the "F" situation

When my students do not hand in the entirety of a packet, I simply give the grade they earned with that draft. All my students have the chance to constantly revise their papers and they are reminded of this at least once a week after the first paper is handed back. I place a deadline on when I will stop accepting these revisions (this semester it is May 1) and also remind them of that aspect. Their grades are not only placed on their papers but also on blackboard. I always write "revise" or "may revise" and then leave it up to the student.
For a situation this extreme, I would like to think I would approach it the same way. The fact that at least one student did the assignment correctly seems to allude to the fact that I did present the rules at least one time. If I did not chose to go my general route, I would employ this technique: Here are your drafts back with your earned grade. You WILL turn in a complete draft by the next class period or your grade stays (NO REVISIONS ALLOWED)
Of course, this would greatly depend on how many students had trouble with the assignment: did I get any emails, did I get a lot of emails concerning this paper? These issues would have to be addressed, but I would assume I would still call them all dumbasses and then have them do it again (the right way this time).

Texts but no Texts.....

I have been struggling with the use of a single text this semester, as I did last semester. While some may see positive aspects to using a set text for a writing course, the sheer amount of individuality in a writing classroom already leads itself to destroy this attempt at homogenization. I have attempted to utilize many aspects of modern culture in my classroom as I know many of you already blow me out of the water in this area and have been met with, what I would consider to be great success. My classes tend to focus greatly on the conceptual aspects of writing: ideas, conflict, logic, rhetoric, and so I do not always focus heavily on the more formal elements used in some writing courses. I do not enforce MLA standards to students that, most likely, will not have to ever use this format in their writing careers. I do, however, use MLA as a basis (understanding the need for some formal basis) but I also allow those students who know their fields to write in their field's format style. It is because of this, that I am considering, for my future career to allow my students to purchase the style manual of their choice (this is of course dependent on the approval from the department in what ever institution I end up teaching).
This example is taken much from a high school chemistry teacher who refused to use a book. He claimed the books that were available to him did not cover the material adequately and left out too much explanation and practical application of the material. Because of this, he created his own curriculum and had a giant binder (the Chemistry Bible) from which he taught. He was the teacher you took if you intended to use the science for future classes or if you were pre-college in any of the science fields. I would very much like to follow his model and create a writing curriculum for myself and utilize my own sources and compile a "greatest hits" of writing assignments. Of course, many of us already do this to some extent, but until a completely encompassing text is released for writers, I do not think I will attempt to homogenize my class.

Personal Elements in my Classroom

My field is literature. Plain and simple. Most everyone knows that my thing is old stuff, medieval works and before and for the past several months I have been working on combining the two fields of lit and composition. I use literature in my classroom as both models for works and as tools to attempt to enhance critical and analytical skills. I do not only use medieval texts, though my research does focus primarily on the use of Beowulf, Canterbury Tales, and Dante's Inferno. I have not had the opportunity to place this theory into practice, but what literature I have used, the results have been very good.
My main assignments that revolve around literature include a song lyric, "The Wendy Trilogy" in which I introduce feminine criticism to emphasize analysis; a portion of Joyce's Ulysses to emphasize the need for mechanics and structure; and A Modest Proposal to show the use of a well structured argument even in a situation that may be completely disagreeable. For now, those are my three main assignments that focus on a specific literary piece.

