Final Time

Boy howdy, summer classes go fast.

Today's the day my 121 students had their final exam. Their final is to write a self-evaluation essay discussing their writing abilities.

It's fascinating to see their commentaries on how their writing has changed, in some cases a great deal, in just two months.

Now comes the grading. Today I collected two papers - one last formal paper that they've been working on in class, and the final. Grades are due Wednesday. You can guess what my plans for the next two days involve.

It's going to be tough to do final grading and still make progress on the contest, but I'm going to do my best to do exactly that. Here goes a very intense few days.

Revision Logs

I'm teaching a composition class over the summer and right now I've begun grading my class's first set of papers. With this class, I decided to try something I haven't tried before. Along with the final draft of their papers, I had them turn in a revision log. For this log, there are two parts:

Part 1: They had to create a list of feedback they have received on their paper. They needed to include feedback they received from their peers in the class, feedback from me, and feedback from anyone else (like a tutor, friend, or family member) who helped them work on their paper.

Part 2: They had to create a daily log of what they did on their paper that day and, if applicable, whose feedback that change was in response to.

I had a couple of ideas behind the log. One was to help students look at their feedback comprehensively and see if there were trends where more than one reviewer pointed out the same strength or weakness. Another principle was that if they wrote down the specific steps they took to revise their paper, they would be more aware of their writing/revising process, which is something I put a very big emphasis on in my classes. One of the most important things anyone can learn about writing is what works best for them, and being aware of process is where that all starts. Last, my practical impetus behind the revision logs was to help hold students accountable for their revision. Sometimes, when I read a final draft, I find a student has ignored feedback, or made minimal changes. In a few of the very worst cases, I've read final drafts that were identical to the rough draft, save for a change in font, because students are nothing if not optimistic that I'm not paying very much attention.

So, I thought I would try an experiment where students had to write down what work they had done on their papers and when. Then, when I return the graded final drafts, I hope that by looking at their revision logs along with my comments on their rough and final drafts, students will be better able to see how effective their revisions either were or were not.

At this point, I haven't yet read the papers themselves. I decided to start by looking at the revision logs. It makes for interesting reading. Not surprisingly, I'm noticing a correlation between students who wrote detailed revision logs and students who are strong writers overall. Students who struggle with writing overall also struggle with their revision logs. As we continue through the semester and students get more practice with writing and revising, I'll be curious to see how the revision logs evolve.

Here are a couple of audience participation questions: When it comes to revision, have you ever done anything like a revision log? How do you handle going from getting feedback to compiling/implementing it?

My Favorite Typo

Student papers often have typos, especially at the beginning of the semester before we've worked on proofreading. Of all the typos I see, there is one which I see most often, from the most students. I'm not sure what it is about this particular word, but it gets typoed a ton.

Today, I'm collecting the first writing homework from my classes. I just glanced at one student's and what should I happen to see? That's right, my favorite typo. See, I love this word because it makes the sentence feel more... enthusiastic, and who doesn't like enthusiasm?

There, at the end of the homework assignment, is this sentence: "I feel I have a method to my madness at this point in my writing, but I think tweaking is defiantly good."

First Day of School

My class schedule this semester is quick and dirty - three classes in four hours M/W/F, with office hours in between. I'm excited about that, because it means my time on campus is over by noon. The flip side, of course, being that I have to be up and prepared extra early, but it works out well overall.

Right now I've got a bit of a lull (office hours), then I'm off to my last class at 11:00. I'm excited for this semester and eager to meet my last batch of students.

Restless

I'm on summer vacation. This is the first summer vacation I've had off of both school and work in a very long time - since I was eleven or so, I think. I've always had busy summers since then, and I've been planning to take this one all the way off as a present to myself for getting my thesis done. (It's still not all the way done, as it's under review, but I'm close.

Here I am, about two weeks in, and I'm restless. *Sigh* So much for relaxing. I need something to do. Fortunately, I guessed this might be the way it went and planned out some projects ahead of time. Now my issue is that being home all day is distracting. It looks like I may have to spend some time on campus during my vacation because the change of scenery will help me focus. Funny, isn't it?

