Though this number is higher nationally than it is on my own campus, I still don't find this rate of transfer surprising at all, because I've seen the increase in transferring firsthand. The NY Times article suggests that today's "Millennial" generation approach their curriculum just like they do their iPods, selecting courses like singles that they're loading up into their playlists, making increasingly granular choices regardless of "brand affiliation" (eg. a lack of commitment to one's "alma mater.") Admissions offices call the high churn rate of transfer courses "swirling" -- a term I associate with toilet bowl flushes rather than academics, but it's still an apt term. Swirling is what helicopter wings do and it can leave you dizzy and disoriented.
I often staff the "transfer orientation" that our campus hosts during the summer, when incoming transfer students sign up for their first courses... and I have to tell you, as much as I enjoy transfer students (because they usually bring fresh perspectives into the classroom), it's often a nightmarish webwork of complexity trying to figure out what courses a student still "needs" to graduate, despite the useful and helpful audits of our registrars. The sum (diploma) always means more to these students than the variables (courses) that add up to it, and -- coupled with financial pressures that are only rising over the years -- for too many students a "survivalist" mindset drives their learning: many students just want to cobble together a schedule so they can finish their long-suffering and have a degree. Perhaps the way colleges sell themselves contributes to the problem. If a degree is something that can be acquired if enough "stamps" are earned, then it doesn't matter where you get those stamps.
But it is a bit out of the ordinary to earn a degree from one college -- an institutional endorsement of one's educational status -- while still having a transcript that quilts together several different colleges that made their imprint on the student in some fashion outside of the penumbra of the college giving the degree. Do these students feel attachment to their degree-granting institution as "alums" as much as traditional four year students do? Institutional identity evaporates beneath this to some degree, rending the early colleges that the student transferred out of as functionaries toward the final degree. I can imagine some minor forms of blowback that students wouldn't anticipate (e.g., imagine an employer who is a Yale alum reviewing a student's transcripts during the hiring process: Would they see the transfer out of Yale as troubling? Do they see a high "swirl" rate as a sign that a potential employee lacks commitment?)
There are also ways in which "swirling" renders a college's self-assessment problematic. If a school is surveying student attitudes or performance at various grade levels, comparing and contrasting and looking for statistical growth from freshman to senior year, what do the numbers mean if such a high percentage of those seniors have only been in residence for a year or two? Or that the freshman won't be around very long? How do retention committees and officers understand these numbers and marshal policies based on them? Even within any given academic major, swirling problematizes program review and if upper division courses have prerequisites that are built on assumptions about how those prereqs are taught locally, rather than universally, then most assumptions regarding progressive learning are essentially undermined.
Indeed, although it is nothing new (and often common among Adult and non-traditional learners) swirling requires a reformulation of not only what we mean by "traditional students" but what we mean by "progressive learning" across any given student's career. I think teachers concerned with such issues may find a review of Transformative Learning theory a worthwhile endeavor in this regard.
Mike Rubino, Seton Hill U class of 2007
Start with a brief bio that tells us first where you are now, then what your status was in college (e.g. "Creative Writing major, Volleyball player, Tetris fan, whatever.) Let your personality show.
I am currently a graphic designer for a commercial and political strategy firm in Pittsburgh. I graduated from SHU with a B.F.A in graphic design with a minor in creative writing. While at Seton Hill I was a "Renaissance Man," bouncing between graphic design, fine arts, theater, creative writing, and politics with the occasional pause to watch some "MacGyver" on DVD and write some blogs.
Tell us where you thought you'd be now, back when you were a college freshman.
I'm pretty much exactly where I expected to be. I knew when I enrolled that I wanted to work in the world of graphic design, and I discovered during my junior year that I wanted to work for the company that currently employs me. Maybe it's strange that I was able to plan ahead and attain my goals with only minor hiccups; that either means that I'm boring or I'm blessed.
Describe your college experience in one word. Then elaborate in no more than five sentences.