Mulitple Drafting

Well, like many of you all, I just finished my last draft for the "revision" assignment and I have to tell you that was hard. It was hard not because I have trouble analyzing materials, but because after four years of undergraduate work and two years of graduate work I have trouble needing four drafts to conclude a 3-5 page paper. Now, I still did the assignment and completed it to the best of my abilities, but I had to write the paper in its entirety and then cut and paste several drafts together.
One of the things I try to emphasize in my class is the difference between revision and editing. One focuses on content/ structure the other on mechanical/ format issues. I feel that this assignment, for students of our level, forces editing and not revision. I do not know how many others write the way I do, but I have 70% of a paper written in my head after about five weeks of thinking about it before I even write a word down. Now, I realize that our students may not all have that ability and that it may be foolish to assume they might, but if what is needed is multiple drafts focusing on content then why are graduate students being used? Why not use the very students in English 110 on a volunteer basis to produce several drafts of a paper. After all, Composing Ourselves is suppose to be for their benefit, why would the students be held to the examples of graduate level writers?
Now, I do appreciate the purpose of the assignment, do not think otherwise; I am a big advocate of examples in the classroom, but some of us really had trouble with this assignment because we simply do not write like this (anymore or have ever).
In fact, it has opened my eyes quite a bit to how I will deal with the drafting process in future writing classes. I have heard from many students that drafting is simply not how they write and I have a hard time looking at them and saying too bad because I know exactly how they feel.
I would love to hear other ideas on how to do be able to keep up with progress without requiring multiple drafts. If the intention is to catch plagiarism early, then there can be other methods of keeping up with the student's progress without a new draft every so often. Any ideas?

Theorist

Two theorists that I tend to model my classroom on are Gottschalk and Sommers. Gottschalk is very much in the social contructivist group and endorses a great deal of personal experience guiding the writing classroom instead of using a prescribed template. Sommers, of course, deals with the concept of revision and writing as a process. I incorporate both of these elements into my classroom very heavily. I allow the students to revise as many times as they wish because this is ultimately how they will learn, in my opinion, to write better. What good does it do to merely mark an error and then move on to the next item of business? The students must be able to identify the problems and then use them in practical application. I know several professors that use this approach and the ones that I have been fortunate enough to study under have aided in my writing skills immensely.
As far as Gottschalk's methodology creeping into my classroom, I tend, as we all do, to use what we know best in the classroom. My personal preference is for lit. and although that is a bad word in conjunction with comp classes, my research has uncovered many comp theorists that not only endorse the use of lit in the classroom, use it themselves, and debate those who oppose it, but they cite actual results in their research as using lit versus not using it (for those who are more prone to it). I have discovered that a majority of those opposed to the use of lit in the classroom are more critical of the way the lit is being used. This is seen in the way the instructors have been trained, New Criticism. it greatly influenced the ways in which lit was used in the writing classroom for a many years, but with the introduction of a new generation of teachers trained in a plethora of methodologies those concerns are becoming less applicable.
And, of course, I use a great deal of humor in my classroom. I have blogged about this aspect of my classroom so I will not go into detail here. But my main influences are Gallagher, Eddie Izzard, and Jeff Dunham (with some George Carlin).

Snow Days

AAHHH! Another damn snow day. What are we suppose to do with all the time we are missing. Granted, I had a few days worked into the schedule that really didn't serve any purpose other than filler. Days that could serve as a overflow if debates went over or discussions became intense, but now that is all thrown out the window. I know this is the case for all teachers, I am just not sure how to deal with it. I am just pressing on. No more hand holding. I had a a rough draft due on Thursday and had several students email me asking if the draft was still due. On Tuesday we were to discuss the Works Cited page, but now I have to combine the peer edit day with the WC discussion. I know that it is completely realistic to do this; I just like having time to work and allow the students to ask questions. So what are the rest of you doing. I am sure you all have had your schedules cramped to the point of frustration, especially now. Are you cutting assignments, merging assignments?

Authority and the Illusion of it.

How does a GA create an environment suitable for teaching in addition to keeping student involvement up? This becomes tedious when we, as GA's, have an unspoken responsibility and yet seemingly little authority over our own classroom. Now, please do not get me wrong, I am not on a crusade to level the playing field, mostly because I know it will not happen, but I am going to rant and I do not think I will be alone on this issue (rather vocalized or not).
With recent events in seasonal weather, it has once again been hammered into our consciousness that we, as GA's are less than human, or at least faculty. When ice covers the ground and slows productivity enough to require the closing of a University, several professors decide in favor of personal safety, and the safety of their students, as opposed to a full classroom for the day. This "privilege" does not, it seems, transfer to GA's and I am simply curious as to the reason. "If you live down a dirt road in a holler fifty miles from here and can't get out of your driveway because a tree is blocking it, then find a sub. :-)", I wonder how many other individuals not constrained by their high rank were forced to locate a substitute in the harsh weather, or if not forced, how many actually did?
It seems as though G.A.'s are little more than educated Pinocchios dancing for the amusement and productivity value of the puppeteer, Stromboli. And we all wonder why we do not have the authority to command a classroom and maintain student attendance when we ourselves are dancing on a high wire powerless to enforce any of the policies which we are also forced to include on our syllabus.