My Favorite

This semester of teaching has been my favorite so far. I've had some really great students and finally feel like I've had enough practice to know at least a little of what works with a class. In the past couple of days, I've been reading and grading final exams. For all three of my classes, the final was the same - a personal reflection over the semester where the student had to write, in class, at least 2 pages about how they've changed as a writer.

A big part of my pedagogy is based in metacognition. In my own writing, I know that really paying attention to what I'm doing and why is one of the best ways for me to learn. That's one of the reasons I have this blog - writing about writing makes me a better writer. So, in class, I ask my students to do the same. Of all the writing they produce throughout the semester, the reflective writings are always the most interesting to me. Students who struggle with the formal writings can really open up in reflections and they usually say some really smart things.

Usually, I am very cautious about discussing my teaching and my students in a public forum. Today I make an exception:

"Throughout this class, I have evaluated and re-evaluated my work. It is always interesting to me to see my progress. It's like a journal, in that going back occasionally allows you to remember and understand where you have been, and where you are going."

"Over the course of this semester I was able to find that I have the potential of becoming a good writer."

"This has really opened my eyes and made me pay more attention to the things I am reading, and to the things I am writing, because what you may want the reader to get out of the reading may not be what you had in the reading at all."

"Reading and thinking critically are a huge part of being an effective and efficient writer."

"I have learned to not write for myself, but for the person reading the paper..."

"I can say now that I do get excited to write now because I have something new to show."

That last one is my favorite.

So Begins The Week of Student Conferencing

Monday: no writing.

Tuesday:12:10-12:30

Worked on Cass

12:30-12:35
Conferenced with Comp. student

12:35-12:40

More Cass.

12:40-More students.

Catch Up

A few days ago, Jenny asked me how my re-writes were going.

My response, "What rewrites?"

A full week of Christmas break, and I still haven't dived into thesis revisions. Instead, I've been playing catch up. My house is now cleaner than it's been in a long while, my dog is recently bathed, and I've had some decompression time spend making jewelry.

Tomorrow, I think, will be the day to get around to the diving.

Grades Day

Today was the day that grades were due. This meant a big rush of grading over the weekend. This meant I had to have all my grades for both classes calculated and turned in by 5:00.

This also means that as of now, I'm done with fall semester. That makes me happy.

Shawn's Defense

I just went to Shawn's thesis defense, which is the second I've gone to and the first for a creative thesis. I've got to say, she was totally badass. If I hadn't had conversations with her about her frustration during the revision process (esp. about the introduction part), I would have never guessed it from how cool and smooth she was today. Go Shawn!

It, like the other defense, was also helpful for me in practical terms. I met with Juan today and told him that I have to have the whole thesis ready for the CWC at the end of December. Now I'm comitted, not just with the group, but also with Juan. The clock is ticking, it's time to knock out that dang preface.

Thanksgiving In the Garage

This semester Amanda is taking a creative non-fiction class. A few days ago, she asked me to look at one of her pieces. I asked her about what kind of feedback she'd like, so I had guidelines on how grammatical, blunt, etc. to be. Amanda said, "Be gentle."

This morning I read a story she wrote about her family and Thanksgiving. I made minimal marks and those marks were just lines beside things that stuck out to me, no actual words. Then we chatted about 'em. I went gently.

Biggest victory of the chat was adjusting her story telling structure and, my favorite, naming it. She had a title, but it didn't quite fit. When I asked her why she titled it that, she kinda shrugged and said she has a hard time with titles.

"Okay," I said. "When you think about this story, what's the biggest thing that sticks in your mind?"

"My aunt continuing to eat the stuffing, even though she kept complaining about it."

"But that's something that happened that day, not something you wrote on the page. On the page, what sticks out to you?"

"Me and my brother sitting in the garage."

"That's perfect!"

You see, the story starts off with Amanda having a conversation with her mom about why Amanda can't host Thanksgiving this year (because the only place there's room is in the garage). Then you go back a few years to Thanksgiving at Amanda's parents' and there's an argument going on over dinner. To escape, Amanda and her brother duck into the garage. It's beautifully parallel.

