Class Notes 2/6/08

The activity we started off with class seemed to be frustrating to most of the students. Writing a 26-word story with a different letter from the the alphabet each word was harder than it sounded. However, most of the students noticed that Missy was participating too, and because of this, the activity gained a little more relevance.
This brings me to my first point from class. As we brought up certain points from the text that interested us individually, the idea of the teacher participating in journals came up. Everyone seemed to feel that this would be very effective in order to make the students feel less like they were part of a dictatorship. Making the students comfortable can be crucial to their success.
The next activity we did as a class involved group work. Missy handed out different packets of information to each group, each concerning the idea of a writing assignment. Heaven recorded the classes ideas on the board, allowing everyone to see the results as a whole. My particular group focused on the creation of the assignment. The specifics of a prompt, but not too confusing, the writer's role, the focus, the PURPOSE, and a clearly-stated deadline were a few key points pulled out from my group. Also, the importantness of a rubric being provided was emphasized for the teacher's security and the students' clear guidelines.
The other groups continued to add to the list with the idea of the teacher setting managable goals for him or herself, keeping the workload realistic for the students, the effectiveness of the "peer review," and other ideas that make sure the teacher stays connected to the students while keeping their own sanity in mind. This class period was particularly helpful because if its specifics when creating a writing assignment. I feel like that could be one of the biggest challenges, and if some guidelines are already in place, tackling the blank paper for a prompt is not quite as difficult.
I left at 6:45 for Ash Wednesday service, so I missed the last 45 minutes of class, but the hour and 45 minutes I was there was extremely significant to the teacher's base knowledge.