Fieldnotes -- 4/10/06
ENG 101-17
COL Writing Studio - pop open the calendar and let's take a look at that.
Read three papers, write at least 3 comments on each of the papers -- Revised version of the essay due on Monday.
Sentence-Level concerns
At this point in the semester, look at sentence-level concerns. Began the semester by looking at more global issues, now, time to look at lower-order concerns.
Reflective Essays
Final Portfolio
Comment
What does the little (S) and (E) mean on the calendar?
It means the start and end date. Use the same entries for TR and MWF classes.
Make sure your comments deal with content, and that you support your opinion.
Prof and student discussing Wolf's Beauty Myth. Prof suggested student read it in a lecture, and student picked up the book and began to read it.
"Cool."
The room is quiet. I see a student looking at MySpace.com, looking at profiles, sending messages to friends. Check, 2 students. Student next to me is reading. Young man across from me looking intently at cpu screen.
A few of the female students are talking to one another. Both students in their 20's.
"Can we comment on our own paper? Like putting my ideas into comment so I can refer to them later?"
"I'd rather you guys commented on your own papers."
Jerry finishes his mini-lecture, covering the outline for the rest of the semester. Students will finish commenting on their peers' essays, then revise, then put up the best of the best for peers to comment on, in preparation for the final portfolio, which is due the last day of finals week.
Students seem to understand the process, and they have very few questions about the calendar or what's expected of them. This seems to be a process they have repeated numerous times.
People are not talking, but very quiet, and seem to be working on something.
Click. click. click. Tap. tap. tap.
Busy, but reserved. No chaos. The room feels relaxed. I see two students working in Comment, a peer feedback program published by Bedford/St. Martin's. Students are able to click on a word within a peers text, a popup window appears, and in that window, annotate the text with ease.
4 students on MySpace. Funny, I have a student who is writing an essay on MySpace, and she quotes a professor who claims MySpace in the number one barrier to student learning in her computer classes because she can not wrestle their attention away from MySpace.
It seems like this could be something that could be harnessed for educational use. I know that MySpace is largely dominated by teen culture, an emphasis on hyper-sexuality, music and photos, but maybe an educator could work with the imperative students feel to read and contribute to MySpace?
5 Students.
This class, an afternoon class, has 16 students in it, 7 females and 8 males, and all seem to be traditional age students, and, from what I can tell, only one minority student, a young woman who appears to be of other-than-European descent, although I'm not sure how I would characterize her heritage.
Student checking cell phone.
Old technology versus new.
Cell phones are becoming more and more the digital hubs that computers once were. Cell phones hold many of the keys that computers once did. We receive e-mail, text messages, have calendars, news updates, all received via cellular connections.
6 students. MySpace rules.
Student with headphones.
Professor sits at desk, writing furious comments on a paper. Head down. Lost in thought. Student approaches, asking . . .
"Do my comments show on your computer? I want to make sure my comments appear?"
"Yep. There here. It's a cache thing. If you hit refresh a few times they'll appear."
The atmosphere is very relaxed.
What do I say? In the two writing classes, not much has been happening to observe. Students are working on revising their own writing, or providing feedback to their peers to help them revise their own writing. In each case, the emphasis is on revising, in both basic and college-level writing course. There is consistency, repeated messages, over and over. Revise. Revise. Revise.
A student gets up to leave a little early, 13 minutes early. We're supposed to care about these things, but prof doesn't bat an eye. It's his decision, if he wants to leave early, then he takes responsibility for that decision. It seems like responsibility sits solely within the students' laps. It is their decision whether to surf MySpace, or work on their own writing, and they will make that choice.
Another student gets up to leave. Both are male. Traditional age students.
2 female students seems to do most of the talking. The talking is hished so I cant pick any of it out, or really tell whether it is class-related. I think I might have heard, "I need a cigarette."
3rd student leaves, male, 9 minutes early. Then a female considers. She looks at teacher's desk, over at me, wondering if it is safe to leave. The educational mores are strong and she decides to stay a bit longer, until the end, I suppose.
The class ends a few minutes early. Students restart cpu's, grab books, head for the door.
