Essay Two...

For Essay #2, I asked them to synthesize ideas and concepts from the readings we have done so far, citing at least two sources, one from the text (minimum) and additional sources as needed/desired. The first stage of the essay process I've decided on is a basic proposal:

Using the essay assignment handout, please write a (solid) paragraph explaining what direction you plan to take with this essay. Include which readings you will be working with, your viewpoint on the subject, and a couple of points you hope to make. Turn in via Turnitin before midnight!

The proposals themselves ranged from quite well done to fairly bare bones:


Example One: Very good!

Stereotypes have been a prominent part of culture. Can we reverse our thinking despite the very clear snap judgments made and should we remove all stereotypes, positive and negative? I will be using “The End of Race” (Olson), “Paper Tigers” (Yang), and Blink! by Malcolm Gladwell to analyze this topic. I will be exploring the idea of stereotypes and how one can decide to choose how they are instead of others assuming. I want to cover the way women are viewed in media and how snap judgments can alter entire cultures and individuals. I feel that snap judgments are constantly made whether someone wants to make them or not, whether they want to control them or not, and we all have made snap judgments. I also feel as though we can only eradicate assumptions about people if we stop assuming positive or negative assumptions all together. I also feel that women are seen as objects in media and they are assumed to only serve that purpose. Lastly, I feel that anyone can choose who he or she is and should feel safe in their decision in who they are as a person. 

Example Two: Just passed (spelling errors are in the original proposal)...

As of now I will be writing my essay on “The End of Race” by Steve Olson. I do believe racism can come to an end, but it will not be easy. I am going to answer the questions you have given us and maybe add a few myself. As of right now I am going to use “The End of Race” story for sure, and not yet decided on what other sources I want to bring in, weather it be my own article or something you have given us. 

Next up, rough drafts!

Testing my memory

It is surprisingly hard to remember 16 names when you only see your students a couple of times a week! But I had some help, and I think I've got it now.

I meet once a week for a discussion based class with my teaching cohort. Stephani, a fellow Teaching Associate, shared her alliteration activity recently, so I tried it with my class. Each student had to choose an adjective to go with their first names. We started with the student to my left, and went around the room, with each person repeating the name(s) before them, and then their own. I was the last to go, so I had to repeat all 16 before introducing myself again. And no one was allowed to write them down!

I have:

Happy Hanna
Brilliant Brenda
Elusive Elida
Amazing AJ
Awesome Alyssa
Know-It-All Natasha
Elegant Elly
Sappy Samantha
Low-key Luis
Miraculous Mikayala
Genuine Gio
Shining Shayna
Silly Samantha (prefers to be called by her middle name, Samantha, rather than by Jenifer)
Mild Moira
Stupendous Stephanie
Steady Stephanie

Not easy with two Stephanies and two Samanthas!

Discussion Abounds!

We read "Race, Ethnicity, Surgery", by Maureen O'Connor, and then discussed it in class. This time, I had them all fill out "Say, Means, Matters" charts to help guide the discussion. I usually split the class into small groups to discuss the ideas before coming back together as a group, but somehow this reading caused the groups to bubble over and reform as a class almost right away. I've never seen such spirited discussion from my students!

Topics that came up:
Ethnically related surgeries
Plastic surgery in general
Eating disorders
Hollywood and false images
Photoshopping
Micahel Jackson
The Kardashians
Media

My students were finally embodying the kind of discussion I've been hoping for: they were eager to talk and to respond. They wanted to break into the conversation, and everyone had something to say. People were talking about having pride in how you look, without surgery, and how far surgery can remove someone from their original appearance. We talked about familial pressure, and how hard it could be for children to grow up with a parent, or parents, that had altered their appearance significantly (the Kardashian family, for example). My black student said she thought it would be particularly hard to have black parents that lightened their skin, because that would leave the child, or children, feeling very different, out of place.

There was a general consensus that plastic surgery for personal or necessary reasons was fine, but not when bowing to pressure from family, friends, or society as a whole.

I noticed too, when they left class, a greater sense of camraderie.

First Essays

As I mentioned, I gave my students their first essay assignment last week, based on the "This I Believe" theme, one to two pages. This weekend, I've been reading and grading them. I've graded many essays before, having been an active reader at the junior college for the last 5 years. It is different though, knowing that I set the boundaries and expectations now!

Overall, they are good. Most of my students followed the prompt and samples well. Here is the actual assignment:
_____________________________________________________________________________
Due at the start of class, Thursday, September 1, 2016.
Read the attached sample "This I Believe" essays, then craft one of your own. Make it a topic that you connect with, that you are passionate about, no matter how small it seems. I don't care if it is something huge, or tiny, or even something you might think is silly, but it has to be something you believe, and follow the same general format as the sample essays. I will not be grading this essay down for grammar, or misspellings, though if I see a lot of errors, I may take the time to address some skills we should work on.
Please aim for one full page, and no more than two pages! This essay will be turned in directly to me (typed, please), though future essays may be uploaded through Moodle.
_____________________________________________________________________________

My favorite one by far, and which followed the samples most closely, was one on ice cream. I did learn a lot about my new students through this essay -- one has parents that have taken in a couple hundred foster kids over the last 20 years. Another coached Little League for four years, during high school. Two of them wrote about the importance pf music, and playing instruments.

I feel overall, this was a good start to the semester, as far as assignments. Not high stakes, plenty of freedom within it, and I feel I know them a little better!

Such a Good Day!

I know my first day was not the best. I was actually scared to go back the following class day. But, I persevered, and made it through a whole week... then a week and a half. And it was less painful, but still not great.

Then today happened.

My class went SO well today! I started with a check-in, something I learned from a former professor, to gauge how my freshmen are adapting to college life. Overall, it seems to be going well for them, although they cited some difficulties in getting used to the homework load (lots of reading!).

We had a fairly thoughtful discussion on stereotypes, white privilege, and media portrayals of minorities, basing our discussion of a series of articles I gave them to read:

The Critical Media Project: Race & Ethnicity
Where Bias Begins: The Truth About Stereotyping
White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack

My issue with the topic we are covering in regards to my students is that some of them fully believe their generation does not have issues with racism, that they have eradicated it, and that only us "older" folk are still practicing it. As for white privilege? Truthfully, I think there's a lot of it in this class, but they won't admit to any of it.

Finally, as a break from all the serious stuff, we ended the class on a lighter note with a collaborative story writing exercise, which we will finish up next week! Basically, each person pulled out a sheet of paper, and wrote the first sentence of a story of their own imagining. Everyone then passed their papers one person to the right, and so on, around the room. They are looking hilarious so far!

I also collected their first (short) essays, on the "This I Believe" theme, which should make some interesting weekend reading. I gave them an "easier" first assignment, as I want them to have a little freedom in their writing, and I want to see who they are and what they hold dear.
 
I teaching so far!