First Lab [09/08]

Henceforth, all my Wednesdays are lab Wednesdays.

While I was looking forward to taking them down to the lab and putting their doubts and confusions about CompClass to rest, once and for all; I was very apprehensive at the same time... technology and I often fail to complement one another. Unfortunately, though, not only did I have to share the room with another TA, the CompClass website really acted up that morning. Unfortunately this ate into my lesson plan but I did manage to get them to freewrite and discuss their notions of a literacy event. 

All said and done, I hope next lab Wednseday, things take a turn for the better.

Of 'Cats and Something' [09/03]

The most valuable lesson I learned from an email one student sent me, was that students do not read the class schedule. In the said email, the student said that he was unsure about the title of the text I had asked them to read 'Cats and something?' While amusing, I realized that I would have to spell out the names of the texts in class henceforth.

By Friday, most of my class had signed up for CompClass and I had to spend a little bit of time explaining a few things to them. One common problem seemed to be that some of them could not access texts though they were in the right tab. Unfortunately, I had no answers to that save referring them to tech support.

We started the class dealing with the problem of unpacking a text. We looked at ways to identify arguments and then ways in which we could refute or agree with these arguments. I noticed that what prompts them to think as analytical individuals is to ask them to explain their reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with an argument.

I had them break into four groups, two on each side, and using references and inference drawn from the three texts, they argued for and against the problems in the education system and the solutions posited. Initially, some of them were inclined to paraphrase from the text, so to avoid that I had them refute one another so that it encouraged individual analysis. There were a few students I was very impressed with because they were not only challenging the arguments but also the rationale and sometimes the rhetoric of the three texts.

Given the very detailed discussion that we have had so far, I hope that when they write in the discussion board, they will have formed some strong arguments of their own which they can use for the interview assignment.

Sir Ken Robinson and the flaws of the education system [09/01]

"The first day is vital, of course, but it's on the second day that the real work takes place." I whole-heartedly agree with Lindsay Lightner and perhaps that is why I felt even more nervous on Wednesday than I had on Monday.

I had planned on discussing with them the central arguments of Robinson's video and then showing them a few relevant sections. At the start of class, we went round the class where each of them spoke about what they thought constituted creativity and then we watched the relevant section of the video. It was very refreshing to see that very few of them limited creativity to the 'arts' and that they thought that the term could encompass someone's personality, sense of style or even the way one applied themselves to a text.

I gave them a prompt on how they felt education hindered the growth of creativity and when they handed in their informal writing we had a whole series of issues, which I was hard-pressed to fit into the space of the blackboard. The issues ranged from the imperfection of the grading system, the rigidity of codes or guidelines in academic analysis, the problem of replication as a result of these guidelines to standardization of ambition, authoritarianism, conformity and even issues of gender.

Initially, I had planned on splitting them into four groups and organizing a mock debate, but the way the issues of creativity and what they felt to be the inherent problems of the education system threw up a very involved discussion in class, I felt that I had to leave that for another day. While we were on the issue of creativity, I drew their attention to a more recent lecture by Robinson 'Bring on the Learning Revolution' and we incorporated the notion of talent and creativity in our discussion. One student said that he understood explicitly what Robinson means when he talks about how most people feel that they are devoid of talent. This boy was forthright in talking about his talents or the lack of them thereof, but I have a feeling that he was not the only one in the class who felt the same way. Unfortunately, that was not something that could be fit into the purview of our discussion but I am pondering over the advisability of having them talk about this in the discussion board.

What I specially enjoyed while reading their writing, was that even if some of them had a few common points, the way they interpreted or explained the problem was unique. I gave them a check plus or minus for the informal writing that they did in class. There was only one boy who I couldn't evaluate because he walked in really late and though I did mark him present, I have issued a warning at large about late arrivals.

For Friday, I asked them to come prepared with Katz and Gopnik and bring hard copies of the text with them. I intended to have them discuss these essays in relation to the Robinson video.

First Class [08/30]

Teaching for the first time can be very intimidating but teaching a bunch of freshmen who are freshly out of bed and yawning through the greater part of the class, is perhaps infinitely worse. I am teaching at 8 and I must admit that I was very worried about holding people's attention that early in the morning. 

Fortunately, my students, at least most of them, seemed wide enough awake to want to participate. There were quite a few hands shooting in the air and a lot of animated discussion during the group work. I am so glad that when we workshopped we talked about sitting in circles, because I fear that had they sat in rows, soon some of them in the back would have allowed their minds to wander. The group seems analytical about their expectations from this course and their approach to writing and I think this might make things easier for all of us. I was also happy to see that they were very aware of how they could use this to cater to the writing needs of their own majors.

I was equivocally told by nearly four-fifths of the class that they hated English! I am glad though, it makes this all the more challenging. But then again, they will not exactly be reading literature so I guess one will not really be able to address their apprehensions. As some of them said, they are willing to work on it and I am more than excited to do so with them.