As the semester comes to a close, I’ve began looking back trying to compare/contrast what I did last semester with the way I have taught ENG 110 this semester. My big change has been in the amount of time I spend conferencing and working one-on-one with the students.
Last semester, I had plenty of workshop days for the students to utilize to improve their papers, but only a few, small conferences where I let the students discuss with me, personally, the direction of their paper. This semester, I’ve changed things completely around with the amount of time devoted to workshop as compared to conferencing. This semester I still had at least one workshop per paper, but I also had at least one conference per paper. And I think that has made a lot of difference in a couple of ways: 1) it cuts down on the time out of class that I have to spend writing comments on papers and not knowing if they will understand the comments and know how to implement my suggestions, and 2) gives them immediate personal feedback on their work and gives them a chance to ask me directly if they have a problem or don’t understand what I’m asking of them.
I feel that this one-on-one contact keeps me more informed on each student’s process as well as their progress on each paper. It also keeps them more honest on actually doing their rough drafts. I noticed last semester that even though there was a second workshop on a paper, some students would bring in the exact same draft from the first workshop. Now, knowing they will be sitting down with me, their instructor, they always bring more to the table and will talk and share their frustrations as well as their satisfactions with the work they are doing.
I know that conferencing isn’t for every teacher, some may loathe it even, but for me, I’ve found that it really helps me connect with each student in a more personal way than lecture does and gets the student to be more open about their work. I believe it’s something I will continue to do as long as I am behind the desk.
1 comment:
I think conferencing is a great way to really let your students know that you care about them individually and not only as a class. Breaking down the classroom and meeting one-on-one will also allow many of the students to ask those questions that they have that they think are too dumb to ask aloud in front of their peers. It boggles my mind sometimes how students will not ask a single question about an assignment during the lecture, even when asked, but towards the end of the hour when one soul is brave enough to open the floodgates with a single inquiry, many, many hands go up, and, all of a sudden, the ice has been broken. Students sometimes need that little push, and I think the sincerity of conferences will work to do just that.
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