September 7, 2008
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So, I wasn’t going to blog about the “class that went horribly wrong” on Friday, but I think I at least need to record it here so I know it happened (and can analyze why)…
The Setup: Both of my afternoon classes, English 120 at 1pm and English 110 at 2pm are in the same classroom on campus; the classroom is long – one side has desks made for 13-yr-olds and a teacher station w/projector and the whiteboards, the other side is computers in clusters with much more comfy chairs.
Some Background: Last Friday, I had my 1pm class get into a circle (with the 13-yr-old desks) and share their “bad” arguments. We had a good laugh, then I went on with class from there without problems. We left the desks in a circle for the 2pm class; many of them got suspicious when they saw the desks in a circle, but most (there was a small percentage that sat close to the circle but on the computer chairs because they didn’t fit into the small desks) went along with it. It was a good class.
Friday’s situation: I basically duplicated last Friday’s setup (“If it’s not broke,” I thought). The 1pm class shared their “good” arguments (revised from the “bad” last Friday, of course) and then I sent around the slang handout from 1969; we discussed & laughed some more. Since I wasn’t feeling super awesome, I described the two assignments for Monday and then gave them 10-15 min to take the Quiz on Chapters 1 & 2.
When it went badly: We left the desks, once again, in a circle. I think I ran to my office to get something for a student, and when I returned (this was 5-10 min before 2pm), students had started to fill up the computer chairs, but not the desks. Oddly, I bet the ones who sat in the desks are my better students… maybe? But either way, not many ventured over to sitting in the circle as they had last Friday. I believe I commented on it, but no one moved. Instead, they used the excuse that the desks are teeny (and they are), and I didn’t want to say, “Okay, if you are skinny enough to fit in ‘em, get over in this circle!”
So, I start class sitting in a desk, asking students to share their “good” essays (revised “bad” ones from last Friday). Somehow, we got off track with the election or something. Once I got asked what I was politically, I moved us relatively immediately into my list for the day asking students to share. A few share their essays. I then send around a texting language handout. There were texts on there they’d never seen; more laughing ensued (which is fine – I think people learn more when they are having fun). I then tried to recapture their attention, but that fell apart right around 2:20pm. The handout got more attention than I did (when does that EVER happen?)… and so, when I said the assignment for Monday would be another experimental essay: write an essay in texting language (as written about on this very blog), I actually got more sighs than I thought. I frowned & thought, “Okay, so students detest boring assignments, but when I give them weird ones, they complain as well… WTH?”
By 2:30ish, I knew I had lost a majority of the attention spans in that room. I mumbled something about starting over on Monday and that this setup would just not work (I have no problem showing my frustrations to students; this is good and bad). After assigning what to do for Monday, I cut my losses and shook my head a lot. Maybe they thought the class went well, maybe they meant to get me off track on a Friday, maybe they all now think I can’t control a classroom when the setup isn’t traditional, maybe that particular class can’t function in unstructured large-group discussions? I don’t know at this point, but I feel I let down the students who wanted to really discuss, the students who put themselves in the uncomfortable desks ready to learn something, and I feel I let myself down too. Perhaps I need to look at it this way, though: I wasn’t feeling all that great Friday morning (didn’t go in until noon), so if I had canceled all my classes, I wouldn’t have had that 2pm situation blow up in my face – a lesson to learn early on in the semester. And at least I met with them and accomplished something rather than nothing.
Of course, I shared my situation with my officemate, Anne, and Wade, my dept chair, shortly after the class. Both listened, both understood, and both gave me ways to look at it positively. Wade even suggested trying the sitting-in-the-circle-to-discuss procedure one more time before I completely take it out of that class. He and I are both thinking that small-groups may work better for that 2pm crew.
What drives me nuts: I really, really like ALL my classes right now. Sometimes, and teachers typically don’t admit to this, we get classes that have no vibe to them at all. We end up not looking forward to them (maybe they are all uber quiet or they all don’t care and that vibe leaks into the whole class). But I got good feelings from all my classrooms from the get-go last week. I guess they are just too energized, or maybe I approached them in a too-laid-back manner? I’ve rarely had a class (since teaching high school freshmen) “go” the way that one did.
Not only do I have that sitting in my head with tomorrow on the horizon, but I also finally start teaching my FYE section tomorrow at noon. Luckily, I’ll have time between my 9-Noon to grade some things and really lay out what to do with my afternoon courses.
p.s. Does anyone else think Rachel Zoe needs to eat a cheeseburger? Okay, like five of them? She’s got a new show on Bravo. Tuesday nights. “I die.” “That’s bananas.” Huh. I bought her book this summer – wasn’t that impressed.
