Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Trying to Teach Grammar and Punctuation
I have found that they need a lot of help with almost everything. We have covered a lot of comma rules, none of which they remember or use properly. This frustrates me, but I have felt better to know that it takes a lot of repetition and different kinds of presentations on the same rules for them to stick. It is also comforting to know that some academics think that teaching grammar is pointless. It kind of backs me up!
I'm not sure that much of what they struggle with has been strictly "grammar." A lot of it is punctuation. I can also guarantee that none of my students ever found themselves crowned "Spelling Champion" in any grade of middle school or junior high. They mess up phrases like "awful lot," instead saying "offal lot." They also frequently confuse "there" and "their."
We have gone over the infamous comma splice more than any other problem. I have to confess that I expect them to know what I mean when I say "comma splice" or mark "cs" on their reading responses. However, I still have students asking me what it is or why I marked it. One of the best students in my class had problems with it in his last essay. I told him to get help at the Writing Center in my note to him. Being the good student he is, he approached me after class and asked for a mini lesson on comma splices. His words were, "Can you explain to me what a comma splice is again so I can fix it?" He honestly wanted to learn, so that made me feel better despite the fact that I had already given at least twelve mini comma splice lessons over the course of the semester.
The possessive apostrophe is also a problem. We have only had one "formal" talk about this. They seemed to understand, but when I present this stuff to them as a group and ask questions, only the smart ones answer. So, I think I get a false sense of their grasp of the concept. I think, "Wow. They know all the answers. I'm a good and FAST teacher." The truth is, only a few of them are getting it and speaking up. The rest are sitting there hoping they will catch on, thinking about their upcoming weekends, or sleeping.
I'm not sure that much of what they struggle with has been strictly "grammar." A lot of it is punctuation. I can also guarantee that none of my students ever found themselves crowned "Spelling Champion" in any grade of middle school or junior high. They mess up phrases like "awful lot," instead saying "offal lot." They also frequently confuse "there" and "their."
We have gone over the infamous comma splice more than any other problem. I have to confess that I expect them to know what I mean when I say "comma splice" or mark "cs" on their reading responses. However, I still have students asking me what it is or why I marked it. One of the best students in my class had problems with it in his last essay. I told him to get help at the Writing Center in my note to him. Being the good student he is, he approached me after class and asked for a mini lesson on comma splices. His words were, "Can you explain to me what a comma splice is again so I can fix it?" He honestly wanted to learn, so that made me feel better despite the fact that I had already given at least twelve mini comma splice lessons over the course of the semester.
The possessive apostrophe is also a problem. We have only had one "formal" talk about this. They seemed to understand, but when I present this stuff to them as a group and ask questions, only the smart ones answer. So, I think I get a false sense of their grasp of the concept. I think, "Wow. They know all the answers. I'm a good and FAST teacher." The truth is, only a few of them are getting it and speaking up. The rest are sitting there hoping they will catch on, thinking about their upcoming weekends, or sleeping.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Curse of the Commas...
Having graded two rounds of essays, I've developed a nice long list of grammar pet peeves that never really bothered me before; now, as I'm reading student writing, I get this nervous twitch whenever pronouns disagree, or when I run into a run-on. Now I know why high school English teachers always look and act a little...well, off.
Seriously, I do start to get frustrated as I grade, because many of the problems are issues we have covered again and again in class, and I have to remind myself that two or three (...or ten...) brief discussions on sentence fragments in class aren't going to entirely eradicate fragments from their writing. Honestly, though, fragments and the which/that, who/whom issues don't bother me as much as problems like shifts in tense and shifts in tone, because those seem to be more difficult to fix and possibly signify a bigger underlying problem (especially tone). Comma issues drive me nuts, if only because I get serious wrist cramps and waste large quantities of ink trying to mark them all. I need to get in the habit of finding patterns in comma errors and then being satisfied with just marking a couple....but I can't help myself...I just...have to...put...commas...in!!! Aaaarghh!
