Posted in College, Education, English, Essay, Students, Teaching on Sep 28th, 2007 2 Comments »
I’m not sure why other people teach, and there are days I don’t know why I do, but I’m willing to bet none of us does it as a means to undermine the success of students.
There is very little joy derived from students who don’t succeed, and even if the lack of success is completely […]
Posted in Books, College, Education, English, Essay, Students, Teaching on Sep 25th, 2007 No Comments »
I used to try to hold regular class meetings on the days formal writing assignments were due, but I’ve learned how foolish it is to expect the average (i.e. procrastinating) student to finish up a paper and read something for a class discussion.
I’ve come up with a few ways to solve this issue:
The quick meeting: […]
Posted in Classification, College, Education, English, Essay, Students, Teaching, Writing on Mar 26th, 2007 No Comments »
One of the things I do in addition to my teaching duties at Sacramento City College is read the English Assessment exams in-coming students must take to ascertain where they’re to be placed within the parameters of the offered English courses.
I read about fifty exams this afternoon, and I find I am troubled anew by […]
Posted in College, Definition, English, Essay, Students, Teaching, Writing on Mar 19th, 2007 No Comments »
My students take their midterm exam today, and they are going to be writing about one of my favorite articles “The 7 Deadly Sins of Students.”
It says what I am thinking right now having recently finished grading the first set of out-of-class essays. . .
Posted in College, Comparison/Contrast, Education, Essay, Students, Teaching, Writing on Mar 18th, 2007 No Comments »
One of the things I’ve noticed over the years I’ve taught is the declining ability/desire of students to plan, draft, write, and edit their work.
I could take the easy road and blame this on laziness, and while I believe this to be partially true, I don’t think it’s the real reason for this phenomenon.
The computer […]
Posted in College, Education, English, Essay, Illustration, Students, Writing on Mar 17th, 2007 1 Comment »
No matter how much I stress revision and proofreading work before turning it in, there are those students who refuse to take these steps seriously. The new age of electronics has basically killed writing as a process, but all is not lost: at least I get to laugh.
Frederick Douglass was born a salve, and […]
Posted in College, Education, English, Essay, Narration, Students, Teaching, Writing on Mar 16th, 2007 No Comments »
Students hate writing in-class.
Many teachers hate assigning in-class writing.
The advent of computers has led to an inability on the part of many students to write legibly, and the degree to which students rely on their word processors to check their spelling and grammar and punctuation is frightening.
Each of these issues comes to light during an […]
Posted in College, Definition, Education, English, Essay, Students, Teaching, Writing on Mar 15th, 2007 No Comments »
My students have their midterm exam coming up on Monday. They’ll be completing an in-class essay based on a reading they’ve been assigned.
WHAT—We have to write an essay in-class?!
During a discussion regarding an in-class writing, the three questions I can always count on are:
How long does it have to be?
Does punctuation count?
What about spelling—does […]
Posted in Comparison/Contrast, Education, English, Essay, Students, Teaching, Writing on Mar 12th, 2007 1 Comment »
The semester is finally in full swing: due dates are coming at regular intervals, and the reality of being a student with its associated responsibilities is beginning to dawn on some of the members of my class.
This is the time of the semester during which teachers are asked expected to be soothsayers.
My morning began with […]
Posted in Argument, College, Education, English, Essay, Students, Teaching, Writing on Mar 8th, 2007 No Comments »
Yesterday, while minding my own business checking my department box and running off a few photocopies, I got into a discussion debate an argument with one of my fellow teachers regarding the issue of plagiarism.
The situation began this way: one instructor (we’ll call her Sally) asked another instructor (we’ll call him Boyd) whether or not […]