I just want to go on the record as saying that I’m keeping my instructions to my students intentionally vague, to a certain extent. I’ve been getting a lot of comments from them on the last few papers, and the comments tend to revolve around “This class is harder than other classes. Why aren’t you [...]

I think it’s funny that whenever you say you’re not enjoying a class, or you’re bored, or you don’t like the readings or whatever, the first question other grad students ask is, “Who’s teaching it?”  I realize that enjoyment of a class has a lot to do with the professor, I just think it’s funny [...]

Had the last day of class today, and it was a relief. Several of my students told me that they’d enjoyed my class, which was very nice to hear. They also asked about my sections in spring, so I passed on the information. Very flattering.
The best part about being done with teaching [...]

An example of the relationship I have with my students: I got a haircut yesterday, and then walked into class today, not thinking much of it. However, one of my students immediately said, “Your hair is looking lovely today, Ms. Sandler.” I was so stunned and suspicious that I left the room to [...]

I’m reading Lad Tobin’s Writing Reflections as my book to present in class, and I’m somewhat confounded by his ideas about the necessity of strong relationships with our students. Several times over the course of the semester, reading Elbow and Tobin and others, I’ve thought to myself, “I’ll never know my students as well [...]

A few assorted observations from the past few days:
Now that we’re into the major papers, I’m realizing that I ought to have been tougher on grading earlier, so that I could now be giving them more accurate grades. The problem is that giving students an A on a small paper may not be inaccurate [...]

As the semester has gone on, I’ve been identifying things that I wish I’d done differently, or things that I know I want to change next time I teach 1303. I thought I would try to catalogue them, both so I have them written down in an accessible place for next time, and to [...]

I’m realizing that one of the most difficult lessons for my students in this course will be to teach them the importance of drafting and revising. When we did the Reader’s Digest aspirin assignment, I noticed that they hadn’t really done any pre-writing or planning, and the grades reflected that. Seeing that to be the [...]

(Confession: I feel a little weird writing this, but I’m using it as a self-reflection, not a critique of my classmates.)
After visiting Nicole’s class and critiquing other TA’s assignments in class, I feel much more comfortable about my own teaching. This is not to say that I think I’m a better teacher than [...]

Having finished the Bizzell article in this week’s reading, I felt compelled to commit to paper some of the thoughts I’ve had while reading several of our last readings. I find myself in opposition to some of what I’ve read, from the standpoint of its usefulness for my students.
First, I want to respond to [...]