And we're live! Well, it's not like we weren't before . . .
I've spent the last few days completely overhauling this website to better reflect what my professional goals and achievements are, and while there are still areas that can be fine-tuned, I'm satisfied with the result. This website was originally created in 2020 as part of a theory course for teaching college-level composition and consisted primarily of blog posts details aspects of my experience as a first-time instructor. Although my focus in 2022 and onward will be centered more around my life and writing in general, I do plan to touch on the topics I discussed then to see whether my feelings on teaching have changed since I'm no longer in academia. In the meantime, feel free to peruse the updated site as I continue adding new features (hopefully) and occasionally post on what I'm doing in my professional and personal life. —Corley
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For me, something that marks the hallmark of a successful teacher is the ability to adapt to unexpected change. I like to think I’m primarily successful, but I’ll need to accumulate more experience to accurately assess myself. But the impact Hurricane Zeta had on courses meeting required some necessary adjustments to my class and lesson plans, and I think I handled those well. My synchronous session for Week 11 was going to be especially important for the students as they worked on their position papers – discussions of synthesis and logical fallacies would be the primary focus, but we were also going to read a Language piece and share thoughts on this topic. Because their rough drafts were due the following Sunday, I recorded a 10-minute condensed class where I briefly reviewed the content we would have gone over together in class, posting this on Canvas along with sending my usual weekly wrap-up email. But I worried this wasn’t enough, especially after reading and providing feedback on rough drafts. I ultimately made the decision to push the final draft deadline back three days, and my students responded positively when I announced this in yesterday’s synchronous session. They may have a little less time now to work on compiling their portfolios, but this means they should be able to produce stronger position papers.
In light of these changes, I also wanted to consider the upcoming holidays and how hectic the end of the semester gets for students and instructors alike. And after reading about assessment in “Talkin bout Fire Don’t Boil the Pot” and in one of Jenny’s discussion posts, I considered how I might incorporate conferences into my class. Despite my best efforts, most of my students haven’t reached out to me about setting up appointments, and I haven’t required them to so far. Our 690 class being given the option to do either version 1 or 2 of Discussion Post #13 gave me the idea to do something similar: for the Unit IV revision plan assignment, my students can either a) write out their revision plan in the form of a bulleted list or b) set up a conference with me to discuss how they plan to revise for the portfolio. Not only does this encourage students to make that appointment with me, it also gives them an opportunity to do less work should they choose that second option. I had a student stick around after class yesterday and she seemed enthusiastic about the conference option, so I’m hoping that others will express interest in it. Having the chance to talk with someone about ideas is always more helpful to me than reading feedback, and I know my students are likely the same. I’m looking forward to any conferences that are set up, as I’ll get to know more about my students and their interests. I’ve been thinking back to the beginning of the semester, about how anxious I felt and how reluctant I was to teach. Teaching has never been something I could see myself doing, perhaps in part because when you major in English, most people automatically assume you’re going to teach. I can’t begin to count the times I’ve had family members ask me about this and then have had to watch their faces go politely blank when I said I was attending graduate school for creative writing. Having taught my own class for the first time, though, I still can’t quite believe how incredible this experience has been. I’ve dealt with a ridiculous amount of stress and an uptick in insecurity, especially at the start of the semester; but as I’ve gotten used to lecturing and engaging with my students, responding to what they themselves respond well to, I’ve become more confident in my teaching as well as in myself as a person. I’ve never entirely understood it when teachers described how rewarding teaching could be, but being able to work with this great group of kids, to see them grow as writers and to know them as people with their own experiences and hobbies, has been a highlight of my time in the graduate program. I cannot describe how stressed I was when gathering readings and developing clusters for the third project. Also considering what types of assignments I wanted to create for this unit had me a little anxious, as I always try to incorporate tasks that my students can then build off of. Contributing to these negative feelings was, as usual, that perpetual sense of inferiority I have to fight against when I hear what other instructors are doing. I ultimately just told myself to go for it, dive in and trust that the topics I’d offered were going to be well received. In hindsight, I’m quite proud of the work I’ve put into this unit. Two things have really helped with this: feedback from my fellow comp instructors and, more significantly, the response my students have had to this unit. We’ve covered two of the clusters so far (Mental Health and Disability), and I’m still floored by how active my students have been during the synchronous sessions and the quality of work they’ve been submitting for the small assignments. My class on the 21st especially blew me away, as the students were on fire in the chat, volunteering to read, and willing to share their thoughts on disability. It’s taken a while, but I’m at the point in the semester where I feel like I’m really getting to know them beyond their roles as students, and that’s been the most enjoyable thing about teaching so far. Gaining this knowledge of them as people, as individuals with different experiences and desires and worries, has definitely improved the quality of our conversations.
