The Long 16 Weeks

My education students are spending the last module of the semester creating teaching portfolios. They are choosing their grade level, unit topic's, planning their Understanding by Design sheets, creating module calendars, and then creating 2-3 specific lesson plans with all the resources and materials. This means that we've had lots of discussions about time management, the difference between semester and yearlong classes, block classes versus 50 minutes. How to chunk assignments, station rotations, choosing how you want to teach and what. Their first assignment was to research an educational issue. Then they researched the historical trend of an issue. Next, they wrote teaching philosophies. So the portfolio is the cumination of the semester.

It also means that I've spent a lot of this semester thinking about the pedagogical decisions we make, and how to make visible the invisible labor teachers do as well as how we (teachers) show our beliefs, what we value, every day we show up.

Last night I kept seeing posts on Twitter about the lack of student engagement, how none of the "evidence based strategies" seemed to work. It had me thinking about what evidence these people were looking at. Because the reality of the last few years has been the ebb and flow all at extremely high levels, of multiple apocalypses occuring all at once. These Twitter posts were interspersed amongst images, videos, horrific descriptions of genocide, dead children, climate disasters, flooding, police brutality, attacking education, criminializing protest and free speech. 

So what evidence, what examples, what reality, is influencing these teaching decisions?

It all got me thinking about what I've done this semester, the past few years, in my classes. I never teach the same class twice. Even if I'm teaching Composition I or II, I never teach it the same way. I change the themes, I change the assignments, the readings, the approaches. A lot of this is because the reality of me, y students, has radically changed every semester the last few years. Too, I have different students every semester. But while my students are not all 18 year olds, and not all live on campus, and not all can go to school and JUST focus on school, there are some things that have become the reality of most of my students these days.

I always say this when I advise students- that the idea most people have of what the life of a college student is like, is based on the concept that students can take 15 or more credits per semester (to graduate in four years) because they live on campus, only have school to focus on, no work, no family responsibilities, no commute, no money issues, no other concerns. Even my students who are 18, have come straight from high school, are working, commuting, coaching, involved in extra curricular activities, have family responsibilities which may or may not involve going home weekends, or spending off time helping family. 

The reality of most of my students now also includes acknowledging that most of them spent most of high school in the pandemic apocalypse. Their reality was unstable learning conditions, not always having a teacher, not always having a full class, learning as defined by screens, a serious feeling of disconnect, a sense of ennui, of not feeling as though anything will make a difference, the paradox of an acute sense that there is so much wrong with the world AND that the system is so rigged as to feel there is no way to counter any of it.

Even if I wasn't the kind of teacher who tweaked things every semester I would have had to due to MY lived reality in the four and a half years I've been here. One normal semester. But it was my first semester, so a steep learning curve. Followed by a semester where we all moved online in triage because of Covid. Then a semester of splitting classes, social distancing. Then one with accommodations, but mostly back. Then a year where some people were back totally normal and some weren't. Then a bizarro year where the pandemic still raged, where the world still had multiple apocalypses but the majority of the world pretends that everything is back to "normal." Now, we have, well, now. 

This semester I *think* I've found some things that work and WILL work for other classes, things I can forward, apply. So I thought I'd share.

In the past I've themed my classes- zombies, fairy tales, horror (intro, Black, feminist), social issues, history in media. These have been hit or miss. Some students like them, some don't, some don't love the topics or themes but how I run class works for them. So, this is my first lesson. I'm not going to continue to theme my classes. Instead, I've decided to just teach things I think are fun, that I think students should know, be exposed to. So I really like having students respond to different types of art, music, movies. I like having them learn about social issues and the world. I like them to learn how to read and use all kinds of different research. 

So this semester I divided our 16 week semester into four modules of four weeks each. But after the first module realized that students needed some more time, and extended the first two modules, cut the fourth, and extended by a lot, the third. I have Composition I this semester, so the modules were based around the major assignments due at the end. The first module they wrote a response paragraph. The second module they created an annotated bibliography. For this last module they're doing an analysis project- an essay, or poster, or brochure, presentation, diorama. The idea is that the skills from the first and second create the third. I liked this focus because just having a single paragraph for the first assignment meant that we were able to focus on craft and style and skill. As I explained to the students there was no real estate to mess around, every bit counted. I liked the focus they had, I liked the revision, the process. While annotated bibliographies are a completely made up genre, I tell students that the reason I do them is because I have them put the full citation (because I want them to learn how to do them), then a paragraph that summarizes the argument/information in the source (because I want them to learn how to do that, being specific enough), and then a paragraph where they tell me how they'll use the source (because I want them to think about this so that next time they look for sources they have this in mind). Then their last assignment is to analyze a single aspect. Now for each module we covered a "text" (movie, story, primary documents) in class, used it for practice assignments, and they could write their assignments on that OR they could choose their own. If they wanted to work on the same thing all semester they can. Or they can change their topic every module. Students choose their own topics and focus.

Each module follows the same routine- we spend a couple, three weeks going over the "in class" text, discussions, practice assignments. The last week of the module is set aside for conferences. Students choose what class day they want to come present/conference with me about their assignment,  they come up with it, I read it, ask questions, give feedback, they write the feedback down, go back to their seats, write an email reflection on the process, and email me the assignment. The week before the conference is always workshop week, a week for them to work on their assignment in class.

I've followed this routine for a while and it works well. Students can get one on one help, I am there and available, so they don't need to juggle outside class time for help. They get feedback on their practice assignments to apply to their module assignments, and feedback on module assignments that build on each other. 

What is new this semester that I really like, is the focus, the assignments, of each module. I like that Composition I first focuses on their response to something, then research, then applies both. For Composition II next semester I'm going to build on this, so they'll write a review, then a research report based on what audience needs to understand X, then a presentation that analyzes.

