The Pissed Off Professor

I have struggled to find a balance between what is required of students, what I ask of them, and what they seem to be willing to do. While I have a great deal of flexibility when it comes to how content is presented and how required elements are taught, I am bound by very specific parameters when it comes to subject matter students must master to pass and the amount of composing that is required for the course.

Over the years, I have drastically reduced the required assignments for English Writing 300/English 1A in an effort to meet my obligations, retain a reasonable standard, and educate the students who pass through my classes.

The last several years have left me feeling as if students are lazy, resent any homework, and simply are not interested in actually learning anything. Making room for a certain degree of jadedness on my part, the numbers below seem to support my position.

REQUIRED ASSIGNMENTS

2001
ESSAYS: 6
RESEARCH PAPER: 1
QUIZZES: 11 (lowest score dropped)
READING ANALYSES: 16 (lowest score dropped)

Students day one: 48—30 allowed in (cap 27)
Students at midterm: 25
Students who finished: 18

2003
ESSAYS: 5
RESEARCH PAPER: 1
QUIZZES: 6 (lowest score dropped)
READING ANALYSES: 11 (lowest score dropped)

Students day one: 38—30 allowed in (cap 27)
Students at midterm: 18
Students who finished: 15

2005
ESSAYS: 5
RESEARCH PAPER: 0 (integrated research with other papers)
QUIZZES: 6 (lowest score dropped)
READING ANALYSES: 11 (lowest score dropped)

Students day one: standing room only—27 allowed in (cap 25)
Students at midterm: 15
Students who finished: 12

2007
ESSAYS: 3
RESEARCH PAPER: 1
QUIZZES: 0
READING ANALYSES: 3 (Prewriting assignments for each essay)
READING JOURNAL ENTRIES: 15

[Update: Students day one: 45—27 allowed in (cap 25)]
[Update 2: Students remaining week 8: 14]

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 3rd, 2007 at 12:09 pm and is filed under Books, Comparison/Contrast, Education, English, Research, Students, Teaching, Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.