Yesterday, with the essay three prompt fresh in hand, we headed off to the library for an introduction to library services and some guided research assistance. I was informed, as we were heading out of the classroom after a quick check-in, that one student would be late as he had locked himself out of his dorm room. At least he let someone know, so they could pass the message on! Once we got to the library, they were quick to assist us, and we soon found ourselves seated in a study room with laptops. I followed along with my students as we were led through the search process by Sheila. I checked in with each student too, regarding their ideas for the essay, and what kind of research they thought would be applicable.I also reminded the of essay deadlines for this assignment.
I had one student not attend at all, but the other fifteen were there, with the late student showing up minutes after we arrived. The students I checked in with at the end of class felt that it had been a good experience, and very helpful in knowing how to search, how to narrow results, and what types of resources to look for.
Next week, we have a trip to the Writing Center planned. I emailed them a little while back, including my prompt, and they are setting up a four station workshop for my students. They are to bring in their rough drafts so that we can tackle any potential issues ahead of time.
The class did get off to a bit of a rough start, as the day before, we had all gotten an emergency message from campus, relating to the discovery of a human body in a shallow grave on campus. My students were in a state of shock, and needed to have a check-in to gather their thoughts and settle down before they could move forward with the everyday tasks of writing an essay. Rumors were/are flying around campus about the victim... was it a child or an old man? Was it a student or a transient? Today I am thankful for the check-ins, because it gave us all a sense of safety in being together.
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