But, again, the sentence-level errors just don't bug me in the same way that problems with organization, ideas, tone, etc. do--essays with more global issues take so much longer to grade because it is harder for me to identify, and then explain to the student, what the real issue is. This gets frustrating when I'm only halfway through a huge stack of papers and it's already 2 in the morning. Here's hoping I get better--and faster--at it. And in the meantime, I'm going to keep marking those commas.
Seriously, I do start to get frustrated as I grade, because many of the problems are issues we have covered again and again in class, and I have to remind myself that two or three (...or ten...) brief discussions on sentence fragments in class aren't going to entirely eradicate fragments from their writing. Honestly, though, fragments and the which/that, who/whom issues don't bother me as much as problems like shifts in tense and shifts in tone, because those seem to be more difficult to fix and possibly signify a bigger underlying problem (especially tone). Comma issues drive me nuts, if only because I get serious wrist cramps and waste large quantities of ink trying to mark them all. I need to get in the habit of finding patterns in comma errors and then being satisfied with just marking a couple....but I can't help myself...I just...have to...put...commas...in!!! Aaaarghh!
But, again, the sentence-level errors just don't bug me in the same way that problems with organization, ideas, tone, etc. do--essays with more global issues take so much longer to grade because it is harder for me to identify, and then explain to the student, what the real issue is. This gets frustrating when I'm only halfway through a huge stack of papers and it's already 2 in the morning. Here's hoping I get better--and faster--at it. And in the meantime, I'm going to keep marking those commas.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Perfoaming Grammar
My students love fragments. Really. Drives me nuts. After the first paper, I selected a few "excerpts" to put on the overhead. No names, just a paragraph here and there to illustrate the point. We worked through them as a class, first finding the offending fragments and then attaching them to previous sentences, or adding to them to make them complete. While listening in during workshopping for the second paper, I heard a number of students pointing out fragments--so at least a few of them understand the point.
Other than that, I haven't really done any formal class grammar lessons. I've saved that for the individual papers for the most part. I usually pick out the patterns of error, and if more than a couple of students are having the same issue, we'll talk about it as a class. A number of times students have stayed after class to ask about a grammar issue--sometimes from another class--and we've had a good discussion. One student brought his paper from another class because he didn't understand what "passive voice" meant. We started a discussion with a few other students, and then a few more from the next class (Dr. Schwiebert's literature class) joined in. All we needed was the pizza.
I will say this: I think English 1010 has been detrimental to my own grammar skills as I've misspelled two words on the board this week. The students loved that. Good grief. But, hey--if Weber State University can misspell the words on permanent signs (Perfoming Arts), I should be given some slack, right?
Other than that, I haven't really done any formal class grammar lessons. I've saved that for the individual papers for the most part. I usually pick out the patterns of error, and if more than a couple of students are having the same issue, we'll talk about it as a class. A number of times students have stayed after class to ask about a grammar issue--sometimes from another class--and we've had a good discussion. One student brought his paper from another class because he didn't understand what "passive voice" meant. We started a discussion with a few other students, and then a few more from the next class (Dr. Schwiebert's literature class) joined in. All we needed was the pizza.
I will say this: I think English 1010 has been detrimental to my own grammar skills as I've misspelled two words on the board this week. The students loved that. Good grief. But, hey--if Weber State University can misspell the words on permanent signs (Perfoming Arts), I should be given some slack, right?
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Passive Voice and Other Obstacles
At the beginning of the semester I did not have any great plans to teach grammar principles. Then I decided to steal a bit from Emily and maybe talk about one grammar principle a day. Small doses, like vitamins. I began with passive voice and it was so horrifying that I haven't given them a grammar principle since. Instead I've tried to address things as I see them in papers and as we workshop, and I mark them in their papers with the hope that they will recognize what they are doing wrong and correct it. The marking strategy has only worked slightly. Sometimes the mistake gets corrected and sometimes I just keep seeing it. I try not to get discouraged, but when you mark the same thing on a person's paper over and over again it gets frustrating.