Unique. My field of study, extracurricular activities, and friendships yielded experiences that few others could expect from a small liberal arts school. As a cartoonist and writer for the school paper, as well as a campus blogger, I was able to reach a large number of people on campus without ever actually meeting them. My interest in English and theater allowed me to expand my education into new areas and consequently integrate these ideas into my graphic design degree with the help of independent studies and self-designed courses. I was also able to meet amazing people that I hope to be friends with the rest of my life.
Describe one very specific lesson from the college classroom that you'll never forget. Give us concrete details. Tell us not only what it taught you, but also how and why it worked.
In my freshman drawing course with Phil Rostek (a course that almost all art majors take, and everyone loves), he began the first day of class with the odd exercise of having us draw with the lights off. Students stand by their easel with a raw stick of charcoal in hand and a piece of blank newsprint in front of them. Phil turns out the lights and everyone begins to draw. It was an odd sensation to say the least; however it was also the first indication that I was in a new environment, I was out of high school and in this strange and unnerving place called "college." The exercise was fun and messy, but in the grand scheme of things it served as a reminder of the new sort of learning environment I had entered into.
What do you know now that you wish someone would have taught you in school? How might that lesson best be taught?
Personal finances. Now that I have a full time job, my parents have been working extra hard to teach me about investments, savings, and creating a nest egg for my future. It isn't likely that upcoming generations will have Social Security when they retire, so it's important for students to learn formally how to save money, invest, and budget their income (even if college kids don't actually make enough money to put the knowledge into immediate action).
What teaching method(s) were you subjected to that never made a dent on your learning?
The most ineffective teaching method I have encountered is the "group project." This isn't because I'm anti-social or fear cooperation; rather, I found that group work slowed me down and diluted the learning process. First, students that I knew rarely wanted to be in a group (and if the kids get to choose their groups, then you are faced with the "picked last in dodgeball" scenario). It's like playing on a team that no one wants to be on. Secondly, students who are self-motivated leaders find themselves at odds with other members of the group, and, in my opinion, have to stunt their own advancements in order to keep the "learning field" level. Lastly, group projects, presentations, and discussions rarely felt appropriate when they were instituted in the lesson plan. They weren't present in every course I enrolled in, but oftentimes I found that their inclusion was because people assumed groups were necessary, rather than actually adding to the learning experience.Of course, the idea behind the group project is noble: that they prepare you for a team-oriented working environment commonly found in the real world; but in my work experience so far, my collaborative efforts (which hinge on seniority and hierarchy) have been very different from the classroom.
What college experience did you find most displeasing at the time, but now recognize as an important contribution to your learning?
Doing fake interviews. In a couple of the core courses, students are asked to sit through a mock interview to go over their resume and test their job-grabbin' skills. At the time, I sort of rolled my eyes at the idea, and wasn't thrilled about going through the motions of an interview. Looking back, however, the practice interview in my core courses, like Senior Seminar, was a huge help. It taught me instinctual skills that I had to actually use at an interview six months after graduating.I'm sure there are plenty of other exercises and lessons I went through in college that I didn't enjoy but ended up needing... but my advice to students would be to sit through them and try your best to absorb everything, because you never know when it'll come in handy.
What habits -- good and bad -- did you pick up in school, that you still continue to apply?
1. Drinking upwards of 4 cups of coffee a day
2. Listening to Charles Mingus when I really want to get something done
3. Constantly employing the phrase "I could blog that" in my head
You can decide if any or all of those are bad.
What do you miss about the college classroom, if anything?
It was nice having a syllabus to tell me about what I'll be talking about and doing each day. It provided me with a gameplan, a learning track that I could see in its entirety and prepare for. It's a shame the real world isn't like that.
If there was one suggestion you would make to college teachers everywhere, what would it be?
If you're going to make students buy a book that costs over $50, you'd better use every chapter in that thing.
THANK YOU, Mike! You offer some fantastic advice in here for students and teachers alike.
]]>They also might enhance or catalyze learning. Making decisions about campus technology always means trying to weigh symbolic value against actual use value. We have to predict whether students and faculty will actually use the technology we budget for, and whether it really will benefit the learner or the learning environment. Obviously, we have to be careful how money is spent, but also a little skeptical of whiz-bang pop trends, because they are quickly surmounted by new technologies as it so rapidly evolves. Today's clickers are tomorrow's eight track tapes. And as teachers and administrators age, they try to leap across the generation gap and sometimes land in the wrong place, alienating students despite their good intentions.