What has become different this semester is what I'm calling "turning into the skid." First- let me make it clear that for this to work you have to check your ego at the door, and be prepared to potentially be bored. I have decided that it's important for students to have time in class to work, ask questions, get help. So I build that time in. I walk around, sit with students, listen to what they're doing, and offer help. But mostly, I'm there in case they need me. This is not time to work, read, do anything, because you have to be available, you have to SHOW students you're there for them, always, but especially, because as students have fewer social skills because of the last few years, and may feel intimidated approaching a professor, it's important you show them. Some students will really appreciate the time. Some will stay home and work, especially during the last module since they will have the poster, cardboard box, whatever, at home. Some students will go to the library or computer lab since they don't have their own or have a tablet without full Word funcitonality, fine for class, less great for other things. Some students will work the whole time. Some will come late. Some won't come at all. Some, because they KNOW every module has these weeks, depend on them to have the flexibility the other parts of their lives don't have. 

I put on the board what we're doing today, tips, recommendations, steps, and what this leads to, and what is upcoming. So all students, late, come take picture, leave, there the whole time, can focus and work and know what's going on. It's clear, it's explicit, and supplements the syllabus where resources and materials are hyperlinked on the live Google syllabus and updated based on what students ask for, need.

I'd argue more teaching and learning happens during these weeks than the rest of the time. Because it's totally focused on them. It's based on conversations we've had, I've overheard, notes I've seen, practice assignments. 

I've done versions of this approach for a while but what is different is me. I've had to not get upset when students use the class as designed, use the flexibility. I need to not take it personally if students don't come, come late, come, take a picture of the board, then leave. If the time is there for them to use, if I build the time in to acknowledge and help deal with the reality of their lives, then I cannot be upset if they DO this. Getting upset, assuming my class, my time, if somehow worth more than other things, is just ego. The simple fact is most of my students in Composition I or II will not become English majors. Definately most will not become pre or early modern scholars. So what is the purpose of Composition I and II? What do I want my students to get out of my classes? I want them to get skills that they can transfer and use in all the other parts of their life. I want them to be introduced to things they might never encounter. I want them to have some fun asking questions, thinking about things, and learning what it IS they think and believe. I want them to have at least one experience where they are the focus, where the focus is more on process and learning and growth.

I've been playing with the role grades have in my class for over five years now, it's gone hand in hand with the workshopping and conferencing. I've honestly, not really liked all of the aspects of anything I've done. I've also learned that my approach in my composition classes can't be the same for my English major classes. I've found my composition students to be open, if suspicious, of different approaches to grading. Sometimes when they ask something, and I ask "how do grades work in our class?" they often can't answer, but, and this is the part I love best, they trust me, the class, how it all works, enough where it's not something they worry about.

This semester I think worked better than most, but the BEST thing is that the experience THIS semester led to a different approach for next semester that I'm really excited about. 

• Students will submit assignments on Blackboard, put their reflections in the submission box. The reflection will be about process.
• These assignments will either "Meet Guidelines" or "Doesn't Yet Meet Guidelines." No grades.
• I do check in surveys every four weeks, students do more formal reflections at progress reports (4 weeks) and midterms, and at the end of the semester. Adding to these, students will tell me, based on what they're done, learned, etc. whether or not they're at-risk or not at progress reports, what grade should be reported for midterms and final (since these are required).

These let me build on what I think is important and still comply with what I'm required to do. Part of the reason why I'm able to do all this is because I have the flexibility in my classes, not a whole lot is dictated, although I'd argue I've done this in a couple of different environments, and I think it IS something you can make work in different places. But honestly, the real reason I'm able to do all this is because of everything I've let go of. Policing, lots of policies, are gone. Essentially I'm done to "come to class unless you're sick, or have something else that's important, because you're adults and can make your own decisions" and "do the work although the due dates are suggestions, there's no penalty for late work, although at a certain point there's no learning done in just making up the work and there is a hard deadline for turning in work at the end of the semester." I've let go of dictating the conditions of what their learning looks like. Students choose their own topics, explore what they're interested in. They get as much, or as little, as they want or need out of class. Some really love it and challenge themselves. Some just want the passing GE grade. And me letting go of my ego has been a large part of this. It is not about me. As much as I thought I had this handled, not taking things personally has been harder than I would have thought given all the rest of the work I've done on all this.

Sixteen weeks is a long semester, even with a few longer weekends, and fall semester here does not have a lot of breaks. Another benefit to all of this is that it makes a 16 week semester work. It has enough time for students not to feel stressed, to have time and space to figure things out. It has enough time for students to not feel rushed. There is a balance here, space for them to figure out what does work for them, how to balance things, organize their lives, the larger things they need to learn to have good, healthy, adult lives.

The simple fact is that the world is awful. The outside forces are heavy and evil and make everything harder. While small moves are still the answer to making change, the institutional and structural failures of literally everything, and the disappointment in the failure of all previous generations and every possible person in power who should be making things better not worse, sometimes is a weight that crushes us all into the dirt. The apocalypses seem to be getting worse, not better. The horrors are like Tribbles, multiplying exponentially, daily. As much as the majority wants to pretend none of this is true, THIS is the reality our students are living with, this is the reality WE'RE living with. We're not going to wake up tomorrow and have this all better, it is not going away. So the evidence of our lives in right in front of us, unrolling 24 hours a day, on a never ending loop of horror and devastation, unable to escape. 

So if this is our reality, and it is, then I'm going to do what I can to help students figure out how to live these lives. I'm going to model for them behaviors and thinking out loud on HOW to live these lives. I'm going to try and make better humans.