Some of the writing principles we've discussed in class are less about grammar and more about organization. We've talked about wordiness in their papers. On their first essays we put papers up on the overhead and worked through sentences. We pointed out where things got wordy, we eliminated unecessary words, and we made sure the idea was clear. I've talked about punctuation a little. I tell them to avoid colons and semi-colons, just because they do not usually use them right. During one workshop day we talked about how to start sentences. One student asked if she could start sentences with "and" or "but" and I told her no because it leads to sentence fragments. We then had a small conversation about sentence fragments.
Just recently we spent quite a bit of time working on finding the thesis and topic sentence. I wanted to prove a point so I asked my students to find the thesis in one of the articles we read. They all pointed out sentences at the end of the article, so I had to direct them back to the beginning. They had no idea where the thesis was. Then I asked them to find the topic sentence in one of the paragraphs and all of them guessed sentences from the middle of the paragraph to the end of the paragraph. Not one of them thought to look at the beginning. I had to spend a little bit of time addressing the purpose of a topic sentence and where it is supposed to go. I plan on spending some time working through that when we begin workshopping.
I think the next time I teach this class I want to steal from my fellow students. I like the idea of using my students' own papers as examples on the overhead of bad grammar, or even as examples of good grammar. I think that will help them recognize what they are doing wrong.
Some of the writing principles we've discussed in class are less about grammar and more about organization. We've talked about wordiness in their papers. On their first essays we put papers up on the overhead and worked through sentences. We pointed out where things got wordy, we eliminated unecessary words, and we made sure the idea was clear. I've talked about punctuation a little. I tell them to avoid colons and semi-colons, just because they do not usually use them right. During one workshop day we talked about how to start sentences. One student asked if she could start sentences with "and" or "but" and I told her no because it leads to sentence fragments. We then had a small conversation about sentence fragments.
Just recently we spent quite a bit of time working on finding the thesis and topic sentence. I wanted to prove a point so I asked my students to find the thesis in one of the articles we read. They all pointed out sentences at the end of the article, so I had to direct them back to the beginning. They had no idea where the thesis was. Then I asked them to find the topic sentence in one of the paragraphs and all of them guessed sentences from the middle of the paragraph to the end of the paragraph. Not one of them thought to look at the beginning. I had to spend a little bit of time addressing the purpose of a topic sentence and where it is supposed to go. I plan on spending some time working through that when we begin workshopping.
I think the next time I teach this class I want to steal from my fellow students. I like the idea of using my students' own papers as examples on the overhead of bad grammar, or even as examples of good grammar. I think that will help them recognize what they are doing wrong.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
Grades, Life, and Near Death
I still only have 13 essays. Hmph. The excuses, I've noticed, tend to fall into one of three categories: 1. computer/printer catastrophes; 2. romance/marriage catastrophes; or 3. health/wellness catastrophes. I'm not thoroughly jaded because I still believe most of them.
The 13 papers I graded improved drastically from the first. Only two had length problems, and another two had some citation mishaps. Other than that, they did a really good job. They've come a long way from "it only takes love and communication." They were cracking me up in class today when they started a long discussion on the manipulative nature of fairy tales, advertising, and first dates. One student said, "All these essays have just ruined Cinderella for me. Thanks a lot." Another said she needed to go outside and scream for awhile. Ha! That's the most life they've shown since returning from the break.
Speaking of life, I almost died today.
I was chewing gum--accidentally, as I never chew gum while teaching. I started to say something, inhaled the gum, couldn't breathe. Crouching down, I stuck my head in the computer cabinet so I could expire without witnesses. As I did so, my eyes locked on a nasty, old water bottle that's been on the desk since week two. No telling who it belongs to--either Dr. Schwiebert or Dr. Allred, the other teachers using room 403--a student, or maybe the janitor. Who knows? Desperate times... I reached up for the bottle, imagining all sorts of horror. When you're dying you'll drink germ, moss, and saliva-ridden water, no problem. Just then, the gum came unstuck. This all took about 5 seconds, tops. I popped back up in time to re-join the conversation before it stalled, and my students didn't even know how close I came to taking The Drink.