COL Writing Studio - pop open the calendar and let's take a look at that.
Read three papers, write at least 3 comments on each of the papers -- Revised version of the essay due on Monday.
Sentence-Level concerns
At this point in the semester, look at sentence-level concerns. Began the semester by looking at more global issues, now, time to look at lower-order concerns.
Reflective Essays
Final Portfolio
Comment
What does the little (S) and (E) mean on the calendar?
It means the start and end date. Use the same entries for TR and MWF classes.
Make sure your comments deal with content, and that you support your opinion.
Prof and student discussing Wolf's Beauty Myth. Prof suggested student read it in a lecture, and student picked up the book and began to read it.
"Cool."
The room is quiet. I see a student looking at MySpace.com, looking at profiles, sending messages to friends. Check, 2 students. Student next to me is reading. Young man across from me looking intently at cpu screen.
A few of the female students are talking to one another. Both students in their 20's.
"Can we comment on our own paper? Like putting my ideas into comment so I can refer to them later?"
"I'd rather you guys commented on your own papers."
Jerry finishes his mini-lecture, covering the outline for the rest of the semester. Students will finish commenting on their peers' essays, then revise, then put up the best of the best for peers to comment on, in preparation for the final portfolio, which is due the last day of finals week.
Students seem to understand the process, and they have very few questions about the calendar or what's expected of them. This seems to be a process they have repeated numerous times.
People are not talking, but very quiet, and seem to be working on something.
Click. click. click. Tap. tap. tap.
Busy, but reserved. No chaos. The room feels relaxed. I see two students working in Comment, a peer feedback program published by Bedford/St. Martin's. Students are able to click on a word within a peers text, a popup window appears, and in that window, annotate the text with ease.
4 students on MySpace. Funny, I have a student who is writing an essay on MySpace, and she quotes a professor who claims MySpace in the number one barrier to student learning in her computer classes because she can not wrestle their attention away from MySpace.
It seems like this could be something that could be harnessed for educational use. I know that MySpace is largely dominated by teen culture, an emphasis on hyper-sexuality, music and photos, but maybe an educator could work with the imperative students feel to read and contribute to MySpace?
5 Students.
This class, an afternoon class, has 16 students in it, 7 females and 8 males, and all seem to be traditional age students, and, from what I can tell, only one minority student, a young woman who appears to be of other-than-European descent, although I'm not sure how I would characterize her heritage.
Student checking cell phone.
Old technology versus new.
Cell phones are becoming more and more the digital hubs that computers once were. Cell phones hold many of the keys that computers once did. We receive e-mail, text messages, have calendars, news updates, all received via cellular connections.
6 students. MySpace rules.
Student with headphones.
Professor sits at desk, writing furious comments on a paper. Head down. Lost in thought. Student approaches, asking . . .
"Do my comments show on your computer? I want to make sure my comments appear?"
"Yep. There here. It's a cache thing. If you hit refresh a few times they'll appear."
The atmosphere is very relaxed.
What do I say? In the two writing classes, not much has been happening to observe. Students are working on revising their own writing, or providing feedback to their peers to help them revise their own writing. In each case, the emphasis is on revising, in both basic and college-level writing course. There is consistency, repeated messages, over and over. Revise. Revise. Revise.
A student gets up to leave a little early, 13 minutes early. We're supposed to care about these things, but prof doesn't bat an eye. It's his decision, if he wants to leave early, then he takes responsibility for that decision. It seems like responsibility sits solely within the students' laps. It is their decision whether to surf MySpace, or work on their own writing, and they will make that choice.
Another student gets up to leave. Both are male. Traditional age students.
2 female students seems to do most of the talking. The talking is hished so I cant pick any of it out, or really tell whether it is class-related. I think I might have heard, "I need a cigarette."
3rd student leaves, male, 9 minutes early. Then a female considers. She looks at teacher's desk, over at me, wondering if it is safe to leave. The educational mores are strong and she decides to stay a bit longer, until the end, I suppose.
The class ends a few minutes early. Students restart cpu's, grab books, head for the door.
posted by CA Lund at 12:07 PM
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