How on earth am I supposed to change my students?
Month: February 2013
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*insert swear words*
Not ONLY am I attempting to improve their reading and writing skills, but today I realized I have yet ANOTHER “challenge” or “task” or “something like those words.”Changing their racist & homophobic attitudes and ideas.Yes, racist and homophobic remarks have always popped up my classrooms verbally. Like ugly bubbles in a glass of Diet Coke.But now they are showing up in student papers.I guess I should put a clause into every projects’ instructional guide? = “No homophobic language or racist language allowed. Don’t even try it.” Because YA KNOW WHAT? Sure, George Carlin is vulgar. He’s got F-bombs shooting out of him like fireworks on July 4th, but swear words don’t mean much when they are just thrown into the air.Example: If I walked into a classroom, and just said the f-word. That’s it. Just “F**k.” Students might giggle, but that’s it. If I said “F*g” or the n-word. By itself. Nothing else. Someone could easily get hurt by that, and I know some students would say that PEOPLE GET OFFENDED by everything, but they have a REASON to get offended by the latter words I brought up and not the former. I guess this is my opinion, but no one is set apart from another with the f-word. In a classroom of mixed religions and races and backgrounds, the f-word could offend the uber religious, maybe, but only because they don’t like it not because they identify with the word, like the other words I’ve mentioned.So, yeah, I’m a weirdo. I don’t care if I hear the f-bomb in class (as long as it’s not used WITH other derogatory words, of course), but I can not deal with the n-word or anything derogatory towards other races and sexualities. Ugh ugh ugh. -
Let’s “Be” “Honest.”
I’m going to tell you, whoever you are (?), something I don’t think I’ve told anyone else.
Yeah.Here it is:I worry about my students not doing their work. And sometimes I feel guilty that I (gasp!) ask them to complete things “quickly” (the definition to this word could be debated f-o-r-e-v-e-r).Example: Project 3 in my Eng110 (College Comp I) asks the students to mimic the “List Essay (yes, a genre I “made up”),” as seen on ThoughtCatalog.com & McSweeneys… This is assigned and completed in about a week (maybe one day over that, but you get the point). I ask for 1000+ words on ANY topic; they will, on the due date, read their classmates’ list essays (yes, this is the only project where they see everyone’s final projects & get a “say” in who did super well for their audience) & vote on their top 5. During this week, we have a few smaller assignments here & there (like reading George Carlin’s book and completing a new activity I call the Perfect Paragraph), but they should be working on this project throughout that week. I know some of them, if not most, procrastinate and probably write the bugger at 3am the morning of the deadline, but yeah. That is my very strange secret.I mean, what kind of teacher* worries about that? Of course it’s enough time. I give them about a month on their first project (which is a memoir and a profile that adds up to 1000+ words) & their second project is a research paper we take a bit of time on. This may be the only one that is “quick.” But it might be the most fun. And there aren’t sources/citations involved.*The college comp teachers I had assigned us all kinds of daily writing (for the next class period – especially my College Comp II teacher who didn’t think I could write as well as the College Comp I teacher had; they were both TAs…) which had to be typed with sources, etc. I recall forgetting one paper & having to write it up at the library around 4am before its 8am due date; it was on legalizing homosexual marriage or homosexual adoption. I think it was really good, but I had been thinking about that topic a LOT before I wrote it, so yeah. It was my own fault for not watching the deadline closer, and I’m pretty sure I skipped a research day in there, too. Whoopsie.So, I wonder why I have this little teeny worry in me. I hear the worry peep up from time to time even with how much daily work (reading and writing) I’m having the students do, but then I have to remind myself – like I have to remind them – that this is COLLEGE. Not only do I feel my strict NO LATE work policy helps them with the upcoming “real world,” but so does giving them a few tasks to complete at each class period. Our daily lives, once out of college and grad school, are all about remembering to do things and balancing work and play. They should constantly be learning how to manage their time. Duh.There you have it, folks. A weird little thing I was thinking about today. In fact, that Project 3 is being covered in one class right now = the others are covering Project 2 (the research paper). Many, and I mean many, skipped class (I’m looking at you 1pm class!) on Friday. I bet only 10 were there to sign up for Prezi Presentations (of their Project 2 topic). I was planning on having some students present their Prezis Wed & Fri of this week & Monday of next. But, of course, no one signed up for this Wednesday because not everyone was there. I don’t know what to do with this… I might have to have them all smoosh into two days, I guess? Doesn’t feel right to let those skippers off the hook, but I don’t know if I want to fight them.Anyhow… night night blog world. -
Snowbabies.
Somehow, due to the Snow Day, my “items to assess” pile doubled. At least, it feels that way.
It’s like it had babies… snow babies. But I can’t get rid of these by shoveling them into a pile on the boulevard. Dang it.P1 in Eng120;assessed the other stuff from last week already.P1 & P1.5 in my 1pm (10 left) and 3pm classes, among other items:Peer Review & Obituaries. Sheesh.Creative Writing Online = another pile of stuff.Let’s check some of it off my list before my 3pm meeting. Ready, set, go! -
Pre-Snow Day…
It’s snowing like… it was Ma Nature’s only job today, the only thing on her agenda.
I bet we’ll have close to two feet tomorrow. Sheesh!So, I was antsy…
early on in the day, with coffee in me, before we got notified of no class tomorrow,
I started & got the following done:— Painted the small wall by the entryway closet; it was the second coat.
— Cleaned my office BIG TIME! Organized it & put up shelves, etc. etc. This took the most time! Ugh.
— Altered a top & added denim hearts to another top.
— Ordered a Christmas gift (we got a coupon for a 16×20 canvas thingie).
— Baked some cupcakes.
— Started up the crockpot with chicken curry soup.
— Took pictures of the snow.Whew! I’m kind of pooped, now.
Tomorrow:
— Alter more clothing? Put stenciled word on grey sweatshirt?
— Go through my makeup/jewelry closet downstairs?
— Add back pockets to those black splattered leggings…?
— Make blue & green pom-poms for baby shower?
— Use pencil eraser to paint pok-a-dots on those light-denim jeans? -
you could kill someone if you didn’t see them.
Nothing can replace human interaction… -
This is GENIUS. He is a GENIUS.
I want to not worry about failing.I think I did some of that when I said, “I want to use George Carlin” in my class. Who had done it before? But why not? I didn’t know. I still don’t. I consider him a genius. Same with Sir Ken Robinson. And Einstein. And Chuck Klosterman. And David Sedaris. Yeah. And I’m re-reading Dry by Augusten Burroughs = more genius. Kathy Griffin & Chelsea Handler & Joan Rivers & Ellen DeGeneres = female genius. Yes yes yes. I like to surround myself with comedy and intelligence. Horror? No. Sci-Fi? No. Laughter and ideas = YES.
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