I threw that water bottle away after class. I'll bring my own on Monday. :)
The 13 papers I graded improved drastically from the first. Only two had length problems, and another two had some citation mishaps. Other than that, they did a really good job. They've come a long way from "it only takes love and communication." They were cracking me up in class today when they started a long discussion on the manipulative nature of fairy tales, advertising, and first dates. One student said, "All these essays have just ruined Cinderella for me. Thanks a lot." Another said she needed to go outside and scream for awhile. Ha! That's the most life they've shown since returning from the break.
Speaking of life, I almost died today.
I was chewing gum--accidentally, as I never chew gum while teaching. I started to say something, inhaled the gum, couldn't breathe. Crouching down, I stuck my head in the computer cabinet so I could expire without witnesses. As I did so, my eyes locked on a nasty, old water bottle that's been on the desk since week two. No telling who it belongs to--either Dr. Schwiebert or Dr. Allred, the other teachers using room 403--a student, or maybe the janitor. Who knows? Desperate times... I reached up for the bottle, imagining all sorts of horror. When you're dying you'll drink germ, moss, and saliva-ridden water, no problem. Just then, the gum came unstuck. This all took about 5 seconds, tops. I popped back up in time to re-join the conversation before it stalled, and my students didn't even know how close I came to taking The Drink.
I threw that water bottle away after class. I'll bring my own on Monday. :)
I Am Proud of My Students
My students' essays also improved. I gave out some As, meaning those few would not need to rewrite. I also gave out mostly Bs, and only a few Cs. Surprisingly, the C students from last time were not the same C students this time. Those who did that on the first essay worked hard and improved, some of them dramatically. Some of the others slacked off. I get the feeling they thought they could either get away with it or they were too tired to care at the time it was due. I hope those students rewrite because they are some of the ones who I know can do better with a little effort.
I have one student who only shows up to class when she likes the topic. So, she came all during the Blink discussion because she had a lot to say and she enjoyed the book. However, she never comes on workshopping days and I have not seen her since Spring Break. Her essay lacked the depth that the others' had from class discussions. She also made one or two vague references to rhetorical appeals and logical fallacies, but she could not name any specifically nor did she apply them to her text. However, her writing is very smooth and organized. She did a good job of analyzing the text despite her lack of appropriate terms. She brought out points that were not discussed in class. I found myself ambivalent about giving her a low B. She deserved it, but at the same time I wanted to punish her for not showing up to parts of the class that the others did. Maybe that low B was punishment enough, but I just don't know how to feel about this student, her writing, and her behavior.
Another student of mine went from a low C on the first essay to a low A on this one. He improved drastically. I felt so proud when reading his work. I want him to succeed because he honestly tries. He comes to class every day, he turns in every assignment, and he contributes to discussions. His first essay was a disaster, but this one rocked. As I write this, I realize that it may have to do with the topic. He enjoyed Blink so much that he went a step further and read Gavin de Becker's The Gift of Fear, a book referenced in Blink. His interest in the topic may have led him to spend more time and thought on the essay and therefore produce a better paper.
I am proud of my students and the improvements they are making. Now, if only I could get them to return to class after Spring Break!
I have one student who only shows up to class when she likes the topic. So, she came all during the Blink discussion because she had a lot to say and she enjoyed the book. However, she never comes on workshopping days and I have not seen her since Spring Break. Her essay lacked the depth that the others' had from class discussions. She also made one or two vague references to rhetorical appeals and logical fallacies, but she could not name any specifically nor did she apply them to her text. However, her writing is very smooth and organized. She did a good job of analyzing the text despite her lack of appropriate terms. She brought out points that were not discussed in class. I found myself ambivalent about giving her a low B. She deserved it, but at the same time I wanted to punish her for not showing up to parts of the class that the others did. Maybe that low B was punishment enough, but I just don't know how to feel about this student, her writing, and her behavior.
