corporal punishment

Photo courtesy of The Laughing Squid. I see Kansas represents in the negative reinforcement (and Missouri - click to enlarge image - we are next to Kentucky).

So let me get this clear, it's legal to hit students in Kansas? Seems like we don't see the difference between education and learning.

reflection on TBL: FA 2010

The overwhelming majority of the class really liked the Team-Based Learning (TBL) project, but 5 or 6 didn't. As a whole the classes succeeded, but there were issues of ineffective group dynamics and missed deadlines. Last semester I ran the TBL unit later in the semester, after a tour of the Nerman and perhaps more direct discussions of the relationship of composition in art and media to college composition classes. There hasn't been trouble connecting the project to the goals of the class in the past.

There seems to be more misunderstandings due to errant expectations this semester. We need to review how college is different from High School (see link for the brilliant comparison contrast by SMU). We had a quiz over this the first week. For example

Professors may not follow the textbook. Instead, to amplify the text, they may give illustrations, provide background information, or discuss research about the topic you are studying. Or they may expect you to relate the classes to the textbook readings....Professors expect you to think about and synthesize seemingly unrelated topics.

It surprised me that several students said they didn't learn anything about composition from the TBL project. That was on the rubric as a goal.

High schoolers read short assignments, and can expect the teacher to cover the homework and explain it. In fact many don't need do assigned readings, but will expect the teacher to correct or explain missed homework. In college the onus is on the student.

Also, high school teachers will remind you when you don't turn in work, and when assignments are due. That's not the expectation of a college teacher. I have been doing this, but it seems wrong and unfair because 5% of the students take up almost 50% of my time and cause 85% of the aggravation. And it bothers me that some students who appear to be struggling haven't come to see me, even when I ask them to. The SMU site goes on to say:

[In High School] teachers approach you if they believe you need assistance. [While college] professors are usually open and helpful, but most expect you to initiate contact if you need assistance.

Also

[High School] teachers are often available for conversation before, during, or after class. [But college] professors expect and want you to attend their scheduled office hours.

Composition classes are gateway classes. Much of what we teach in Comp 1 is really academic readiness or life skills. In Mary Sherry's "In Praise of the F Word," she argues that for real learning to happen, failure has to be an option. This may not happen in high school if you show up most of the time, but it the work world, and in college failure happens and we learn from it.

3 people complained that they did too much of the work, and that it caused resentment or friction. Comments made by others in their groups lend credibility to their concerns. Because these were students identified by their teammates as leaders and hard workers, it rings true. Several of the harder working students complained that people in their group "goofed around on the computer" during class instead of staying on task and getting work done in the classroom. This is the first time I've run this project in a full computer lab. This bears study.

Most groups had problems meeting outside of class and this caused friction, which interests me because I instructed for all work to be done on campus during scheduled class time. Groups made inappropriate use of classtime, assuming they could meet outside of class. This happened last semester too. I talked about it in class.

Several groups didn't submit readable/viewable video. I offered use of my camera - no one said they needed it.

1/3 said the amount of time was appropriate, and 1/2 said they needed more time. Many of the people who said the amount of time was appropriate (or in one case too long) come from groups that didn't produce functional video and missed other deadlines.

At the begining of the semester we did an icebreaker where we chose what we would be if we had to be reincarnated. I disproporianate number of both my classes chose power-dominant images. In the decade or more I've been doing this icebreaker I've only had this many power-dominant images chosen twice. Both times it was a challenge to teach the class, but in one case the class experience was ultimately one of the most rewarding teaching experiences I've had.

On File Names and formatting

I learn a lot from seeing student digital work, as opposed to merely the paper end-product. We in composition intruction may assume a great deal more word processing skills than students have. Yes, today's students have keyboard skills far superior to those commonly found back in the 80's and 90's, but word-processing and file management skills haven't come far yet. Students routinely use the space bar instead of tabbing or using the center command located in the toolbar. They hit hard return at the end of a line instead of letting the computer wrap words automatically. Sure, it may look CLOSE to right in format on the paper copy, but if one has to edit any of the information it messes everything up. Also for someone who reads papers for a living, close is not the same thing as correct.

