They Took It Sitting Down (Jerz’s Literacy Weblog)
The other night, about a third of my American Lit survey class insisted on sitting on the floor. They pushed the chairs aside and clumped together in the front of the room. The weather was nice, but we couldn’t go outside because a student was using her blog for her presentation. So I guess this was the next best thing.
The sitters were bloginators — part of the core of English majors who put more than average effort into their academic blogging. I think on some level they were trying to assert control over the class. They weren’t aggressive or rude about it… in fact, they asked my permission first, so I can hardly call it a protest or a rebellion. I had to position myself in a strange way so I could make eye contact with them and also the rest of the class, but it was a harmless, cheerful request.
American Lit is a general education course, which means that I have to teach so that it makes sense to students who’ve never taken a lit course, and who may resent being forced to take it. But the students who have had me in other classes have already heard me explain the difference between plot summary and critical analysis; they have heard me explain why it’s important to keep up to date on your blog (and not try to get it all done the night before the portfolio is due); and they have heard me give the lecture on the importance of finding peer-reviewed academic sources before you commit to a thesis statement. And they’ve heard me repeat those lessons several times (since they themselves might have needed a while to accept it). So I can’t blame them if they feel a little bored.
I don’t require the class to read all their peer blogs, but many of the English majors already read each other’s blogs for social purposes. So the most vocal group comes into the classroom already knowing what the most active participants want to say about that week’s reading. I had to remind some of the more intense bloggers that they are welcome to blog more than they are required to, but for a while there we had a kind of digital divide. The online part of the class was going well, but the most committed bloggers felt the class discussion was redundant.
Sometimes I feel I’m able to go into much more depth in the freshman “Intro to English Study” course. While the students in that class have a diversity of attitudes towards such things as punctuation and academic research, they all enjoy writing. Today when I passed out photocopies of a book chapter on Death of a Salesman, one of the freshmen noticed my name on the handout and beamed. She held it like it was a precious gift, and she practically cooed, “Oh! You wrote this?” It sounded completely spontaneous, not at all calculated to flatter me. And of course, these freshmen will be among the bloginators taking American Lit survey courses next year… and I’ll have to teach them alongside students who don’t like writing or reading.
When I humbly went to the Ed school seeking advice, the boss was adamant that I shouldn’t even think of lightening up on the course content simply to make the education majors feel less terror (or rage). He pointed out that Ed students take the course to fulfill two area requirements — literature and American culture. If they feel the course is too difficult, he says, they are welcome to drop the one course and take two others that are less demanding — if they want to pay double the tuition.
Next year, the American Lit surveys will go from a lecture (capped at 35) to a writing-intensive seminar (capped at 18). I welcome the change, especially because I’m teaching two sections of Am Lit in both the fall and spring terms — one on Tuesday and Thursday, and one on Wednesday evening. I like that arrangement. The two sets of students will be able to read each other’s blogs, but they won’t talk about the same things in the classroom. Each week, half of the course content will be freshly prepared just for them, and half will be a tweaked and revised version of material I had just presented the day before.
Must-stop-character-analysis! And thank you, for letting us sit on the floor…it was definitely a welcome change.
Dr. Jerz,
It was a definite treat to sit on the floor for class! I’m still pushing for an outside class, although I’m slightly concerned that the outside atmosphere would make most of our attention spans 0, as Tiffany put it. Also, I’m not sure if we’ll ever get a day from here on out that isn’t featuring a presenter. Still, it would be really nice. Just a thought.
I guess I’m spoiled because I get to walk around the room during class! Thanks, Tiffany and Karissa, for helping me understand.
I have to say that sitting on the floor last week was, as Karissa said, a very welcome change. Sometimes I feel as if sitting in those extremely uncomfortable desks in Lynch make my attention span almost 0. It also fits my own teaching style. As one of the English bloginators AND education major, I find that when I am discussing literature that if students are comfortable they feel more open to discussing what they have ahead of them because they aren’t focused on how uncomfortable they are feeling. Of course I will be teaching elementary and special education students, but still I feel as if sometimes college students need to feel as if they are back in the elementary grades or they will explode! I know that’s how I felt.
Thanks Dr. Jerz!
I completely understand, Dr. Jerz. Tearing majors and non-majors apart wouldn’t be entirely detrimental, but it would create more segregation (less of the interdependency you and BG mentioned) and possibly more of a hassle in scheduling–I’m certain no one needs any of that!
More upper-level writing courses would be thrilling!
Karissa, sorting out all the English majors into one section wasn’t part of the plan. With the smaller class sizes, I feel I’ll be able to spend more time with each student where they are, and to work more on building an interdependent class structure (BG suggests). The smaller size would make more time for presentations (which is something the Ed students should be good at).
The English faculty members have discussed the possibility of adding a few more upper-level writing courses, which wouldn’t be particularly attractive to students who are just trying to fulfill a requirement. So at least we’re aware of the need for more places where English-y types can congregate.
But thanks for your feedback, Karissa.
Thanks for allowing us to sit on the floor! It was a nice change, although certainly not an act of rebellion. I am sure I don’t have to iterate why I get frustrated in class at times–you’ve pretty much covered it. I am wondering, however, with the split in size of lit. classes next semester, will there be any sorting of those there purely for core and English-y people? Sort of like an English class that covers core but isn’t treated poorly like core can be with the population of students filling the seats. Does that make sense? I’m not sure if that’s exactly “legal” but it can’t hurt to ask, right?
Dennis,
I’m very interested in what you say about the mix of seasoned bloggers and newbies or disinterested ones in a class as well as a mix of majors and non (they seem to be the same groups). I’ve been thinking a lot lately about this second wave of blogging–students who’ve blogged with me or someone else having to wait patiently for the rest of the group to “get it” about blogging, or having to out up with classmates not getting it at all.
I agree with the Ed school boss urging you to teach to the level of the most serious students. Do you encourage your students to form reciprocal relationships? Do the English majors see that they might have something to learn from the Ed majors? Do the Ed majors believe that they actually have something to offer the “experts”? I find that spending time on who the class group is as a learning community inspires the less accomplished students and opens the minds of the experienced.
I found myself having so much to say in response to your thought-provoking post that I blogged it up on my own blog .
Thanks for the great post.
Barbara