Ugh! Yesterday I provided my class with their annotated bib prompt. Needless to say, they all looked like deers caught in headlights. So, the first thing I did was provide the class with an overview of how to search on the Pfau Library website for scholarly journals to use in their critical essays. Yeah, that was even more confusing for them. I felt like a major overhaul was needed to get them prepped for their research, so I provided them with a self-help presentation that went step-by-step on how to find each article, how to log on, and how to use the library search engine.
So, I asked them throughout the discussion if they had questions, proceeded to answer their numerous questions, and yet still I came home to an onslaught of questions regarding the library research. Oy!
For tomorrow, I am already gearing myself for the numerous looks of frustration that I will be confronted with as I enter my classroom. Haha! But, yet through it all I still do love them. :)
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
In-Class Essay = AWESOME!!
Okay, maybe I am a bit selfish in saying that it was a nice substitute to have my students spend the entire class eagerly writing their in-class essay (The Rhetorical Analysis) instead of looking sullen, tired, grumpy, and lethargic. Yes, I do love being their teacher, but sometimes mama needs a break! And it helped to make Halloween extra special for us all.
They seemed to have very little problem with the assignment, so I guess it is safe to say that freshman do obtain instruction after 5 times of reaffirming it to them! Although, I did have the one student who came into class, sat down, and said, "What are we writing about again?" (Might I mention that we went over this whole essay the entirety of last week - MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY! - heck, Friday's in-class journal was on a prep, mock version of the big essay today!). Yep, and then I had one student who said to me, "Oh, did we need our books for this?" Yep, he is the student who has yet to BUY his book!
Well, I guess I cannot complain too much because at least 22 outta 26 of the students excelled past my initial hesitation and did awesome. Well, almost awesome.
Needless to say, it was a pretty productive day.
They seemed to have very little problem with the assignment, so I guess it is safe to say that freshman do obtain instruction after 5 times of reaffirming it to them! Although, I did have the one student who came into class, sat down, and said, "What are we writing about again?" (Might I mention that we went over this whole essay the entirety of last week - MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY! - heck, Friday's in-class journal was on a prep, mock version of the big essay today!). Yep, and then I had one student who said to me, "Oh, did we need our books for this?" Yep, he is the student who has yet to BUY his book!
Well, I guess I cannot complain too much because at least 22 outta 26 of the students excelled past my initial hesitation and did awesome. Well, almost awesome.
Needless to say, it was a pretty productive day.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
I am a complete failure at blogging!
So not much on the home front. I had Final drafts due today for their first essay (Narrative). That turned out to be an interesting first ten minutes of class with about 5 students questioning me if it was the actual due date and not Wednesday. I was so not wanting to deal with their trying to pull a fast one on me.
"Reese" was not in class today, maybe because she was putting some finishing touches on her "A paper"! I can only imagine what kind of excuse I will get from her on Wednesday. But, I am sure it will be a winner and noteworthy enough to mention at the next meeting.
We worked on the Eighner essay "On Dumpster Diving" today in class and that was quite interesting. To my complete surprise, they really enjoyed it. Our class discussion lasted about 40 minutes with the majority of the students completely engaged in discussion. Good fun!!
I am trying to put together my class activity for tomorrow: Ethos, Logos, & Pathos. I have decided that I am going to place the students into teams (Team Logos, Team Pathos, Team Ethos) and then we can approach one of the essays in a rhetorical analysis because, in all honesty, they all seem so confused for Monday's in-class essay on the Rhetorical Analysis. Oh, and sidenote here: when I mentioned this activity to the class yesterday, one of my slacker students (yes, the one who questioned the actual due date of the Narrative Essay whilst sucking down a Frappachino) said (sarcastically), "This whole thing sounds so high school." Ugh!
Pray for me.
"Reese" was not in class today, maybe because she was putting some finishing touches on her "A paper"! I can only imagine what kind of excuse I will get from her on Wednesday. But, I am sure it will be a winner and noteworthy enough to mention at the next meeting.
We worked on the Eighner essay "On Dumpster Diving" today in class and that was quite interesting. To my complete surprise, they really enjoyed it. Our class discussion lasted about 40 minutes with the majority of the students completely engaged in discussion. Good fun!!
I am trying to put together my class activity for tomorrow: Ethos, Logos, & Pathos. I have decided that I am going to place the students into teams (Team Logos, Team Pathos, Team Ethos) and then we can approach one of the essays in a rhetorical analysis because, in all honesty, they all seem so confused for Monday's in-class essay on the Rhetorical Analysis. Oh, and sidenote here: when I mentioned this activity to the class yesterday, one of my slacker students (yes, the one who questioned the actual due date of the Narrative Essay whilst sucking down a Frappachino) said (sarcastically), "This whole thing sounds so high school." Ugh!
Pray for me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)