Comics and the classroom

In my personal life, I watch a lot of stand up comedy. I often incorporate these elements into my classroom. I like to approach the classroom as a humorous environment, in addition to a learning environment. Recently, I have developed two new lessons that I am going to center around a specific comic, Gallagher. Now, for those familiar with this comic I am not going to smash food (yet), but there is a skit he does involving mismatched clothing that I am going to restructure to fit the unity of an essay. This will involve bringing a random amount of clothing and going through a routine that elaborates on how ridiculous it is when people dress like this, then link it to how ridiculous some essay structures are.
The other routine I am going to adapt involves style. This is discusses by Gallagher because we all need style to get through life. I am merely going to revamp the routine to reflect personal style in essays. Thus far, what routines I have included from various comics have greatly increased their attention. I enjoy the responses from the students and also enjoy the interaction. Most of the routines do involve the students and that allows me to have a greater effect (I hope).

Disney Project (pre research paper)

Last semester, I included an extra credit project that revolved around exploring the basis for various Disney films. The students were to chose any film from a preselected list (a list which excluded some of the more obvious ones such as Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid, etc) and research possible connections to previous books, movies, plays, etc. This was originally given as an extra credit assignment to be written in the form of a textual analysis (assigned after the T.A.) and was not "due" until the final day of the semester. This semester, after my lecture on looking further into texts and using the Lion King and Little Mermaid as examples, both classes seemed to be more eager to explore these possibilities than last semester. So, I have decided to include this as a project, a small project before or even perhaps during the initial stages of the research paper to give them another view on research.

Into the texts (Textual Anlysis)

As part of my lesson plans for the Textual Analysis, I include lyrics from music. The students deal with critical Analysis everyday of their lives, they just may not be aware that is what it is called. Anytime they justify a piece of music they like over another or even have to "talk up" a movie they may like but their best friend does not, they are engaging in critical analysis. This semester, I am going to try to go a step further and try to convey the importance of getting into the texts by all of us singing. Now, this may seem a little radical, but in other fields of lit this is not so different. Plays are meant to be heard, not read. Poems to be heard and read so why should we assume that music lyrics do not have the same qualities. They also have elements other than the words that aid in the message. So, I am going to provide an overhead of "Come Together" and use a recording of the version which appeared in Across the Universe. I feel this will help bring in a sense of inclusion to the text and may even get them to look at the text in a different way. Either that or they will all think I am nuts.

poor attendance

For the past several weeks, I have been struggling with the low class attendance. This has led to a general low self esteem issue for me and all because I was not focusing on the half (literally the half) of the class that is showing up to learn twice a week. I have been intent on that fact that I have been dropping the ball that I have been constantly questioning everything I am doing, even though I have altered very little as far as what I did last semester. Having heard a lot from the other GA's in the office, of whom I know are Kick Ass teachers, I have finally come to understand that the spring semester just plain sucks. This is a lesson that I am sorry I had to take almost five weeks to weed out for myself, and that a line from the movie, The Emperor's Club is actually true, "The value of life is not measured by a single failure or a solitary success." We must not forget about those that do show up and do want to be there. I was allowing the negativity, that I thought reflected on me and my personal methods of teaching, to block the good that I could have been doing to those that were showing up and supporting me every class period. I know we are all tired and ready for the semester to end, but man, I can not believe I ignored the positive ones and focused on the negatives.