't too happy with. It seemed to overlap too much with project 1 -- I think I fixed this successfully with 2.2.

Thursday's class was cancelled (furlough plus conference).

Yesterday's (Tues 11/10 class): We spent the class talking about citation and working with "artifacts" (including quotes). We discussed why we cite and how to cite difficult artifacts (cd cover art, etc). Students put sample citations on the board for extra credit. Then, we discussed how to provide a reading of a quote or other artifact, and the students chose one of the artifacts they brought in that day and wrote an analysis of it which was meant to explain to a reader how it represented something about their community.

Catch Up

Seems we've hit it -- that mid-term period when students slow down and look glazed and I feel like I am just on the verge of falling behind (evidence: catching up on this blog on my "furlough day"). Funny thing I've noticed about my class -- we have a nice rapport when we get going but on Tuesdays I feel them transporting their "us" versus teacher frame until we re-break the ice.

Here's what's been going on:

Tuesday:
"How to Tame a Wild Tongue" -- a teaching favorite of mine. Started with a quickwrite -- QW: Describe your reaction to this essay. What was the experience of reading it like? What struck you as significant? Where would you want to start our conversation?

As always, I wrote the qw with them -- it both helps me engage with the text (get my head in the game) and models what I ask them to do.

The entire class conversation spun off of their responses that I solicited after we wrote. I posed one particular question during our conversation: How is language tied to identity? Why is this important?

I was very moved in the class by two women who spoke about the experience of reading this text -- the first thing they've ever read that was addressed particularly to *them*.

The discussion diverged into lots of talk about experience, about men and women and the word "bitch" -- productive associations I think.

There was the dismay from non-Spanish readers that I have found is typical when teaching this piece. We got to the point of agreeing that there is a project at work with asking readers from dominant Am culture to experience outsiderness in this essay, but the students who were upset about being outside didn't seem to understand why I thought this was an exciting experience for usually-privileged readers; they were happy to stop with feeling alienated. It was at this moment when I saw how my own comfort with displacement, ambiguity, etc is so informed by theory -- theory has really affected my life.

Anyway, we ended the class by talking about the politics of language and community in the US context.

Thursday:

1st got class business out of the way; then did a version of Josh's peer workshop, which went swimmingly. Ended by discussing "Entering the Serpent." Funny: one of the key talkers started the conversation by suggesting there was a sexual undertone to the piece, but she hedged this assertion. I made them snigger by reading out the opening paragraphs and redescribing what she is describing -- yeah, it's sexual. Asked, why? How does this relate to the other things going on in the essay? It was a fine discussion although we could have used more time.

Update: Space and Workshop

Thanks to my fellow UH 261ers, I have now instituted a circle in class -- it is tight but *just* fits. I can't be at the board easily which really cramps my teaching style, but the circle has made a HUGE difference. Put them in it halfway through last Thursday . . . it wa still pretty dead. Today, though, very lively: students chatting with each other, talking across the circle; non-speakers participating voluntarily multiple times. Hurray! For the last 25 minutes of class I had them working by themselves on a question for a second reading and told them they could move out of the circle for more comfort, but they said they prefer it and stayed in it.

Okay, here's what we've been up to:

Last Thurs.
- Finished group reporting about the pages from Pratt they broke into an outline; talked about how she moves between ideas, etc
- Workshop: I handed out copies of 4 papers. We workshopped 1 as a class, analyzing it using the same questions we had for Pratt: What's the project? What's at stake? What's the organization [had them do an outline of the paper]? What suggestions do you have for revision?

Then, we read the next 3 papers [I always have us read our workshop papers aloud as a group]. These three were all on the same topic -- text messaging. We didn't have a lot of time left, so I asked them to reread them to themselves and identify a strength in the paper. We then discussed these -- good conversation about voice. The paper that got the least enthusiasm was a traditional 5 paragraph paper -- all part of my devious plan.

Today

They returned with the papers I had given out last Thurs. Roughly 1/3 of the students took responsibilty for one of the 3 papers to address these questions: What's the project? What's at stake? Organization? Suggestions for revision. Then big group discussion about them all. Went really well. The students very smartly criticized the 5 paragraph paper for saying nothing and really have no stakes (they were very respectful, though). I had to push them to be more specific in their descriptions in their outlines -- it's not enough to say this paragraph is the introduction, what kind of introduction, what does it seek to do?