In the margins of the NY Times article, a reader opinion from "Paul" is pulled out that cries, "Are we training thinkers in our colleges or gadget users?" I understand the feeling behind this. But I think this false dualism is beyond the point, because our thinkers in the classroom are already gadget users; our gadget users already are thinkers. The challenge of the modern teacher is to synthesize these tools with the way people think (just as we might teach penmanship in early education, so that students can use the technology of the ink pen). These are tools that students use in their everyday lives, and they'll be expected to use them well in the workplace after college.
I received this article as I was revising my syllabi for the term (that begins on Monday), and it caused me to reflect a little bit on how I treat portable electronic devices in the classroom. We're not giving away iPhones at our college, and I'm not changing my classroom into a "gizmo training" place, but the campus is evolving into a more wireless-friendly space. Between classes, I see virtually every student in the hallway working on their cell phones or portable game systems. The culture has shifted, but education and much of the subject matter we teach remains timeless.
It's easy to be reactionary or even live in denial. I'm as guilty as anyone. I have been brash about not allowing these elements to become distractions in my classroom, often demanding students to focus on the class and not their gizmos. In the past, I've order students to turn their cell phones to silent ring mode, and I have almost always told any students I see working with devices to shut them off. I have never really articulated my policies about this, other than orally when I spot an offense (say, a student starts texting during another student's presentation), simply because it seemed like common sense and common courtesy for people not to interrupt or ignore one another during a classroom activity or lecture.
The rules of common courtesy have changed. I've decided that things have changed so much that the time has come to put a policy in writing in my syllabus, so students understand where I'm coming from. My motive is not to punish, but to highlight the propriety of social communication. I want to recognize and support student use of technology as a tool for learning, while also combating the rising problem of blaring ring tones during lectures/discussions, or the distracted student who can't stop playing with his game or web browser during class time.
In some ways, there's no difference between a student texting and a student flipping through a magazine in the back row of a class, but there are times when we use technology to multitask and this is where the issue gets thorny and complex. What if we're discussing Foucault's "Panopticism" in the classroom and a student wants to quickly do some web research on a referenced person in the article, like Jeremy Bentham? I wouldn't want to ban such ambitious impulses to learn more, so long as it pertained to the subject at hand or contributed to the collaborative learning of the class.
What I'm really concerned about is multitasking that puts personal interest above the class interest, and the fetishism of technology that reinforces gizmo play for its own sake. My hope is that I can help students consciously rethink their gizmos as tools for learning and research and communication, and to respect the social space and dynamic of the classroom.
My new policy is an attempt to prevent what is known as "backgrounding" in the classroom while respecting the existence and purpose of these portable devices. I'd be interested to hear what readers of this blog think about this policy statement, whether in the form of editorial suggestions or by mentioning problems I might not foresee.
Policy on Personal Electronic DevicesOur classroom is a haven from the distractions of everyday life, giving us a place to focus attentively, in collaboration, on learning. Listening to each other is imperative and enables focused concentration. "Multitasking" inhibits learning and disrupts communication; unexpected beeps and surprising ring tones distract us all. Thus, while you are permitted to bring personal devices (cell phones, PDAs, laptops, sound recorders, and other electronic devices) to class, they must only serve class needs (e.g., typing on a laptop for an in-class writing assignment; using an iPhone to record lectures). My policy on this matter can be summed up in one phrase: "class in the foreground." If you ever appear to be "backgrounding" the class you will receive an absence for the day, and may be expelled from the room and not permitted to make up missed in-class work. Examples of "backgrounding" the class in a punishable way include: answering or making a cell phone call; texting or IMing; checking or writing e-mail; surfing the web; wearing headphones; logging into MySpace, Facebook, your SHU blog, or other social network; reading an ebook or any printed matter not related to class content (e.g. a magazine); and handheld gaming. Please set your cell phones to "silent" mode before class begins. I reserve the right to ban electronic devices entirely if I feel they are distracting you or your classmates from proper study.