Page #'s should also be put in the header, so that they float, and if you take out a paragraph or add content it won't mess up the location of the page numbers. Placing Page numbers in the header also keeps margins the right size and location.

Because a digital file will be moved around and used by people other than one's self it should have a file name that will benefit others. That file-name should include author's name (last name and first initial) and a short and/or abbreviated description of the assignment. Many applications can't handle a space so jam words together or separate with an underline or period. I highly recommend inserting a date or number to designate a version to help distinguish early drafts from late drafts. For an annotated bibliography of a textbook, I'd name it dixong_AnnoText the first time I save it and I'd add the date whenever I saved to a new location - dixong_AnnoText.10.22.10 Editing changes the date modified if you use windows explorer (which everyone should. It's visual, intuitive, quick and convenient), so it is important to keep track of what is the latest revision of your work.

Save multiple copies in multiple places and save often. Those of us who can remember before autosave learned this the hard way. Email a copy to yourself, save it to your home computer, invest in several cheap flash drives,... even most portable media players can simultaneously work as portable storage.

"A Rose for Emily"

Everyone needs to be familiar with "A Rose For Emily." Because it appears in so many anthologies and textbooks, most people who have been to college should have read it, and it has something to offer everyone - including social criticism and commentary on: race, gender, perverted and/or abusive intimate relationships and more. E-notes tells us:

“A Rose for Emily” is a story that stands by itself. Faulkner himself modestly referred to it as a “ghost story,” but many critics recognize it as an extraordinarily versatile work. As Frank A. Littler writes in Notes on Mississippi Writers, ‘‘A Rose for Emily’’ has been ‘‘read variously as a Gothic horror tale, a study in abnormal psychology, an allegory of the relations between North and South, a meditation on the nature of time, and a tragedy with Emily as a sort of tragic heroine.’’

See also Spark notes.

Questions I have for myself before class:

• Do I want students to look at the conclusions and ideas from past classes - or come up with an interpretation on their own - unbiased by previous readers?
• Should I have students compare the tale to a CSI or Law & Order episode? We've previously compared the meaning of the rose to a Bachelor / Bachelorette reality TV meaning. How would they react to a role play?
  
• Why did our text book place the student example of a literary analysis in front of the story itself?
• Did I warn them in advance of the inappropriate language (by today's standards)? Can or should we discuss it? They could see the same term in the middle stall of the 3rd floor LIB men's bathroom.
  

Questions I want readers to think about today:

1. When was the story set? Where? Describe the social context.
2. Is it believable?
   
3. What do we know about the narrator?
4. What do we know or suspect about Homer Barron? anyone look it up? Here, or here(?)? What're your gut feelings about him?
   
5. Was the writer intentionally using symbols and multiple layers of meaning?
6. Do Homer and Emily seem like a good match?
   
7. How do the town's people feel about Emily? How do you feel about her?
8. What does Emily's reaction to the death of her father tell us about the way her mind works?
9. What does the hair in the last sentence mean?
   

See more questions courtesy of Web English Teacher. Find full text online here - until the text book thugs take it down.

national wear purple day

I found out from a friend about a movement to show support for GLBT youths by wearing purple today. There is a facebook group (at least one). There are events organized in Chicago, and other cities.

Much of the momentum comes from the 6 or more young men who have committed suicide in recent weeks after being bullied for their perceived orientation. At least one of the young men was straight, but peers labeled him and abused him (does/ should that matter?).

Today for a Journal Writing topic I'd like my classes to write about whether gay rights are civil rights. Why, or in what ways, are GLBT targeted? WHy do people react so strongly to homosexuality in you culture? Will there always be a scapegoat - or a socially condoned victim? Is our culture, community or school heterosexist? Issues of race get tied up with gender and sexuality all the time. I'm interested that the Root posted on wearing purple today. Why do divorce rates go up whenever/where-ever women get more rights?
What are the politics of the issue? What are the arguments for or against? For that matter, what is homosexuality? Some cultures consider it an act or behavior, for others (US) it is a fundamental question of identity.