Thinking about Space

Strange vibe to the class yesterday. I think the students are scared of me, even though I have been waaaaay nicer than I usually am at the beginning. But, it is also possible the space in our classroom is inhibiting our building of community. I think this because even when some groups finished talking early and were waiting for the other groups the students didn't chat about life, etc with each other. Weird. I almost wanted to say, talk amongst yourselves, get to know each other but then I thought "should i be seen as encouraging non-work talking in groups as the teacher?"

The room is small, every seat is taken. There isn't room for a circle. We could do 2 rows of arcs but I hate having students seat behind a whole row of other students. Maybe I'll ask the students to help me think through this problem.

Anyhoo, what we did: developed a vocabulary for talking about writing, made an outline out of Pratt.

Day 3: Simplicity

I really didn't feel like teaching today and was dreading putting together my class plan. So, today ended up being a pleasant surprise. I ended up writing my assignment a mere 2 hours before teaching but yesterday's conversation at the TA meeting must have gotten my mind working in my sleep because I'm pretty happy with the outcome. (I also (ahem) borrowed heavily from Erica and Chloe's assignment).

I think what was weighing me down when I was thinking about class today was feeling like I had so much to get done. But then I had a moment of clarity: there's time next week and the rest of the quarter, just take one thing at a time.

So, today I concentrated on approaches to dealing with texts (this will feed into approaches to reading your own writing as we go).

Had enough time to brainstorm identities/communities and writing associated with them to help the students prepare for their essays.

Here is the class plan I used:
Qw: Describe the experience of reading this essay. What surprised you? Interested you? What did you struggle with? If you struggled, what did you do to deal with this difficulty?

Reading as a writer: How to approach text -- Discuss

1. What’s the writer’s project?
a. Why do you think I might propose the term project instead of thesis or main idea?
2. What’s at stake?
3. What are the key words or concepts?

Pairs – address these questions, take notes, have specific places in the text to go to
Class discussion

Assignment -- discuss

Day 2: Brave New Ways of Reading/Writing

First, I begin with the end. The very last thing to happen in class was an interchange I had with a student who had hung around until everyone had left. Student: I'm really confused and nervous. Me: Why? Student: I'm one of those who has always been taught just to write what the teacher thinks and now you're saying it's what we think. Me: It's okay. It's a process of learning how to do this. The whole term is about developing this.

I am so excited about this reaction (I feel like what I was trying to get done today seems to have happened) but I am also grieved again to think about the limited, highly schooled ways some students have been taught to interact with texts. The anxiety around trying to approximate what the teacher thinks. The disjunction between your real life, really meaningful things and schooled literacy.

What I did today:
Starting with a 40 minute in-class essay about 2 things (1. write your autobiography as a reader and writer and 2. put these experiences in conversation with what B and P say about reading and writing in the intro). We then talked about what they wrote, broke out the different types of reading B and P describe, discussed the uses of writing from B and P, and talked about how to deal with difficult texts.

They all meet for the first time . . .

Today was the first class. I was less nervous than I usually am on the first day, partially because of talking about teaching at the TA camp yesterday and partially because I've only been not teaching for six weeks. What is always so strange on the first day is looking out and wondering who you will discover all these people are: Who will take risks in writing? Who will be competent but stuck in the 5 paragraph form? Who will talk? Who will be most likely to check out?

It was a good class. The students did "writer interviews" of each other and introduced their interviewee. One student wants to move to Ohio, which took me by surprise . . . I had to ask if he had ever been (I mean, really, who *wants* to move to Ohio?) The students then interviewed me -- they wanted to know where I did my grad work, if I was from California (when they found out I wasn't, they wanted to know what I thought. Told them I thought Californians are friendly. They seemed surprised.)

I incorporated some things my colleague Mary does: asked the sophomores, juniors, and seniors to tell the freshman what to expect in college, explain how it is different from h.s. They emphasized the adult relationship with the professor, claim professors respect you more than h.s. teachers but won't look after you as much (i.e. read your syllabus).

Finished by going over the syllabus.

Lots of students trying to sign in. Told them to watch the on-line roster and get active about funding.