Another student of mine went from a low C on the first essay to a low A on this one. He improved drastically. I felt so proud when reading his work. I want him to succeed because he honestly tries. He comes to class every day, he turns in every assignment, and he contributes to discussions. His first essay was a disaster, but this one rocked. As I write this, I realize that it may have to do with the topic. He enjoyed Blink so much that he went a step further and read Gavin de Becker's The Gift of Fear, a book referenced in Blink. His interest in the topic may have led him to spend more time and thought on the essay and therefore produce a better paper.
I am proud of my students and the improvements they are making. Now, if only I could get them to return to class after Spring Break!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
I have to Say I Rejoiced
My students' essays were much better this time. That may have been because only the top half of my students turned in their essays, so I only got the best, but even still that top half improved. I still did not give out many A's, but the amount of B's I gave out was significant compared to last time. I kept getting more and more excited as each essay I read honestly tried to answer the question, AND cited their quotations correctly. By the time I finished I actually felt a little rewarded. Maybe I did teach them something, even if it is just to introduce a quote.
I don't think I compliment my class very often. I seem to focus on the negative a lot. Probably because my class tends to gravitate towards the negative. But today I gave them a little compliment about how good their essays were. I didn't puff up their heads or anything, but I just told them all did a great job introducing their quotes and that the essays were better overall. They all looked pleased with themselves. I think I should try to add a little more positive into my classroom. I'm not saying I need to tell them all they're special and can do no wrong, but sometimes I forget to let them know when they've worked hard and it's turned out well. I just get frustrated with their lack of response and their inability to turn anything in, it kind of crowds out the good.
Speaking of which, I have a student who did not show up much the first half of the term but is now showing up every day. That would be great, except she's only turned in her first essay and nothing else. I'm not sure what to do. I've given them all midterm grades/status reports but she doesn't seem to care. Sometimes I get scared about turning in final grades because I worry about the emails I might get from students like her. Oh well, I guess they have to learn at some point that they need to be responsible for their own actions.
I don't think I compliment my class very often. I seem to focus on the negative a lot. Probably because my class tends to gravitate towards the negative. But today I gave them a little compliment about how good their essays were. I didn't puff up their heads or anything, but I just told them all did a great job introducing their quotes and that the essays were better overall. They all looked pleased with themselves. I think I should try to add a little more positive into my classroom. I'm not saying I need to tell them all they're special and can do no wrong, but sometimes I forget to let them know when they've worked hard and it's turned out well. I just get frustrated with their lack of response and their inability to turn anything in, it kind of crowds out the good.
Speaking of which, I have a student who did not show up much the first half of the term but is now showing up every day. That would be great, except she's only turned in her first essay and nothing else. I'm not sure what to do. I've given them all midterm grades/status reports but she doesn't seem to care. Sometimes I get scared about turning in final grades because I worry about the emails I might get from students like her. Oh well, I guess they have to learn at some point that they need to be responsible for their own actions.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Grading?
Unlike the rest of you, who I'm sure graded furiously all throughout the break, I'm only now sitting down to plow through my essays, and I have to say that 3/4 of them have significantly improved. Their work with the language of the quotations is generally excellent. Their use of quotation is excellent. Their prose has gotten markedly better.
With that said, a couple of students who don't come to class all that much performed--what's the expression?--poorly.
How are yours?
Monday, March 16, 2009
Oh, I had such high hopes...
SO...I've fallen a little behind on blog posts. I was so certain I would spend spring break catching up on everything and gearing up for the big push to the end of the semester, but instead of chugging Coke and plodding through the entire stack of essays in one go, I ended up chugging Pepto and washing sheets all week (thanks, gastroenteritis).
