week 15

Flaws in my 100 pt scale are starting to show up.

1. When students fall behind drastically, it can be a long climb to 70 pts. The sixteen week semester can be falsely accommodating to missing an assignment here and there. At this time in the semester, those missed points add up to an almost insurmountable goal.
2. The reading seems spot on. Most students are hitting or surpassing the 70 mark about last week.
3. The writing is flawed. On student in particular was able to garner 72 pts., however, I feel her skill set is less than that which would mean success in ENGL111. More quizzes and sentence skills assignments need to be included. Essay work this semester ate into them so much that I am willing to sacrifice the mini research paper to allow them to return to the curriculum.
4. Some students have ceased to come to class when they reach their desired point level; however, I do see them in the Math center or ASC working on other coursework. I’m in a dilemma about this.

weeks 11-14

This is always the hardest part of the semester for me. I have to stand back and let them move solo finishing the semester. The classroom, after week 13 has fallen into relative anarchy. Not in a negative sense of the word, just pure individual pursuit of understanding (and a passing grade). It feels reckless, though. It is exhausting,  Like 50-60 minilessons rising each day like a hydra from the seats. Formality lets us relax. Ironic, isn’t it.

Student research papers were acceptable, by and large, in 093.  Scattered sentence level errors prevail, mostly in complex sentences beginning in a sub. conj.  More activities and quizlets need to be incorporated. This also will have some use in ENGL083 toward the beginning of the semester. There has always been a gap between the vocab and the paragraph chapters. It assumes to much. It assumes that students who are tagged with reading deficits know and understand the flavors that words come in, and how helpers connect these words into single and double idea components.

The CONNECT program is showing its limits in ENGL083. Its longitudinal nature makes it difficult to factor into a traditional grade. Students show modest to little improvement.  There is also an end-of-semester bottleneck in the self-pacing unit of the program. It will delay students from proceeding further once a set point for the day or even week is reached.

Finally, the ethical dilemma of ACCUPLACER credit and the negative gain correlation (r=-1) on attendance needs to be addressed.  Is it ethical to grant access to a passing grade if attendance requirements are not met? Is it ethical to require a student who has successfully reached the program level the burden of attending a class she does not need. Can some middle ground be found? Currently, students who surpass the program level score must be in contact with me at least once a week. Most of the conversations are about other classes, such as MATH or ECON. Others are about college administration procedures, like course registration or financial aid. Finally, some are purely social and focus on mentoring. Will this pass muster in under scrutiny or is it too liberal of a compromise?

weeks 9-10 ENGL083 and ENGL093

These weeks have been dedicated to the major essay assignments in both classes.

Students seem to perceive no homework with nothing to do. Next semester I need to accompany points with check points on each of these assignments. It is easier to do in ENGL093, as students move at their own pace in the career analysis essay. ENGL 083 follows a step-by-step process that takes weeks to complete together. There is also the problem of drop-in students during the modeling sessions. Students return lost and frustrated.  The updated handouts of classwide progress are working only oh-so well.

Spring break has also taken it’s toll on attendance. This means students will be returning, eventually. The issue becomes a dilemma of helping students succeed no matter what and enabling of unprofessional student behavior regarding attendance.

Overall I am pleased with the responses to the essay process in ENGL083. I am also pleased at the second round of essays from ENGL093. 083 students are seeing how main ideas-details work, and how essays must show relationships between details with transitions and analysis.  093 students, some the hard way, are learning the value of systematic research and seem to have caught on to citation basics. It’s not perfect or pretty to watch, but they are moving forward as a class.