23.i.08 The Experiment Continues

Woke this morning to find the lower back pain which was extreme yesterday afternoon had diminished, although it is still present. A new challenge presented itself in dizziness, which made movement about, showering, dressing, preparing breakfast, &c. "interesting".

I had prepared a notecard listing assignments for FVC 102 last evening before leaving the college at 8:30, and when I arrived in the classroom I wrote the contents on the board:

1. Quotation exercise due.
2. work on topic refinement continues as needed -- begin research on topics toward writing of THESIS -- due the 4th -- that's 11 days away.
3. A WEEK FROM TODAY: 5/4s presentation
4. select a poem by 25.i.08 -- 9 days to memorize and present (will need to complete the sheet [write out responses on the sheet] as preparation). [A bit of a senior moment here: I was thinking that this class session, the first of the week's, was Monday (confusion brought on by the MLKJr Day holiday), so I thought in terms of another class on "Wednesday", i.e. Friday the 25th. Still, it's fine for the students to have a deadline for selection of a poem, and Friday is as good a day as any.]

All students in the section were present but one. I believe that none of them had word-processed their assignments due today; I checked the syllabus and realized that it was merely an assumption on my part that all of the written assignments would be word-processed. This points to a correction which must be made on future syllabi; also a corrigendum making this requirement should be distributed at the next class session.

Because I did prefer that the students' work be word-processed (and I explained why: 1) it is neater, even though I do believe that handwriting is an important craft to develop through practice; 2) much written work should be presented word-processed, therefore the greater the students' experience of word-processors the more likely the students are to learn efficient word-processing; 3) MLA format, in which the assignment was to presented, is essentially a word-processing format), the students asked whether they could go to the library. This was fine, and fine, too, because this gave students the opportunity to work on their selection of poems.

The quotation / paraphrase / summary / reference exercise has obviated some basic troubles in some students' work. The next question within the experiment is, "How should work on revision of assignments, being carried forward simultaneously by the students but at different rates, be prioritized by the instructor?"

The goal of the course, in part, is to ensure that students understand the basics of MLA formatting -- this is merely mechanical -- but also that they should understand the concepts underlying the format: the distinction, for example, between a direct quotation and a paraphrase, between an edited quotation and a direct quotation....

One question raised during the exercise is the difference between a "summary" and a "reference"; I should be able to articulate this more clearly. Admittedly, the boundary between these is hazy - as also is the boundary between paraphrase and summary. But to grade students on these points without clear definition may be unfair.

Unhappily, because of the MLKJr Day holiday, we will not meet again this week, but that gives me a chance to review all of the student work collected today.

I will struggle to refrain from writing anything on the student work proper, but will photocopy the submissions and meet with the students on Monday during class session to identify any corrections which must be made.

Overall, I felt the session was useful, and the students were generally focused on their work. Despite student comment last semester that having multiple exercises concurrently is confusing, in this situation it seems to be the only way to ensure that everyone is working toward her or his project at an individually productive rate.