I feel like helping Amanda get a new title (a perfect title, if I do say so myself) is my biggest accomplishment for today. I just can't help wondering if that might be a bad sign.

Hey Look, It's Sunday Again

The last bit of fall semester is always a bit chaotic. This go 'round, things just seem to be picking up speed as I near the end of it. Everything's kind of going "whoosh" right now. Two weeks of class left, and the light at the end of the tunnel is getting bigger and brighter.

First, though, Thanksgiving break. Three class periods to go, then a whole week off. People keep asking, what I'm going to do. Beats me, but there will be much goofing off, that I do know.

But now, it's Sunday. Again. Which makes tomorrow Monday. Next Monday though, guys, is going to be lovely.

Ah, Deadline, Maker of Momentum

In order to fulfill my goal of getting the thesis over and done with by the end of the semester, I pretty much have to have it all written and revised by November 14. This means I need to have the fiction part written, the research done for the theoretical preface, and the theoretical preface written. All-in-all, we're talking at least one hundred pages.

Not just one hundred pages written out, either. One hundred pages that have been written, edited, distributed to my thesis committee, and revised in response to their feedback.

All this, in two months. Most folks I know are taking two semesters to work out their thesis. But, that's why I wrote stories ahead of time, right? Right. Now it's crunch time. Juan wants pages every time we meet, and I'm quickly running out of material I wrote over the summer. The cool thing, though, is that where for a while I had stalled out on ideas for stories, all of a sudden, I'm prolific. I've got the first page/paragraph of three added into the thesis to work on, and I'm thinking I might toss in a flash I wrote out completely the other day. In fact, now that I'm thinking about it, that flash fits right in with one of the new ones...

Oh yeah, and I'm due for 50 more pages for the CWC in two weeks, without having made any noteable progress at all after I did that spurt of 15 pages. Thus, I'm thinking I'll switch my CWC project back to thesis and kill the proverbial two birds, etc.

Of course, this means I have even more pages to write to get the thesis up to a 50 page sub. than I would have to do the same for the novel, but that also means I'll be that much closer to getting my MA when I want to.

Campus Newspaper Survey

I found a short survey in my campus mailbox today, distributed by English Club for a feature in the university newspaper. They're collecting faculty responses, and some of the questions are straight-forward, like what's your name and position with the university?

Others, though, prove problematic:

#2: What's your favorite book of all time?
Of all time? I can say what my favorite book is today, or what it was yesterday, and maybe they'll be the same book, but maybe they won't. So, "of all time?" Impossible.

#5: What was your greatest writing success and how did you accomplish it?
This one, especially, stumps me. What counts as success, what counts as greatest? Does having people like Oracle enough to occasionally nag me about finishing it count?

Obviously, I could just pick an answer and get on with my life, but I'm pre-occupied with the questions. It's all about wording.

Tell me, if you were answering the survey, what would you fill in for those two?

Speaking the Same Language

In my Composition classes we've been talking about cultural issues, like language and culture clash. We've been talking about using MLA because writing is a conversation and MLA is the language we use. It's all about being able to speak the same language, only then can we have a conversation.

Today I had a meeting with Juan for my thesis. I feel like we're not speaking the same language yet. His definition of magical realism is a pretty hard-core, Gabriel Garcia Marquez one. Magical realism means "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings." Okay, I can appreciate that.

However, I also find it problematic to use only that definition. Why? Because of the "magic" part. You look cross-culturally and the common denominator of what magic is, is a description of seeming. Things that seem to be magical, are. It is belief in the magic that makes it real. Magic becomes a description of reality. With me so far?

So, then I start thinking of a less literal description of magical realism - manipulation of our accepted perception of reality. A broader umbrella. Beneath that umbrella falls Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried because the whole book is a conversation about what reality is and how reality and truth are not always synonymous. How things seem becomes more important than how things are. Again, we're back to describing reality.

In my mind, it's all inter-connected and magical realism is a first-cousin to metafiction and ways of story-telling. I briefly mentioned Tim O'Brien as a magical realist author to Juan, and got a very skeptical reaction. I couldn't articulate my thoughts at the moment, so I dropped it.