However, I did get through enough essays to get a feel for what they're struggling with this time. Yes, they're having trouble making the page limit, but I was pretty clear after the last round that a paper not making length would not get a full grade, so at least they know what they're in for. The main issue with the essays is that many of them fail to take that final step of saying what the author is trying to achieve with the manipulative language. They give a lot of examples of manipulative language, and they do a good job of analyzing the different kinds, but they just don't seem to look at the bigger picture of WHY and to what purpose. They also seem to have a hard time distinguishing between looking critically at something a person has written and actually criticizing the writing or personally attacking the author. I always hated it when professors wrote "So What?" at the end of papers, but I think I may go get a sticker printed up (and while I'm at it, I'll get another one that reads, "Introduce your quotes!").
As for the TBA day, I handed out a half-sheet of paper with their mid-term grades, as well as what I was missing from each of them. I ended up answering questions about those for about twenty minutes or so, and then I let them go (although I did tell them if they wanted to stick around and workshop for the last thirty minutes, they could, and then they could go print up their revisions and get them to me before I left the Writing Center at noon. Nobody took me up on the offer, which tells me they were too sick of their papers to deal with them anymore).
Overall, the papers have been of a better quality--especially in the organization department--than the first round, which is encouraging. Let's hope the rest follow suit.
However, I did get through enough essays to get a feel for what they're struggling with this time. Yes, they're having trouble making the page limit, but I was pretty clear after the last round that a paper not making length would not get a full grade, so at least they know what they're in for. The main issue with the essays is that many of them fail to take that final step of saying what the author is trying to achieve with the manipulative language. They give a lot of examples of manipulative language, and they do a good job of analyzing the different kinds, but they just don't seem to look at the bigger picture of WHY and to what purpose. They also seem to have a hard time distinguishing between looking critically at something a person has written and actually criticizing the writing or personally attacking the author. I always hated it when professors wrote "So What?" at the end of papers, but I think I may go get a sticker printed up (and while I'm at it, I'll get another one that reads, "Introduce your quotes!").
As for the TBA day, I handed out a half-sheet of paper with their mid-term grades, as well as what I was missing from each of them. I ended up answering questions about those for about twenty minutes or so, and then I let them go (although I did tell them if they wanted to stick around and workshop for the last thirty minutes, they could, and then they could go print up their revisions and get them to me before I left the Writing Center at noon. Nobody took me up on the offer, which tells me they were too sick of their papers to deal with them anymore).
Overall, the papers have been of a better quality--especially in the organization department--than the first round, which is encouraging. Let's hope the rest follow suit.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Patho, Eggo, Legos--grading appeals
Bring on the chocolate and caffeine--it's time to grade papers again. Woooo!
I was worried. When my class started today, I had four students in attendance. They looked like they'd been up all night typing. I tried to think positively, as in: "Well, with only four papers to grade, I'll be able to get to the laundry after all" and "Maybe the students are practicing Gladwell's 'thinking without thinking' and are blinking out a paper at the last minute." One can always be hopeful. I ended up gathering in eleven papers, with two more promised via e-mail by midnight. Hmmm.
So, I'd have to say the biggest problem with this essay will be the handing it in part. I met with each of my students, gave them the mid-semester lecture on their missing assignments and attendance, acted as babysitter and cheerleader. They're suffering from burnout. Charles e-mailed to say he was too sick to bring his essay. From the sound of things, I thought he was on his deathbed. He did look rather pale when I ran into him on the stairs after class. He was stammering, even. I think at that moment he was wishing for death. Ha. I suspect he's just sick of English 1010. But--he'll send the paper by midnight.
Thankfully, length is not as much of a problem as it was last go round. So far only 2/11 are suffering from length issues, and they're not that far from five pages. I've only glanced through them quickly, and I haven't seen any citation problems. One girl is giving examples of "legos" and "patho"--which brings to mind visions of toys and serial killers. I think these papers are far more entertaining than the last batch already.
