March 23, 2011
Dear Students:
I gave students time to meet for the Lit Circle in both classes and perhaps half the class did not have their books. Only two students had their book reviews, and students meeting in one group were all doing separate activities. One student was looking up the book on-line.
One student stated in his freewrite that Lit Circles were a waste of time, because students do not come prepared to discuss the book. We don't have time to waste, so if the majority of students are not prepared then students can read their books on their own and bring in the assignments as stated in the assignment sheet. I can certainly fill the time otherwise with more writing activities. Students might not know when we'll have time for the Book Report Lit Circles, so stay prepared just in case. I am fitting this in. Normally, we do not have Lit Circles for this essay, because everyone is reading a different book. Students also complained about the time allotted to read the book. How long ago did students complete Half the Sky, 1-2 weeks?
I will give you one, perhaps two opportunities a week to meet and produce collaborative writing. I told students today, they could divide the reading logs between them, but if only a few students are prepared then, students who have done the work, should opt out of said collaborations.
The Lit Circle premise is: discussion helps one clarify his or her thoughts. Perhaps not, especially if we are thinking different things.
Other comments were some students are behind. There are quite a few of you. No, you cannot make up Cyber-Assignments attached to an essay or an in-class assignment which is past. If you are unclear what you can make up, ask. I withhold judgement pertaining to student writing until students have developed a body of work, as you have with Half the Sky, then I can offer suggestions on improvement.
My teaching style is unorthodox and if one needs clarity all you have to do is ask. Some students have been asking. Others are silent.
I am sitting here in A-232 for the next two hours and two students have come by, no one asked for assistance with writing. If you are lost, my assumption is you enjoy the absence of light, because I have batteries.
This is not heaven can wait, because it can't. I dropped my UC Berkeley Extension Class in French (I can't teach 4 classes and study 2-3 hours a day). I got too far behind and even though I threw away $450, I could not go back. I tried and had an anxiety attack in the car and turned around. That was two weeks ago.
I understand time management, how there are often not enough hours, no matter how one works it. I also understand life, as in family, getting in the way. I had a relative arrested unjustly, then during the course of the arrest hospitalized for chest pains and then when released from the hospital under police guard, taken to prison. My sister-in-law's son was killed December 20, 2010; he was 19. At the funeral last year there was a scuffle and my niece's former boyfriend was threatened. He was killed two weeks ago.
I have been wearing an orthodontic device in my mouth almost daily so I can function despite the stress, none of it my own. On International Women's History Day, March 8, 2011, I had a muscle spasm and couldn't move. This was the day my sister-in-law was to appear in court. It was also my French class . . . . I couldn't go. The next week I went and couldn't get out the car. I felt lost and even though my daughter told me to go anyway last night when I finally decided I am not going back. I still feel a bit of despair.
It isn't fun sitting in class not understanding what the class is doing because one is not prepared.
I understand how one can miss class, miss class and then, well drop out: 9 hours of class gone. I understand how one can become overwhelmed, but you work through it, if you can. If you can't, you drop the class and re-enroll when life is a bit less complex. I say less complex, because there is always something going on--that is the nature of this journey our spirit is on.
If you are familiar with a jazz musician riffing along the edges of a band member's staccato comment dropped into the kind of silences felt in grave sites, then you have a glimpse of my process and how I work.
No, I am not inviting you to visit a cemetery (although I love cemeteries, a child of Oya from New Orleans) . . . just to hang out in the solitude . . . peace, writers experience when the work is going well.
Students in my classes have to trust the process and go with the flow, even when the music sounds like noise, even when one is confused with the messages the soloist is sending.
Trust the process and trust what you know. I am very good at what I do. Google my name. If you are not getting what you need, tell me what that is. Some of you already have the tools to pass the course and are in this class because the institution requires it. This is beyond your control.
There are certain ventures we enter willingly where we surrender aspects of our freedom and wonder if captivity ever worth it. Ask someone in love as he or she navigates the margins of compromise and regret and second thoughts.
If you are interested in where we are going, it is already documented: Just search the blog, Spring 2010. At this point in the writing process, English 1A, the assumption is students know how to write an essay and know how to read at a high school, if not college, level. I have been wrong in this assumption, so I introduced Pidd.
Some students expressed outrage that a peer was reading their Pidd essays and grading them for me. The students who have completed the Pidd essays (English 201)are doing all the tests (as a review). There is nothing to be done about this. I requested a TA this semester and last semester, Division 2 does not have any money and I need help with this aspect of the class (which is a review or refresher). Pidd for all its simplicity is not easy to grade, so I hired your classmate. I generally hire former students for this job; they have all graduated or transferred to universities.
For privacy students can put their student IDs on the essays instead of their names. Indicate the course.
Many students cheated on Essay Exam 1. I find this ironic. If SPHE is so easy, why cheat? Students should be able to talk about their writing and produce writing intentionally. A great essay should not happen accidentally.
I don't hold students hands or call students who stop showing up. I might send a student an email, but we are adults and the institution is just one aspect of a multifaceted life we are juggling. It is not easy for anyone, so I try to have compassion even when things do not work out between us.
That said, I hope we can continue this ride to the end of the course and that this juncture in the journey is full and complete and rewarding.
Peace and Blessing,
Wanda Sabir
PS One student is mad because I lost an essay. Print another copy of it and I will grade it again. Bring your graded essays to class Thursday so I can record them while you are completing the freewrite.
PSS One never has everything one needs, so one makes the best with what one has. I am speaking of money and time and energy and skill.
Dear Students:
I gave students time to meet for the Lit Circle in both classes and perhaps half the class did not have their books. Only two students had their book reviews, and students meeting in one group were all doing separate activities. One student was looking up the book on-line.
