Snow Day

Many, many inches: classes cancelled! Now I can do a tiny bit of catch-up.

Why? That's a good question

I've decided to post another student message to my blog because my readers are offering helpful ways for me to understand my students.

In a night American Lit course at a local "urban" university, one student has me puzzled. S/he and I have already had conversations about the class, specifically about the student's lack of participation, and these conversations (both in person and via email) have gone fairly well, or so I thought.

But yesterday I read something on the course discussion board (under "Q&A about Course Policies, Procedures, Features"). Here's the complete post:

"Why the focus on group work? It doesn't illuminate anything. Closed, selective groups do not provide for open debate. It is a miserable experience to come to class every night and have to suffer. Nothing was said in a group that an individual couldn't do as well.

"It's a waste of time. What happened to good old-fashioned writing in response to literature. I get nothing out of the group experience except a headache. I resent that my grade is based on group participation. No one in this course helped my pay my tuition and book fees, so why is my grade based on group participation?

"I get the feeling that the lessons are not planned but made up on the spot."

Many other students responded to this post before I saw it. Those students all said that "group work" was valuable. Only one student acknowledged that such work was hard for her/him, too, and encouraged the unhappy student, "Don't give up on it!"

I, too, wrote a long response, which I may post in a separate blog entry. But I'd be curious to know what my colleagues would do in this situation.

How to help?

Sentence from a student's essay:

"I find out for the potential concept from reading to encourage my ability of learning."

I don't know what this sentence means. Can anyone help me?

Why has it taken so long for me to find this?

Part of my last-year sabbatical project was to catch up on pedagogy scholarship in three areas: feminist, online, and critical pedagogies.

My dean had heard of the first two, but not the third. I asked, "Maybe you've heard of Paulo Freire? Henry Giroux?" Nope. I was surprised. But one can't know everything, can one?

Now I've discovered an entire website that *I* should have know about last year: The Paulo and Nita Freire Project for Critical Pedagogy. Its home is McGill University, and here's a website excerpt that applies especially to community colleges:

"Housed in the project are the papers of seminal scholars who have contributed to the evolution of Critical Pedagogy. In addition, the project will promote research in Critical Pedagogy and bring together both local and international educators and continue its development globally while highlighting its relevance with marginalized and indigenous peoples" (emphasis added).

If our students and our teaching isn't "marginalized," then I don't know what is. I'm just beginning to explore the site -- I invite others to do so, too.

I'm struggling

My Engl 90 classes flummox me: I don't quite know what to expect of the students, and I have a HUGE range of abilities in these classes. A couple of students seem not to have much command of the English language at ALL, yet they've both passed our Engl 80 course.

A couple of other students seem to have no command of their giggles, and they constantly nudge and bump each other, wiggly as puppies.

A couple of other students smell -- really.

A couple of other students walk in and out of class, impatient with repetition and classmates who need the assignment explained twice and thrice.

A couple of students shouldn't be in this class because they're already fluent writers, thoughtful thinkers, bad test takers (evidently, since "the test" is what put them in Engl 90).

A couple of students have revealed their pasts in essays that haunt me: abuse, pain, terror, deprivation. How do I grade these stories?

A couple of students can't read. Or at least when their eyes go over each word, they recognize the words but can't figure out how to put them together into a thought.

A couple of students need to visit me in my office for clarification instead of listening to assignments and advice in class.

A couple of students are embarrassed to be in this class, but eager at the same time to get "good grades" and "move on" to another college-level course.

A couple of students go missing every class period.

A couple of students haven't turned in a damn thing all semester.

I am so lucky. Really. To be working with these people who are willing (for the most part) and engaged with the difficult task of learning to say what they think on paper (and to think of something to say on paper).

I'm struggling, and I'm so privileged to be doing so. How awesome is that -- to be taught by my students.

Amazing Inaugural Image

Check out this Gigapan photo by David Bergman: it's a 1474-megapixel photograph taken during the inauguration.

You can zoom in on it (sort of like Google Earth) to see who's doing what during the speech. It's very cool. Thanks for pointing me to it, Alison Bechdel.