My grading process has already changed--I'm not nervous at all. I'm not putting them in any sort of order in advance, I'm just going to plow through. I'll order them loosely as I go, and will put grades on after I've gone through all of them. The students responded well to the comments, and most rewrote last time, so I'll do the same this time. I'm definitely NOT eating as much chocolate this time, as I can't afford new clothes when I grow out of these. I'm not going to spend an entire evening agonizing over grades, and I'm not spending an hour on each paper. I have a life, really. I don't want to turn into a Patho.
I was worried. When my class started today, I had four students in attendance. They looked like they'd been up all night typing. I tried to think positively, as in: "Well, with only four papers to grade, I'll be able to get to the laundry after all" and "Maybe the students are practicing Gladwell's 'thinking without thinking' and are blinking out a paper at the last minute." One can always be hopeful. I ended up gathering in eleven papers, with two more promised via e-mail by midnight. Hmmm.
So, I'd have to say the biggest problem with this essay will be the handing it in part. I met with each of my students, gave them the mid-semester lecture on their missing assignments and attendance, acted as babysitter and cheerleader. They're suffering from burnout. Charles e-mailed to say he was too sick to bring his essay. From the sound of things, I thought he was on his deathbed. He did look rather pale when I ran into him on the stairs after class. He was stammering, even. I think at that moment he was wishing for death. Ha. I suspect he's just sick of English 1010. But--he'll send the paper by midnight.
Thankfully, length is not as much of a problem as it was last go round. So far only 2/11 are suffering from length issues, and they're not that far from five pages. I've only glanced through them quickly, and I haven't seen any citation problems. One girl is giving examples of "legos" and "patho"--which brings to mind visions of toys and serial killers. I think these papers are far more entertaining than the last batch already.
My grading process has already changed--I'm not nervous at all. I'm not putting them in any sort of order in advance, I'm just going to plow through. I'll order them loosely as I go, and will put grades on after I've gone through all of them. The students responded well to the comments, and most rewrote last time, so I'll do the same this time. I'm definitely NOT eating as much chocolate this time, as I can't afford new clothes when I grow out of these. I'm not going to spend an entire evening agonizing over grades, and I'm not spending an hour on each paper. I have a life, really. I don't want to turn into a Patho.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Two Posts in One
Today I am probably going to let my students out early, but I have decided to go over the "Five Ways of Interpreting a Text" with them. I liked Peters's questions, and I think my students could benefit from them. So, that's what we are going to do today, unless they all seem like zombies. Then, I may just let them go. They wouldn't take any of it in anyway, right?
I am honestly not sure what problems they are having with this essay because I have not seen it yet. I do know that on our workshopping day many of them did not have 5 pages, but it also was not due, so I figure they will fix that before they turn it in today. (Knock on wood.) They have heard me threaten them enough with lowered grades if they do not meet the page requirement, but who knows if that translated into their brains or if they care.
I know that when we spoke about examples of manipulation from Blink, they had trouble differentiating between the author's manipulations and the characters in the stories being manipulated. We talked about this as well, so I hope nobody is still holding onto that false notion. If they have used this to write their papers, they will be getting comments from me about it and possibly a chance to rewrite.
In grading these papers, I probably won't change much. I felt like I developed a good "groove" for grading the last time. It took me a few papers to find it, but it worked. I felt as if my sense for what was an A, B, or C paper came quite naturally after reading a few of them. I am going to stick with this. I may actually be a little more tough on them because it is their second essay. They should have learned something by now, right? I may be less lenient on the lack of a thesis statement, comma splices, or citations that are inadequately formatted.
My mind may change after I actually spend some of Spring Break grading. I do hope to try to be fair and consistent. Is that possible?
I am honestly not sure what problems they are having with this essay because I have not seen it yet. I do know that on our workshopping day many of them did not have 5 pages, but it also was not due, so I figure they will fix that before they turn it in today. (Knock on wood.) They have heard me threaten them enough with lowered grades if they do not meet the page requirement, but who knows if that translated into their brains or if they care.
I know that when we spoke about examples of manipulation from Blink, they had trouble differentiating between the author's manipulations and the characters in the stories being manipulated. We talked about this as well, so I hope nobody is still holding onto that false notion. If they have used this to write their papers, they will be getting comments from me about it and possibly a chance to rewrite.
