Last week we had class only two days because I had to go to Long Beach for the TESOL conference. All we did for those two days was to discuss project 5, the interview report, and which I had to let my students do by themselves, basically, since I was not going to be there to help them along the way. The last month felt a little weird since I was gone to Utah, then we had spring break, then an intensive week, and then I was gone again. We have lost all balance and consistency, everything regular, our normal rhythm, our momentum. I feel like an irresponsible teacher and at the same time, I don't think much of that could have been avoided. The good side of it, however, is that I was forced to abandon my students for a while and to think that they could do it without my constant help. Earlier during the semester, I sometimes thought that I was helping my students too much, that I was telling them everything they had to do, that I didn't give them any freedom, and that once the semester was over, they wouldn't be able to do anything by themselves. These last couple of weeks proved me otherwise, and I am very happy about that, and proud of my students too.
So I told my students that this time, I would give them grading criteria and a general description of what the project was supposed to be like, but they had to work the details of what they wanted to put in the project and how they wanted to do it by themselves. I also decided to take the major risk to allow them to use any format for their project (regular paper, PowerPoint presentation, website, etc.) because I told them that not all kinds of information were presented well in a linear way and that sometimes, other types of presentations would fit the information better. It was a little coward of me to leave and let them figure it all by themselves, but I must admit that they did a great job. Before I left, I showed everyone the basics of making websites (how to access their www folder on the Purdue server, how to create a simple page with a few links and pictures, how to upload it all, etc.), but didn't discuss PowerPoint at all, since it is much easier to figure it out alone. Then I left. When I came back and saw what my students had done while I was gone, on Monday, I was quite happily surprised. Of course, a few students had done nothing yet, and someone hadn't even interviewed anyone, but the class as a whole had done a great job! Several people had done a combination of paper and PowerPoint, three students had done a website, and only a couple of students had decided to go with the classic paper only. I loved the variety of formats and designs that I saw, and even if some of these projects were quite simply presented, still, I loved and really appreciated the creativity and the effort! So my students are able to do something good without my help after all! And so on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, all my students did was look at one another's projects, make some comments, show to each other how they had done certain cool things, share ideas, and I didn't have to do much really. I did give a few directions to a few students about how much information could be written on a PowerPoint slide or how to make a useful menu on a webpage, but that's about it. It felt very relaxing and easy, and it made me realize that I could indeed trust my students to use what I have taught them and also find their own resources if necessary. Maybe I used to focus on the input (outlines, drafts, conferences, the process, etc.) and I needed to have this kind of "control" over what my students were doing, and this time I trusted my students a little more and focused essentially on the output (results). Because of this, the grading process was also different, since I hadn't seen the "work in progress" but only the end product and couldn't be influenced by thoughts such as "he never turned in his outline" or "her first draft was really poor!" Is that good? Is that unfair to those who worked hard through the process compared to those who waited until the last minute to put something together? Does "time" mean "quality"? I don't know. Who am I to say that writing outlines and drafts means that the final product will be good? Maybe I needed to have this kind of control over my students' work earlier in the semester but now I must lead the students toward independence from me. Maybe in the end, hard work did pay off... hopefully... and maybe in the real world no one cares about the process but only about the result. I am not sure about all that, but overall it was a very interesting experience, and I will definitely do something like that every semester!
On Thursday, I first asked my students for some feedback on that fifth project. They seem to have liked the freedom of format I allowed, even if it was a little scary at first for some, and the feedback was quite positive. I also did something else: I asked them to give themselves a grade! The self-evaluation and self-grading is something that I had to do a few times as an undergraduate and several times as a graduate students, and although I didn't particularly like it, it allowed me to reflect on the amount and quality of work I had done and to honestly assess my work compared to what the other students had done. I think it was hard for my students to do this, for the first time, but they actually did it quite well considering that I didn't really give them any specific directions or asked specific questions, and their self-given grades were often pretty accurate. On Thursday, I also introduced the next and final project: the big research paper. I am actually tempted to let my students choose again any type of format for that project, because I know that they like it and feel more comfortable with a PowerPoint presentation than with a regular paper. I also enjoyed grading these creative projects a lot more than the regular papers! At the same time, I think that they still need to know how to write a basic research paper... but I am not sure... I need to think about that really quickly and maybe ask a few other teachers for their opinions.
This past week, I also finally decided what I was going to teach next fall: the Retention section of 106, 106R, for students who are learning Spanish. I am not excited to teach American students again, nor to have 20 students instead of 15, but I am hoping that the fact they are all learning a foreign language will help them be a little more open to cultures and new ideas, plus I will be paid a little more and will receive money for all kinds of activities that we will be able to do outside of the classroom (and that I had to pay for myself until now). I am a little scared about the fact that I will have to work with someone else, since I have heard a few scary stories, but I need the experience and I just can't teach 106i for the rest of my Purdue career, even though that's what I'd love to do. I am already thinking about some activities we will do together with my students (I'll continue the movie night for sure!) and am also working on a webpage for this class... and a webpage for next spring too, because 106R exists only during fall semesters and Tony said I could teach 106i again in the spring, hopefully! I felt bad to abandon Tony like that after I had said I would teach 106i in the fall, but the opportunity to teach 106R came up and I could not really refuse it. In addition to the 20 students, it will be very difficult to work around the questionable schedule that all regular 106 sections have to work with: two days in a regular classroom, one day in a computer lab, and two days for conferences, with absolutely no flexibility! After much talking with Shirley and Judy, I managed to get three days in a computer lab, which I am not sure will be better because teaching in a computer lab might be a pain, depending on the way tables and chairs and computers are arranged, but at least I will have some flexibility within those three days. I will also ask my students if they agree to have their conference time on either day so that we can have a little more flexibility there too... but after the very nice setting of 106i, with the same classroom for every day and computers that we can use whenever we want and the students available five days a week, it will be very difficult for me to adapt to the more regular requirements! If it is only for one semester, though, I think I can manage.
The end of the semester is coming fast... just a couple more weeks of class...