That’s not to say I still don’t struggle. I think I’ve been focusing too much on the readings themselves and not paying enough time discussing things such as synthesizing ideas, which is something I’ll be working with my class on during tomorrow’s session. Doing so this week might actually be a good thing, as my students have just completed an assignment where they created a claim based on one of the cluster readings and then had to create a counter-argument. By them now having more experience with developing a position and how the readings provide evidence for that claim, I believe they’ll better respond to our discussion on synthesis tomorrow. Someone mentioned in 690 today how she’s created a discussion post revolving around assessment, something that ultimately led me to change the final discussion post I have scheduled for my class. I want to know what has worked for my students and what they’ve found beneficial about me as a teacher, but I also want them to be honest and indicate areas where I fell short. This also ties into the observations we’ve been conducting – I’m not sure what sort of feedback I’ll receive from my peers, but I do know it’ll be diverse. One person who observed my class is, like me, a first time teacher and a close friend; the other is someone I’ve only gotten to know this semester but who has been nothing but helpful. I look forward to seeing not so much what they think I’m doing well, but what they have to offer when it comes to developing my teaching (although praise is always welcome!). One thing I continuously remind myself about teaching is that it isn’t a race or a competition – I don’t have to compare myself to other teachers, whether they be experienced or (like me) first-time instructors. Rather than thinking Oh, I wish I’d tried that or I’m not doing enough when I hear someone mention an activity he/she incorporated into a synchronous session, instead I’m trying to think That’s a good idea to try out and adapt it in ways that will best suit my teaching style and also my students. In one of my graduate classes this week, one person mentioned that she uses the audio feature in the speed grader to provide comments, which I’ve been playing with for a while. The one-on-one meetings I’ve had with students have been extremely beneficial, as I get to know those students more but also can discuss things with them that I might not be able to in written feedback; and the students seem to respond well to this. I changed up the way I provided comments for Project 2: rather than making comments on the draft and then writing a long-winded end note in the speed grader, I instead simply made comments in the document itself. I actually had two students who thanked me for the feedback on their rough drafts, informing me that it was helpful to them as they began revising, so I’m tending to lean toward this type of feedback for Unit III. I think the audio comments might be a nice touch for the portfolio, though, and will also allow me to talk to the students as individuals.
Last week’s synchronous session gave me the chance to try out things I’ve been wanting to do since the end of Unit I, and this class seemed especially successful to me. Students were active and participating (perhaps because I’d just submitted midterm grades and had also made an announcement about how simply participating can bring up their grades if they aren’t satisfied). We held peer review in small groups, which they all seemed to enjoy and find more helpful than conducting review through Canvas. We also spent time creating a grading rubric together, though we didn’t determine the point values of the elements we settled on. Instead, I provided a list of what we’d reviewed in both Units I and II and asked them to add subtopics and pose questions about what they thought I should be looking for while grading. This gave us the opportunity to discuss which things were most important (argument and structure, incorporation of quotes for evidence, etc.), which reminded me that while some students continue to struggle with actually performing the analysis aspect, they know this is one of the key factors. I continue to think about the ways in which technology can be incorporated into the classroom, and how this differs when the class is entirely online. I’ve been experiencing some issues with Teams recently, and while I don’t think this will happen this semester, I’m looking at transitioning my class next spring to Zoom – it seems a bit more straightforward, but I also feel like it may lose a little of the organization that I like about Teams. Based on the recent readings we’ve covered in 690, one of the concepts that intrigues me most is cultural pedagogy and the awareness of decolonial practices. Learning about this and getting to read responses to the latest discussion post left me excited about the texts I might bring into Comp 101 next spring. What can we learn from countries where English has now become the dominant language, or Indigenous Americans who have lost their languages entirely? I remember my own experience when I was younger and first began learning about those cultures that have suffered from colonization. One way I was introduced to these subjects was through a postcolonial literature class I took here in undergrad, and I’m playing with the idea of reviewing that course’s syllabus and potentially bringing in samples from some of those readings. My students seems especially interested in exploring race and ethnicity and the things that history so often wants us to forget, and while I already have the Unit III cluster topics planned out, this interest is something I hope my future class(es) will share. I met with my teaching mentor this week, and she gave me some great ideas not only for potential readings, but also ways I could go about approaching teaching in the spring, such as requiring students to meet with me one on one in order to receive feedback on a rough draft. I love this idea, as it allows for a more personal environment and gives students the chance to actually talk through their writing process and ideas.