Bottom line: right now we're not quite speaking the same language. I've got to figure out how to articulate it in a way that's clear before I can make progress on my theoretical defense portion. I've got to figure out how I translate Tim O'Brien into Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

About This 8 a.m. Thing...

I'm just wrapping up my first day back on campus for the new semester. After a few months of waking up at 8:30 at the earliest, I now need to not only be awake but also be on campus and in class by 8:00. It's going to take some adjusting. And coffee. Definitely coffee.

I think I'm going to like having my Comp. classes back to back, it seems like they go quickly that way. I got a pretty good handle on student names today, and I'm hoping that by the end of classes on Wednesday I'll have the names of all 46 students down. I know it may sound a little crazy, but I'm big on knowing names right away.

Then, after class was my office hours, then I had a getting back on track meeting for SCWP, and this semester I'm training a replacement who'll take over next semester when I'm graduated and no longer eligible for work study. So, we spent a couple hours doing the office tour where I showed her what got filed where, etc.

It's just 3:00 and I'm feeling like I need a nap. However, tonight's also CWC night, so no dice there.

Coffee, I think I need more coffee.

Slippery Days

I don't know what's going on, but the days leading in to fall semester are slipping through my fingers like a squirmy five year old. *Sigh* So much to do before I'm back on campus, sheesh. I'm excited about having 15 pages ready, but not excited about having made no progress this past week.

But, no time to worry about it, I've got a syllabus to revise, a new assignment to create, a key to acquire, rosters to get, reading to do...

I Think I'm Over a Threshold

I've been on a music kick of late, this much is pretty apparent. However, my recent preoccupation has expressed itself in a new and unexpected way. Unless you were already expecting me to go there.

Yesterday, I spent some time on Pandora refining my stations and doing some exploring. This turned into creating a couple new stations. This, in turn, led to finding The Rogue's Gallery on Pandora, which, in turn led me to the following thought:

You know, if my whole thing this month is about putting music and writing together, and if I could make a soundtrack for my Scottish Lit. paper... why not do it for my thesis too?

Thus, I made a station for my thesis. Which works in a fun way, because by refining what does and does not belong on that station, I practice refining what my thesis is and is not.

Now, the real question is whether or not I've just crossed the line into a whole new territory of nerd-dom.

Comp. 101 Student Evaluations

For my class, I get two sets of evaluations. One set is the standard multiple choice evaluation required by the university. The other set was a list of questions I printed up and handed to my class that expands the feedback the multiple choice can give me.

This second set is the one that's ultimately more useful. Also, it's the one I just read through. Yeah, the student critiques of my very first class have been sitting in an unopened envelope all this time. How could I wait that long?! Well, I already had a good idea of what the jist would be.

Which brings me to one specific I would like to share with the world at large. This is just about the only time I'll ever mention anything specific about the students, but I think it's warranted. One of the questions I asked of my students was how they thought my Composition 101 class could be improved.

To paraphrase a couple of the responses: "We should write less and talk more instead."

Thanks guys, I'll take that under consideration.

Defiantly

Well, my comp. class is officially all over. I got to the classroom bright and early at eight o'clock this morning, only to find we were locked out. Thankfully, the Student Support Services office let us use their tutoring room. *Note to self, get combo for room so that next time I can still get in*

Instead of a final exam, my class did final portfolios. Basically, we're talking about a comprehensive project that sums up everything they did over the semester. That in and of itself is an interesting concept. How do you sum up four months of writing? I've just started on the portfolios and, like all the other reflections I've had the class write, they're very interesting. It's neat to see what comes out when the student takes all of their work, puts it together and then says, "This is what I got out of it, and this is where I stand now."

On a side note - one of the most hilarious things I've noticed this semester has been a typo. I've had one student who's done it the most, but it seems to have spread like a contagion. Why is "definitely" so hard to spell? It makes me chuckle to read something like, "I defiantly agree with this author."

Now I have a dozen portfolios to read and final grades to submit by Monday. And that is that. Nothing more to see here. Well, until fall semester, at least.