In grading these papers, I probably won't change much. I felt like I developed a good "groove" for grading the last time. It took me a few papers to find it, but it worked. I felt as if my sense for what was an A, B, or C paper came quite naturally after reading a few of them. I am going to stick with this. I may actually be a little more tough on them because it is their second essay. They should have learned something by now, right? I may be less lenient on the lack of a thesis statement, comma splices, or citations that are inadequately formatted.
My mind may change after I actually spend some of Spring Break grading. I do hope to try to be fair and consistent. Is that possible?
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
It's Always the Length
I have not collected the essays, but as I walked around and talked to my students and looked at drafts it seems their biggest problem will be the length. They couldn't make four pages last time and most of them are already complaining that they won't make five. I had to have a pep talk with one of my students who only made two and half pages last time. I told him to just try and take it in small chunks. Take a paragraph and talk about a fallacy. Tell me what the fallacy is and then give me examples of the fallacy. How did this manipulate him? He seemed somewhat encouraged.
I think the other problem will be either talking about too many fallacies/rhetorical appeals or not talking about enough. Some students have chosen three rhetorical fallacies so that they can create their perfect five paragraph essay, so we'll see how that goes. At the same time three might be a perfect number to discuss in a paper this length. I have one student who may only focus on one rhetorical appeal. This may work out great. I hope so. I have other students who are worried about putting all of the fallacies into their papers, and if they try to do that the paper will get overwhelmed. In one of the drafts I saw, the student discussed a few fallacies in depth and then ended the last paragraph of the body with, "Gladwell uses other fallacies such as non sequitor, either/or reasoning, etc." (yes I am being lazy with my etc.) I guess he felt it necessary to mention the fallacies but he didn't feel he had enough space to discuss them.
Honestly, I'm holding out high hopes for this essay. I think they might get this one a little better. In the last one they didn't understand how to make connections. I think they at least understand they are being manipulated and how the author is doing it. Now if they can just explain that clearly...
This time I'm going to try and set aside a chunk of time so I can just do them all at once. That way when I'm finished I won't have completely forgotten what I read two weeks prior when I started the whole mess. Even if the chunk of time is over three days I think that will be better than last time. I might also try putting them in A, B, C, piles as I go rather than wait until the end. See how I feel right after I finish reading and then go back and re-evaluate if I need to.
Here's to a fun weekend and a spring break full of grading!
I think the other problem will be either talking about too many fallacies/rhetorical appeals or not talking about enough. Some students have chosen three rhetorical fallacies so that they can create their perfect five paragraph essay, so we'll see how that goes. At the same time three might be a perfect number to discuss in a paper this length. I have one student who may only focus on one rhetorical appeal. This may work out great. I hope so. I have other students who are worried about putting all of the fallacies into their papers, and if they try to do that the paper will get overwhelmed. In one of the drafts I saw, the student discussed a few fallacies in depth and then ended the last paragraph of the body with, "Gladwell uses other fallacies such as non sequitor, either/or reasoning, etc." (yes I am being lazy with my etc.) I guess he felt it necessary to mention the fallacies but he didn't feel he had enough space to discuss them.
Honestly, I'm holding out high hopes for this essay. I think they might get this one a little better. In the last one they didn't understand how to make connections. I think they at least understand they are being manipulated and how the author is doing it. Now if they can just explain that clearly...
This time I'm going to try and set aside a chunk of time so I can just do them all at once. That way when I'm finished I won't have completely forgotten what I read two weeks prior when I started the whole mess. Even if the chunk of time is over three days I think that will be better than last time. I might also try putting them in A, B, C, piles as I go rather than wait until the end. See how I feel right after I finish reading and then go back and re-evaluate if I need to.
Here's to a fun weekend and a spring break full of grading!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Prompt
Two questions:
1) What kinds of problems are your students having with this essay?
2) How are you going to change your grading process this time around?
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