You can’t skip my class

Something is going right in my freshman English class. It feels amazing. I look forward to teaching all three sections whenever they meet, which is rare for me the week before Spring break vacation.

What is working:
1. We spent time building a class culture. We used the first two weeks of the quarter to do activities that addressed the essential question of the course (who am I and how does voice shape my identity?) and students bonded. The payoff is better peer-feedback amongst students and more laughter in the classroom.

2. More large projects. Student feedback from last semester suggested that they prefer fewer large assignments over nightly assignments that count for a lot. Now they have Big Great Works, Little Great Works, and Process works which are the nightly assignments worth 5 points. The assignments build on one another, so after around seven Process works of writing different kinds of poetry, for example, they have a BGW of polishing three poems and submitting those with a reflection. They sense there is a purpose to the homework while it allows a little more space to play and fail (you can goof up your process works and still rock your BGW grades).



3. I spend more time planning class than I do grading. Last year I stayed up late to turn back papers the day after I received them. Now I may turn papers back two classes later, but I know class will be engaging (and I am well-rested!).

4. Start every class with them. Students can they read their free-choice paper to a neighbor, share a story of what they did after school yesterday, or write an overheard line of poetry on the board-- anything works. I just try to start class with something from them so we are all invested together. It’s a little scarier than starting with my example story or model-able essay; it requires adaptability and thinking on my feet. Their creation doesn’t always link seamlessly to the lesson of the day, but it adds an element of surprise for both of us that keeps things fresh.

A mentor told me that class should feel like there is some kind of plan, but anything can happen. I like that.

One strange result of this spontaneous, student-started class is that it makes it unpleasant to re-hash past classes with students who missed class for sports or illness. Last year I could easily upload my lesson plan to the website or email them what they missed because it was the same in every class: fueled by me. But now rehashing class is like dissecting a joke for someone who wasn’t listening. What is there to say? You had to be there.