week 4

We have finished week four of English 099. It has not been a smooth progression of classes. Students have been absent, classes frequently sparse. Some students submitted decent writing sample and placed into 110, replaced by new, sullen students who have missed as much as the first two weeks of classes. Not everyone has purchased books. Many submit homework late, or neglect to do it entirely.

I have handed back a set of narrative essays. Though I required each essay to be only one page in length, part of the assignment was to submit all six drafts: brainstorm, fastwrite, rough draft, 1st draft, 2nd draft, final perfectly proofread draft. Only one student out of both classes has followed the assignment to the letter and utilized the middle draft as an opportunity to more effectively restructure the page. The others have either submitted a few scrawled pages with the final proofread, typed page, or else have submitted a string of typed pages, identical but for a progression of slightly altered grammatical or spelling issues.

I have decided to make individual appointments with each student, early on in the semester, and so I have met with each, attempting to connect, and to more clearly articulate their errors than I could in margin notes. They are largely a nice bunch, decent writers for an 099 class.

I have been reading to them from rich narrative passages I admire, then requesting them to do a fast write immediately afterwards. “Water seeks its own level,” I tell them. “Don’t worry about writing properly, concentrate on sensory details, on the flow of words. Don’t stop writing. Write about the ceiling if you get stuck. Write that you don’t know what to write, over and over again, but don’t remove the pen from the paper. It’s kinesthetic, it’s like fishing. If you leave your pole in the water long enough you’ll catch a decent fish. No one ever caught a fish without actually putting a pole in the water.”

Many seem to have fun doing this. I’ve told them that on the formal papers, I will primarily point out areas that need improvement, but that on these fast writes, I will only point out gems, things they’ve written that strike me as valuable. I’ve not yet read the fast writes. I’ve been hoarding them as my own treats. Such a relief not to have to figure out how to communicate to 099 students methods to improve their essays.

I want them to like to write, just as I want them to like to read. It is easier to sit captive in a classroom, ordered to write badly about stuff that is fun to write about than it would be for them to do the same at home.

We have played games, formed teams to compete in grammar exercises. I’ve pulled out all my tricks to help the class congeal. Nothing has really brought everyone together yet. It is still relatively early. Perhaps this coming week will change that. We will be focusing on compare and contrast essays, and in grammar, faulty parallelism. It is important that we mesh soon, and that attendance improves. Damn 9am classes. Never did like early classes