Always that one student

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Always that one student

by Maria

Aug 27, 2010

I teach a freshman level composition course, and today one of my students started complaining about the activity I had them do on how to "get started" when writing an essay. Basically the student said the activity was pointless and took on an attitude of arrogance proclaiming that he already knew everything about writing and didn't need me to go over what he learned in high school. I put together the activity based on semesters of having students tell me the most difficult part of writing an essay is simply "getting started."

Anyway, I usually try to ignore these kinds of outbursts in class by telling the student to bring up such matters after class with me and not to interrupt the class session. And that's what I did this time. But I'm having a bad day, and this one student really got to me.

What if all the students feel the same way, that the activity was pointless? This student acted out of disrespect and is probably going to give me problems the whole semester, ...See More

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Carolyn Some times, the student who balks and complains isn't doing it because he feels it is "beneath him" or "stupid", he's complaining because he CANT do it, and is actually trying to deflect attention away from the real issue.

I would have said something along the lines of "Well, impress me. If it truly is beneath you, then take it up a notch ...See MoreSome times, the student who balks and complains isn't doing it because he feels it is "beneath him" or "stupid", he's complaining because he CANT do it, and is actually trying to deflect attention away from the real issue.

I would have said something along the lines of "Well, impress me. If it truly is beneath you, then take it up a notch and really wow me. I bet you can! How would you change it up?" Challenge him to rise to a higher level of expectations. If he truly is "above it all", then he should have no problem completing the "simple" assignment. If he's deflecting, he'll continue to fight you on doing the work, which means he really can't do the assignment.

Either way, you'll get the insight you need to determine if your assignment is appropriate or, in fact, silly.

On 8/28/10, anon wrote: > Don't beat yourself up over this. You should, however, try to > determine whether your teaching methods are appropriate. One > thing you can do is give your students a questionnaire at the > end of the semester. Explain that the purpose of the > questionnaire is to help you improve the course in the future. > Include a list of the semester's activities and assignments > with two check boxes 'useful/helpful' or 'not useful/not > helpful.' You may want to include a place for written comments > from the students at the end. The questionnaire should be > anonymous. > > Based on the responses, make a couple of changes (not too many > at once) next semester. See what happens. If you are teaching > more than one section, you can even introduce different > changes in different sections and then compare learning > outcomes at the end of the semester. This will create some > extra work for you, however. > > > On 8/27/10, Maria wrote: >> I teach a freshman level composition course, and today one >> of my students started complaining about the activity I had >> them do on how to "get started" when writing an essay. >> Basically the student said the activity was pointless and >> took on an attitude of arrogance proclaiming that he >> already knew everything about writing and didn't need me to >> go over what he learned in high school. I put together the >> activity based on semesters of having students tell me the >> most difficult part of writing an essay is simply "getting >> started." >> >> Anyway, I usually try to ignore these kinds of outbursts in >> class by telling the student to bring up such matters after >> class with me and not to interrupt the class session. And >> that's what I did this time. But I'm having a bad day, and >> this one student really got to me. >> >> What if all the students feel the same way, that the >> activity was pointless? This student acted out of >> disrespect and is probably going to give me problems the >> whole semester, but what if he touched on some truth about >> my teaching? I've always gotten good evaluations, but what >> if I'm just not cut out to be a college instructor? What if >> I've been fooling myself all this time? (I'm a new >> instructor, been teaching about 4 years). What if I'm a >> horrible instructor and not fit to teach English? I know >> I'm jumping to conclusions based on this one activity and >> one student, but I tend to question myself constantly, and >> if this student felt this one activity was pointless, >> perhaps the whole class is pointless (the way I teach it >> that is). >> >> Just feeling blue today.

Aug 28, 2010

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Leah On 8/28/10, Carolyn wrote: > Some times, the student who balks and complains isn't doing it > because he feels it is "beneath him" or "stupid", he's complaining > because he CANT do it, and is actually trying to deflect attention > away from the real issue. > > I would have said something along the lines of "Well, impress me. >...See More

Sep 15, 2010

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Nancy On 8/27/10, Maria wrote: > I teach a freshman level composition course, and today one > of my students started complaining about the activity I had > them do on how to "get started" when writing an essay. > Basically the student said the activity was pointless and > took on an attitude of arrogance proclaiming that he > already kn...See More

Oct 12, 2010

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Nancy On 10/12/10, Nancy wrote:I also teach freshman level composition. I do not use activities to get students started. Instead, I have had students read essays such as "Writing is Not a McDonald's Hamburger." We discuss the ideas in the essays. However, when it comes to a writing assignment, I usually share one of my own essays. For example, when stude...See MoreOn 10/12/10, Nancy wrote:I also teach freshman level composition. I do not use activities to get students started. Instead, I have had students read essays such as "Writing is Not a McDonald's Hamburger." We discuss the ideas in the essays. However, when it comes to a writing assignment, I usually share one of my own essays. For example, when students wrote a personal essay, I shared one of my own. After students have written a rough draft, I provide them with a "Peer Edit" sheet. Over time, they realize that editing is not in the clean-up- work: proofreading for grammatical and spelling errors. All semester, I talk about the nitty-gritty of real editing: scrapping the entire project, getting rid of sentences, paragraphs; adding paragraphs, etc. They learn by doing. One of the first things we discuss is that getting started means just writing. I don't know what area you teach in, but you may want to scrap the "getting started" activities. And don't doubt yourself. I know how students--even those who have graduated high school--can be rude and obnoxious. I had similar encounters when I started teaching post-high school. I questioned myself, especially since I had taught middle and high school English for over a decade before I started teaching in a college. I would not trade my experience with post-grads for all the world! The day will come when you laugh remembering each of your brazen students. And yes, depending on the kind of day you are having often determines how much you take the comments to heart! > On 8/27/10, Maria wrote: >> I teach a freshman level composition course, and today one >> of my students started complaining about the activity I had >> them do on how to "get started" when writing an essay. >> Basically the student said the activity was pointless and >> took on an attitude of arrogance proclaiming that he >> already knew everything about writing and didn't need me to >> go over what he learned in high school. I put together the >> activity based on semesters of having students tell me the >> most difficult part of writing an essay is simply "getting >> started." >> >> Anyway, I usually try to ignore these kinds of outbursts in >> class by telling the student to bring up such matters after >> class with me and not to interrupt the class session. And >> that's what I did this time. But I'm having a bad day, and >> this one student really got to me. >> >> What if all the students feel the same way, that the >> activity was pointless? This student acted out of >> disrespect and is probably going to give me problems the >> whole semester, but what if he touched on some truth about >> my teaching? I've always gotten good evaluations, but what >> if I'm just not cut out to be a college instructor? What if >> I've been fooling myself all this time? (I'm a new >> instructor, been teaching about 4 years). What if I'm a >> horrible instructor and not fit to teach English? I know >> I'm jumping to conclusions based on this one activity and >> one student, but I tend to question myself constantly, and >> if this student felt this one activity was pointless, >> perhaps the whole class is pointless (the way I teach it >> that is). >> >> Just feeling blue today.

Oct 12, 2010

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no, not always On 8/27/10, Maria wrote:

If we think that every activity we give an entire class is going to be meaningful to the entire class... we've got another think coming. If your entire class walked into a doctor's office all with strep throat, would one antibiotic in the same dose work for all of them?

No. Just as no one assignment is go...See More