Something I think I could have done better at before now was how I introduce the unit readings into the synchronous sessions. While we didn’t look at one of the Unit I images together as a class, we did practice analyzing other images (such as The Great Gatsby movie poster) so that students could gain an idea as to what they should be looking for. This week was when the bell hooks piece was assigned, and rather than have my students read it just during the asynchronous session, I also decided to have us look at it together, which brought about some unexpected conversations and allowed the students to consider this piece and the others in different ways – it was incredible to see them engaging with the text in such a thoughtful manner. Part of what helps with this is the small groups, with people being in a new group each time they go into the breakout channels. I’ve seen some great interactions between my students when they’re in this smaller group setting, whether through audio or chat, and it also allows them to share ideas or explore things that they might have disagreed on. This will ultimately serve them well when it comes to peer review, where someone may have written on the same article but have a completely different opinion, as well as Week 9, when we’ll be considering opinions and how you shouldn’t discount someone’s view just because it’s different than what you think/feel/believe. Coming off Unit I and having just conducted my fifth synchronous class, I’m optimistic for the changes I’ve begun implementing and those I hope to implement when it comes to my section of Comp. Many of my students are new to college-level classes just like I’m new to teaching, and I find that simply talking to them helps me learn how to best conduct my classes and construct assignments.
One thing that was a struggle for me recently was my decision to grade the visual analysis by a rubric. Not that there’s anything wrong with this, but I’ve come to realize how valuable (and helpful) grading off a rubric I and my students have designed together will be. My students’ original grades were discouraging; I can only image how they felt seeing them. Once I made the decision to reevaluate the grading and to offer partial credit for rough drafts submitted late, I immediately felt more oriented and sure of myself. I want my students to do the best they possibly can, and they can only do that if I’m upfront with them and recognize where I have room to grow as an instructor. I addressed this in class today, mentioning why I made the changes to their grades but also emphasizing that my expectations are fairly high going forward: reading instructions and putting in the effort of revising are elements I value, so I also want my students to see the value in them too. I continue thinking back to our recent readings regarding race and how we can approach this in a classroom, which influenced my choosing the reading options for class today. I gave my students two open letters to read before class and asked them to choose one for us to analyze together. Most preferred the one regarding a 5th generation Japanese American’s struggle with people trying to fit her into a box of stereotypes. This article ultimately brought about some fascinating discussions, as my students commented on the author’s patience when faced with her questioner’s impatience. These in-class activities have quickly become what I enjoy most about teaching: getting to engage with my students, hearing and reading their observations and how they relate to the text. I’m continuously amazed by my students. There are a certain few who actively offer to share their thoughts via audio, but it’s the ones who are quieter that manage to blow me away with the depth of their thoughts. I strive to recognize each comment posted in the chat and comment on it verbally, providing praise to show that I see their effort and that their observations are valid. As someone who struggles to speak up herself, I want to promote their voices in whatever way I can because I understand the difficulty with speaking out, with making myself heard. Although the first unit project was rather rocky, I’m excited to see how my students dig into the various articles they can analyze. So many of them had innovative stances during the first assignment and made connections about images that would never have occurred to me, and I can’t wait to see where their creativity and interests take them. This week has been…interesting. Or maybe challenging is a better word. But even considering the challenges, I’ve found the quality of student assignments and feedback quite encouraging.
There were some plagiarism issues to address, though. This is nothing new for me, especially because they occurred so often during the two semesters I worked as a TA for Technical Writing. After a while, you develop an eye for sections that don’t sound authentic to the student’s voice. I had two problems like this pop up on the third discussion post. Flexibility is such an integral part of our teaching this semester, and I also don’t want to be that teacher who fails students for the first instance of plagiarism, especially when it’s on a smaller assignment. So I felt comfortable offering them one chance to correct the plagiarism and email me the new discussion post by a certain day/time. One student took this offer; I’ve yet to see or hear back from the other. Unfortunately, the first student also plagiarized material in his Summary of Context assignment and didn’t follow instructions. At the time I’m writing this, I’m still deciding how to approach this new situation. I want to offer feedback that will help him, but how do I deal with the grade in light of the plagiarism issue? My gut instinct right now is to provide feedback but hold off on a grade, and to email him about setting up an appointment with me so I can make sure he understands what constitutes plagiarism. I also had to ask a student to stay after class yesterday, which I was worried wouldn’t go well because the only work on Canvas he’s done is the Avatar/Profile assignment. I sent him a message in Teams rather than voicing the request in front of the class. This privacy is something I enjoy about the online environment: it can be much harder to do this in person without others overhearing. Once everyone else left, I just checked in to see how he was doing and whether he was having issues accessing his school accounts since I hadn’t heard back from him. While I tried to stress the importance of him having missed so many assignments so early in the semester, I also made it clear that my main concern was how he was doing. Ultimately, I think he’s just overwhelmed: with his schedule of classes and workload, with being fresh out of high school at a