Saturday, September 14, 2002
Friday's class--another day, another story. Same routine, different result. Started with a good presentation about a personal website by "littleminx" or something close to that. Went downhill from there. Wed., students gave handouts and used effective overheads. You'd think Friday presenters would learn from their good work -- what Vygotsky calls the "zone of proximal development". No luck. First presenter had a good handout, one other person had some overheads, the others, if they had anything, just passed something around--never works.
Most folks were looking flat and worn out. Two presenters came in late. A few people were missing. The weekend starts on Thursday, doesn't it. Sybil, you were an undergrad here, you were with the party scene--how bad (i.e. good) is it? Are we pretty much wasting our breath and energy teaching first-year students at SU? Not all, obviously, but many, perhaps. Most of my reading of research about comp. supports the notion that the first-year is a blurr and a loss for most students.
I would say that I really only have 2 or 3 students who have done even close to the amount of blogging I would have expected by now, but I'm not too bumbed. Learning to go with the flow--or something like that.
Also gave all of my students 3rd week reports this morning via email. That's how I know where they are at. I'd say without fail that they are competent writers with a fairly typical range of abilities. I do feel good about teaching them something (i.e. introducing them to blogging), but as usual, I'm not convinced that the class is really about writing. I am one of those comp. folks who isn't certain that writing can be taught very effectively.
I've cut too things from this post that might have gotten me in trouble with the wrong eyes reading it--so much for turning myself inside out.
Most folks were looking flat and worn out. Two presenters came in late. A few people were missing. The weekend starts on Thursday, doesn't it. Sybil, you were an undergrad here, you were with the party scene--how bad (i.e. good) is it? Are we pretty much wasting our breath and energy teaching first-year students at SU? Not all, obviously, but many, perhaps. Most of my reading of research about comp. supports the notion that the first-year is a blurr and a loss for most students.
I would say that I really only have 2 or 3 students who have done even close to the amount of blogging I would have expected by now, but I'm not too bumbed. Learning to go with the flow--or something like that.
Also gave all of my students 3rd week reports this morning via email. That's how I know where they are at. I'd say without fail that they are competent writers with a fairly typical range of abilities. I do feel good about teaching them something (i.e. introducing them to blogging), but as usual, I'm not convinced that the class is really about writing. I am one of those comp. folks who isn't certain that writing can be taught very effectively.
I've cut too things from this post that might have gotten me in trouble with the wrong eyes reading it--so much for turning myself inside out.
Comments:
Post a Comment