One student stated in his freewrite that Lit Circles were a waste of time, because students do not come prepared to discuss the book. We don't have time to waste, so if the majority of students are not prepared then students can read their books on their own and bring in the assignments as stated in the assignment sheet. I can certainly fill the time otherwise with more writing activities. Students might not know when we'll have time for the Book Report Lit Circles, so stay prepared just in case. I am fitting this in. Normally, we do not have Lit Circles for this essay, because everyone is reading a different book. Students also complained about the time allotted to read the book. How long ago did students complete Half the Sky, 1-2 weeks?
I will give you one, perhaps two opportunities a week to meet and produce collaborative writing. I told students today, they could divide the reading logs between them, but if only a few students are prepared then, students who have done the work, should opt out of said collaborations.
The Lit Circle premise is: discussion helps one clarify his or her thoughts. Perhaps not, especially if we are thinking different things.
Other comments were some students are behind. There are quite a few of you. No, you cannot make up Cyber-Assignments attached to an essay or an in-class assignment which is past. If you are unclear what you can make up, ask. I withhold judgement pertaining to student writing until students have developed a body of work, as you have with Half the Sky, then I can offer suggestions on improvement.
My teaching style is unorthodox and if one needs clarity all you have to do is ask. Some students have been asking. Others are silent.
I am sitting here in A-232 for the next two hours and two students have come by, no one asked for assistance with writing. If you are lost, my assumption is you enjoy the absence of light, because I have batteries.
This is not heaven can wait, because it can't. I dropped my UC Berkeley Extension Class in French (I can't teach 4 classes and study 2-3 hours a day). I got too far behind and even though I threw away $450, I could not go back. I tried and had an anxiety attack in the car and turned around. That was two weeks ago.
I understand time management, how there are often not enough hours, no matter how one works it. I also understand life, as in family, getting in the way. I had a relative arrested unjustly, then during the course of the arrest hospitalized for chest pains and then when released from the hospital under police guard, taken to prison. My sister-in-law's son was killed December 20, 2010; he was 19. At the funeral last year there was a scuffle and my niece's former boyfriend was threatened. He was killed two weeks ago.
I have been wearing an orthodontic device in my mouth almost daily so I can function despite the stress, none of it my own. On International Women's History Day, March 8, 2011, I had a muscle spasm and couldn't move. This was the day my sister-in-law was to appear in court. It was also my French class . . . . I couldn't go. The next week I went and couldn't get out the car. I felt lost and even though my daughter told me to go anyway last night when I finally decided I am not going back. I still feel a bit of despair.
It isn't fun sitting in class not understanding what the class is doing because one is not prepared.
I understand how one can miss class, miss class and then, well drop out: 9 hours of class gone. I understand how one can become overwhelmed, but you work through it, if you can. If you can't, you drop the class and re-enroll when life is a bit less complex. I say less complex, because there is always something going on--that is the nature of this journey our spirit is on.
If you are familiar with a jazz musician riffing along the edges of a band member's staccato comment dropped into the kind of silences felt in grave sites, then you have a glimpse of my process and how I work.
No, I am not inviting you to visit a cemetery (although I love cemeteries, a child of Oya from New Orleans) . . . just to hang out in the solitude . . . peace, writers experience when the work is going well.
Students in my classes have to trust the process and go with the flow, even when the music sounds like noise, even when one is confused with the messages the soloist is sending.
Trust the process and trust what you know. I am very good at what I do. Google my name. If you are not getting what you need, tell me what that is. Some of you already have the tools to pass the course and are in this class because the institution requires it. This is beyond your control.
There are certain ventures we enter willingly where we surrender aspects of our freedom and wonder if captivity ever worth it. Ask someone in love as he or she navigates the margins of compromise and regret and second thoughts.
If you are interested in where we are going, it is already documented: Just search the blog, Spring 2010. At this point in the writing process, English 1A, the assumption is students know how to write an essay and know how to read at a high school, if not college, level. I have been wrong in this assumption, so I introduced Pidd.
Some students expressed outrage that a peer was reading their Pidd essays and grading them for me. The students who have completed the Pidd essays (English 201)are doing all the tests (as a review). There is nothing to be done about this. I requested a TA this semester and last semester, Division 2 does not have any money and I need help with this aspect of the class (which is a review or refresher). Pidd for all its simplicity is not easy to grade, so I hired your classmate. I generally hire former students for this job; they have all graduated or transferred to universities.
For privacy students can put their student IDs on the essays instead of their names. Indicate the course.
Many students cheated on Essay Exam 1. I find this ironic. If SPHE is so easy, why cheat? Students should be able to talk about their writing and produce writing intentionally. A great essay should not happen accidentally.
I don't hold students hands or call students who stop showing up. I might send a student an email, but we are adults and the institution is just one aspect of a multifaceted life we are juggling. It is not easy for anyone, so I try to have compassion even when things do not work out between us.
That said, I hope we can continue this ride to the end of the course and that this juncture in the journey is full and complete and rewarding.
Peace and Blessing,
Wanda Sabir
PS One student is mad because I lost an essay. Print another copy of it and I will grade it again. Bring your graded essays to class Thursday so I can record them while you are completing the freewrite.
PSS One never has everything one needs, so one makes the best with what one has. I am speaking of money and time and energy and skill.
posted by Professor Wanda's Posse at 10:29 AM
1 Comments:
Actually alot of people are behind, you just don't know because you don't keep track of anything. You never give us any clear instruction on anything and when we ask you questions you get really upset and start yelling at us like were in kindergarten. You just confuse us even more when we ask for help and you avoid everything we say when it comes to this class. Honestly it is not our fault that you paid for a class and you had to drop it, have you ever thought about how we feel about this class. We paid for this class too and you haven't taught us a single thing. so we know what it feels like to loose time and money.
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