four-year university, and with the pandemic. I’m not sure what’s going to happen with him, but he seemed appreciative of that fact that I simply made an effort to see if he was alright. Looking at the synchronous class this week, there are things that went well (I was honestly surprised) but also areas where I want to try for improvement. Students have been quite active in the chat, providing their own tactics for gathering evidence or sharing what time of day they are most productive. I think a big reason they felt comfortable doing this is because I’m upfront about what works for me, such as my active times and struggles with academic habits and how I manage those. I may feel like I’m talking into the void sometimes, but then I see these comments and know I’m getting across to them. I even managed to get some cameras on during the last twenty minutes of class by saying I hoped people were willing to share their findings on the sample analysis because I might begin calling names if no one spoke up. I don’t personally like the tactic of calling people unexpectedly, so making it clear this was a possibility seemed a better way of getting them to participate. One thing I specifically want to work on for future sessions is looking at articles and examples together. So far, I’ve been providing them ten or so minutes to read over an article, and I once even broken them into groups (which didn’t go too well, too many people in the groups), but I want to screenshare again and have different people read sections of the article/instructions out loud. Speaking of group work, this is another element I need to reevaluate. It was a little tricky last week because of the number of people in groups but also because some students were on their phones and couldn’t get into the breakout channels. Someone from our Pedagogy class has since informed me that there is a way they can do this, but I wonder about easier options I could look into. Until next time! I think a good portion of us in ENG 690 haven't taught before, or at least not on the college level, so I won't open by emphasizing this or going on about the nerves eating at me up until the moment class began. I want to look at how comfortable I felt once the synchronous session started and I had nine faces to look at - faces that weren’t all that different from mine. I'm closer in age to my students, which was something I initially worried about: how to garner respect from kids only seven years younger than you. And then I considered whether it’s something to earn, or is it automatic because you're in an authoritative position? While my students didn't speak up a lot this first week and I felt like I was talking at them more often than not, there was an ease to the dialogue that I didn't anticipate, and part of this came from the lack of age gap. I didn’t want to talk down to them and instead maintained a light, sometimes casual tone, while also emphasizing what I value in my class. One thing that helped with the experience was reminding myself that I'm not perfect at navigating Teams, and neither are students. Some people had microphone mishaps. Others wrote their introduction in the chat (an option I gave them until we realized how long it would take). I started talking near the start of class, only to realize I had my mic muted. But these are hiccups you work through or, in my case, laugh off. I've heard from friends and fellow teachers that one of the most important things to remember is to be yourself, a point that only came across more strongly after listening to the Sommers’ podcast. I also remembered Shipka's comment about how previous work experience can help prepare you for teaching. I worked as a receptionist for a year-and-a-half in a health care clinic, so I started thinking: how will this influence my teaching style? Dealing with medical jargon and multiple medicine names, struggling to pick up information the first time it was explained to me…I considered these things and how they related to one of my goals for this first class, which was to give students the opportunity to ask questions and voice their concerns if they found an assignment/policy confusing. This wasn't an issue (though I don't doubt it will come up throughout the semester), but me repeatedly checking to see whether they understood an aspect of the syllabus or if they were feeling alright led to one girl asking a question after class. I definitely need to work on constructing my lesson plans before next week's synchronous class though. I initially wrote plans for Weeks 1 and 2 in a notebook but just a few hours before class Wednesday decided I needed to type Week 1 for coherency's sake. This worked well because I was able to have the plan pulled up on the left side of my screen to ensure I was hitting key objectives in order (not to mention checking to see how much time each section of the lesson was taking). I let my students out 20 minutes early, something I felt comfortable doing on this first day since we'd covered all the material lined up, but I want to be more aware of my time going forward to make sure I'm utilizing it in the best way. Even though I wasn't nervous during the actual class, I know I probably started talking too quickly at some points, so I want to make a conscious effort to slow myself down. This is hard for me outside of my own teaching because I always feel like I’m wasting time if I'm not being productive, which then leads us to wonder why we value productivity so much and what society deems productive. I had my first session with Queer Theory last night, and the issue of productivity was brought up. I taught Comp before theory yesterday, but the question of productivity actually fit into my lecture through the freewriting exercise I had students do. To help them prepare for the Most/Least Enjoyable Writing Experiences assignment, I gave students five minutes to jot down ideas and incidents in order to brainstorm about what they'd later write about. Those five minutes turned into ten because I wanted to make sure they weren't feeling too pressured, that there wasn't such an immediate time crunch, and to give students a chance to consider whether they would share those experiences. I'll continue playing around with freewriting in my class to help prepare for upcoming assignments, which I intend to do next week by sharing two images and giving students roughly ten minutes to analyze and research them before we share rhetorical findings. I feel like I've moaned and groaned about teaching for weeks now, worrying excessively and being unnecessarily negative. I’m still a bit amazed by how well my first class went, but one reason for what I consider its success is that I didn’t try to emulate my professors: I was being myself, flaws and all. |