16.i.08 Foundations of Verbal Communications

The experiment with Garrison's method is going well so far, I think. On Wednesday I asked the students to consider the topics they had defined on Monday as having the greatest interest and then to write out at least five sub-topics within that topic, then circle one of these subtopics as the most interesting, and then within that subtopic develop about five sub-topics. I asked for them to write out the whole process so that I would be able to see it, since I suspected we would run out of time.

I also provided them with the assignment for the quotation / paraphrase / summary / reference exercise, due next week, and some suggestions about the five/four exercise as well.

The class environment was fascinating to observe. Although students were working on perhaps four different projects --

reading Always Coming Home
writing five/fours
refining their topics
studying the quotation assignment

they were all... working -- either reading or writing. A bit past the half-way point I began to circulate and talk one-on-one with students about refining their topics. In some cases I thought that the students were ready to move on to research, even to outlining their informative essays and formulating theses.

When a question was raised about the terms and ideas in the quotation exercise, I opened this up to class as a whole so that the assignment would be clear; otherwise the atmosphere of the class seemed to be diligent individual work.

Now, I did not get through all of the conferences during the class period; I e-mailed ten students with suggestions for development. One was a bit long, but the rest were a quarter-page or so, and the long e-mail was well-received and led to a string back and forth.

If the conferences can be confined to the class sessions, doubleplusgood, but again, so far Garrison's method seems to be proving itself.

We seem to be blessed with a community of poets. Three students asked to present poems by friends or family members. So long as they can provide the background dispassionately and in reference to the poem rather than to the speakers, this should be fine; if it is not fine, we will talk about why it is not.

Here's a poem for you:

Amphibian

Perhaps now I know
the understanding of those first
amphibians, fish really, elbowing
from the waters onto land
for a few tentative moments
gasping
and then returning
to the comfort of a less-safe sea

The opportunities of the dry land
not yet clearly known but glimpsed
and each time out of the water
known better

slowly
I begin to grasp
the long climb
toward human
being.

21 vi 07