The US Secretary of State speaks in support of an It Gets Better campaign, and the I Give a Damn campaign takes a direct approach.

And a shout out to the JCCC Queers and Allies - who meet Wednesdays at 2pm in CC212. The also have a facebook group.

Would our classes be interested in having a Speak Out panel come to class?

Word Choice: From the Sportspage

Is partake used correctly here? I've always seen the connotation as passive - or that one took in or received something. There seems some ambiguity or confusion whether the coach is yelling at the ref and the cornerback Flowers, or if Flowers and the coach are both yelling at the referee. To me the word choice of "partake" indicates the former. The picture shows the coach staring at the camera - and not at either of the other 2 people in the picture.

I encourage students to check out the definition of words - even those you think you know. I like thefreedictionary.com, but it isn't helping me today.

on Academia

Thanks to SMBC

Scare quotes are Evil

As written earlier

I'm seeing too "many" superfluous quotes. Wikipedia calls this Scare Quotes. Avoid this. I don't like irony conveyed through quotation marks. Use words. And they don't work for emphasis. Serious explanation here. Check out the blog dedicated to unnecessary quotes here - or the Facebook group - seriously.

Textbook Annotated Bibliography

How to write an annotated bibliography is covered in depth in the Comp 121 textbook. You can also check our social bookmarking site for loads of references online.

NOTE:

1. Refer to MLA handbook for how to cite sources - examples may be dated and
2. Double space everything.
3. Examples for visual reference - not arbiter of accuracy.
4. click on images of samples to enlarge.
5. Like everything else - it needs a heading. Don't trust the samples tho - too many are wrong - and that's just evil.
6. MLA handbook free online here. How to cite a work in an anthology (many English textbooks are anthologies) page 16, Sample Student Paper on page 40 (see this for heading format and page # placement).
   

Does anyone see anything in this?

See also colorblind tests for children. and colorvisiontesting

What I'm Learning from the SRTOL Essays: FA2010

• I want students to get away from the idea of correct or incorrect grammar. This thinking indicates a prescriptive rather than descriptive definition of grammar - and runs counter to the goal of the assignment; however, if someone really wants to go there - plan on defining grammar in detail.
• So many thesis statements ended up on the last page. I specifically asked for them in the first paragraph, and in 85% or more of published essays that's where you find them. It makes reading easier and more predictable. Someone this semester asked if they could put the thesis on the last page. I said they could, but that doesn't mean one should. In every case so far where I find the thesis after the first 2 paragraphs it looks like the author wrote until they discovered the thesis then quit when they hit minimum length requirements: typical first draft stuff. They generally should have then moved the thesis to the first paragraph, and then pruned the essay down to just what is relevant or implied by the thesis. Then add support and detail to what's left.
• I'm seeing too "many" superfluous quotes. Wikipedia calls this Scare Quotes. Avoid this. I don't like irony conveyed through quotation marks. Use words. And they don't work for emphasis. Serious explanation here. Check out the blog dedicated to unnecessary quotes here - or the Facebook group - seriously.
• Cliche alert - avoid "in today's society."
  
• Regarding format specifications. Ignoring format requests is antisocial and passive aggressive.
• Overly wordy introductions to quotes - transitions are needed - but empty and redundant information isn't. I repeatedly see, "In the journal article __________ published in ______ by the author _______ it says..." All this information is on the works consulted page - right? So a shorter reference will work. The wordy version makes it almost an appeal to authority. "Smith argues, "Blah, blah, blah" will work just as well. Or "Blah, blah, blah"(Smith 45).
• EVERY SOURCE USED OR MENTIONED SHOWS UP ON THE WORKS PAGE! This is a big deal. Just because I may know of the article, doesn't mean you're excused from citing the source. We need to demonstrate the ability to work with sources. That's a huge objective of this class.
  
• "some people say" is a red flag for a specious argument and a need for more research and support.
  

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/wikipedian_protester.png

Comic on Teaching

Found this on the Shoebox blog (a tiny division of Hallmark). It's consistently entertaining and occasionally useful.