Teaching Journal X

Week 10

This week my goal was to retrieve my authority over my students. I think this would have went okay had the Wednesday Nightmare not happened, which I'll explain below.

Monday: Today we discussed Devitt et al. We began with a freewriting exercise in which they were to describe without looking in the book what genre is according to the layman. They were to also give examples from the Devitt et. al. piece to explain their definitions. This was, admittedly, a different and more difficult freewrite than the ones we most often attempt (most having to do with their feelings/previous experiences with a particular topic). However, I noticed that they were having trouble remembering even simple definitions (primary Discourse) and genre was an important part of this piece. It didn't go all that well. I had them get with a partner to share their answer. I then asked them to list all the examples of genres in this reading and in our own class. I really meant it when I said all because I wouldn't move on until I was satisfied. They were pretty unwilling during this part. I told them to get out their books and just read them (cheat!). At this point I was annoyed that a.) they didn't already have their books out. Most of the questions I ask that result in blank stares could easily be answered if they weren't so lazy and just looked at the article itself and b.) it appeared they didn't read the article at all. We finally moved on after I made the point to remind them to bring their texts to class on Wednesday because I'd be checking. It's unacceptable to me that they don't look at their texts while we're discussing a piece. The rest of the discussion was pretty lackluster. They didn't care to discuss the sample election ballot I pulled up because they all figured it was pretty easy to understand, despite Devitt's argument. We went over the jury instructions, which was probably the most successful part, as they seemed to grasp the issue of authority (specialized vs. nonspecialized) with that example. By the time we got to Reiff's section, the conversation was pretty much dead, and I noticed a couple students with their phones blatantly out on their desk. The Great Cellphone Shift happened during work on project 2, where students felt relaxed in the computer lab to do whatever they wanted (with the excuse that they were looking up pictures on their phones!). At the end, I reminded the class as a whole about our cell policy and that if I see them texting, they'll receive a minor violation. A couple students were visibly (and snottily) annoyed that I had said anything. The last  part of class involved us coming up with questions to ask our interviewees in our "mini ethnographies". It seemed like the class was unclear what to ask, so it basically turned into me suggesting questions that would get at some tension within their community.

By Tuesday evening, I had commented on all of their topic proposals and approved most of them. Some people's first choices weren't going to work, but luckily, these students had come up with backup plans, which I ended up approving. Overall, I'm much more happy and intrigued by these topics than project 1. I do have about 3 sororities/fraternities, but it's better than 8 papers on procrastination.

Around 2 am, I finished up my own work and went to gander at their Malinowitz IWAs. The first one I read was about "Isabel Serrano." My first instinct was: this student read the wrong piece. But the next five I read were also on the wrong article. I was so mad at my students' inability to follow directions! I sent out an email saying that they read the wrong article even though I had sent out an earlier email Monday saying its "Queer Texts, Queer Contexts,"(I even made some kind of comment in the email like "Bet you can tell what the article's about just based on the title") and that the reading apparatus also had the correct title, so there was no excuse for doing the wrong reading. I received an email from a student saying that I had written the wrong page number on the board in Monday's class and that's why they were confused. For the next hour I battled a flood of emotions: anger at my students, anger at myself, sadness, etc. First I was going to cancel class and give the students who had read the wrong reading minor violations (about 6 of my 18 students did the correct reading). Then I was going to teach Isabel Serrano; then I was just going to do a synthesis day. Ultimately, because I had made a mistake, I ended up canceling class and giving those who had read the correct reading extra credit (removes 1 minor violation). I don't know if this was the correct decision. Probably not, but I didn't want to have a class discussion if people weren't on the same page. I couldn't expect my students to read the long-ass Malinowitz article and read it well by 10:45 AM. I couldn't expect the students who had read the correct reading to also do "Isabel Serrano." I still can't think about what I've dubbed the Wednesday Nightmare without getting upset. It was the first time I've broken down all term. I hated canceling a class and I still feel like they didn't deserve my leniency. They encountered the correct title 3 different places (Note: I had also assigned extra credit for this reading, which I did as an incentive to get them to read Malinowitz closely and thoroughly). They have the reading schedule, they've never been shy about emailing me questions, and I always send out clarifying emails like the one on Monday in case I make stupid mistakes like writing the wrong page numbers, which I'm prone to doing. I had thought about saying "hey there's two articles, this is the one you need to read," but I thought I'd accomplished that by giving the article title. Obviously I will next time. This just tells me that, wrong page numbers or not, they don't read my emails, they don't read the apparati: they don't read anything they don't have to!

Friday: Today they had their introductions and conversations/syntheses due today. I sent out an email Wednesday saying they needed to post it to the discussion board. I also put up a sample introduction to show that it doesn't have to be perfect; that they could and should work through what their aim is in this intro. These were due by class time, but by Thursday evening, when I went to read some of them, only 6 students had posted them. Usually my students post their papers early Thursday afternoon (probably due do Thursday night shenanigans). I headed over to the class blog because I had written a post where I asked students who wanted their paper workshopped to respond. No one had requested their paper be workshopped, but many students had posted their intros to the class blog instead. Once again, coming off Wednesday's fiasco, I was pretty upset at the failure to follow directions (directions that were crystal clear this time). I was going to make a point in class on Friday to say This is what the email said to do, and this is what you didn't do: minor violations. Instead, on Friday around 9:30 I sent another email saying "Please post your intros in the correct location as per the email I sent out. Following directions is important." Some of them listened and corrected the mistake. Some didn't. I'm still giving those who didn't minor violations.
     In class I split them up into 5 groups (I came in early to rearrange the desks because I think the physical change is really beneficial) and handed each group a different intro. They each read through a copy of an intro then, as a group, composed a cover letter to their peer. Then we looked at the Primary Research Document. I also asked them to brainstorm some questions their peer should either ask their interviewer or themselves as he/she moves forward. They weren't really asking questions that would get at the tension/conflict within the discourse community (i.e. "How long have you been working here" instead of "how long did it take for you to feel comfortable here? To feel like part of the group.") So we spent some time going through some questions about authority and identity that they might ask. I think this helped clarify what they're supposed to do: find some argument and some sort of tension either within the dc or with what the authors are saying.

Overall this was a shitty week. I have no idea where my authority stands. On the one hand, I'm cracking down on following directions/class policies. On the other, I made an error in assigning homework. Because I was so bummed out about the Malinowitz, a discussion I was really excited for, I had thought about re-assigning it over the weekend in place of Heilker & Yergeau, which I didn't remember loving from orientation. Apart from everything else, the Malinowitz article gets at what I think is an important college lesson: giving a shit about people who're different than you. Ultimately, I'm sticking to the schedule and I really just want to move on from this week.