I'll post an update if warranted. If you have comments or want to share your own experiences of such issues, please post.
]]>Here's a short excerpt:
Arnzen also credits his success with taking creative risks. “This is another way of saying I don’t mind embarrassing myself,” he said. “Genres rely on conventions and expectations, so many writers err on the side of repeating what’s been done before.” Arnzen said he’s “always thrown caution to the wind and tried to be as weird and experimental as I can. I try not to censor myself too much.” Horror itself can be taken too seriously at times. Arnzen balances this seriousness with humor. “I don’t hold back the humor. To me, a lot of the appeal of horror is its absurdity,” he said. “I find much of what I’ve read or seen in horror quite laughable.”
Anyone who writes instructional books will find the TAA organization a useful hub of information. Their introductory membership rates are reasonable. Check them out.
]]>You can also compare ALL the candidates positions on education (and other key issues) across the board at ontheissues.org.
But reading the sample chapter on students and labor, "Students are Already Workers," (.pdf file) really got me thinking about my students, as I plan for the classes in the year ahead:
The reality of the undergraduate workforce is very different from the representation of teen partiers on a perpetual spring break, as popularized by television (Girls Gone Wild), UPS propaganda (“they’re staying up until dawn anyway”), and Time: “Meet the ‘twixters,’ [twenty-somethings] who live off their parents, bounce from job to job and hop from mate to mate. They’re not lazy—they just won’t grow up” (Grossman; for more, see Bartlett).
There are more than 15 million students currently enrolled in higher ed (with an average age of around twenty-six). Tens of millions of persons have recently left higher education, nearly as many without degrees as with them. Like graduate employees, undergraduates now work longer hours in school, spend more years in school, and can take several years to find stable employment after obtaining their degrees. Undergraduates and recent school leavers, whether degree holders or not, now commonly live with their parents well beyond the age of legal adulthood, often into their late twenties. Like graduate employees, undergraduates increasingly find that their period of “study” is, in fact, a period of employment as cheap labor. The production of cheap workers is facilitated by an ever-expanding notion of “youth.” A University of Chicago survey conducted in 2003 found that the majority of Americans now think that adulthood begins around twenty-six, an age not coincidentally identical with the average age of the undergraduate student population (Tom Smith).
The idea that college instructors are teaching students to be "pre-professionals" before they enter the workforce is becoming an anachronism. Students are working more and more...whether in work study or in jobs to support their degree. More and more they come to my office door, asking for extensions or accommodations that can work around their employer's schedules. More and more, I see students in campus offices, doing much of the grunt work. I go out to a local restaurant or a downtown bar, I see my students...but they're not eating or partying; they're taking my orders or pouring my drinks.
So what? one might wonder. What's the harm? Students work, just like everyone else. I have conflicting feelings. For one thing, college can and maybe should be a temporary sanctuary away from the work world. But as someone who also worked in a "real world" job throughout college (and who signed up for the GI Bill and spent a few years in military service just to afford to attend college to begin with), I've always felt that these struggles are beneficial, ultimately, because they can teach a person the ethics required to survive in the workforce, like disciplined time management and the art of delayed gratification (e.g. work now, pay later). We "pay to work" when we go to college, in the interest of not only learning skills and information, but also earning the social capital it takes to raise one's status.
But clearly economic benefits should not be the sole outcome of a college degree. Everyone recognizes -- students most of all -- that there's a bit of exploitation that goes on in the minimum wage labor class, but its treated like a natural form of paying one's dues to raise oneself up economically -- and this is the "script" that parents and culture-at-large often hand students. I hadn't really considered how this script might be a symptom of a larger form of class exploitation, or a symptom of a rising "age of adulthood" that for the most part (as Bousquet argues) serves the interest of corporate employers. As teachers, when we see student workers through the lens of our own similar past work experiences, and treat it as "paying one's dues," then, as Bousquet suggests, we might also be guilty of "reinforc[ing] commitments to inequality" systemically, even as we assume that we might be liberating students via their education.
But even beyond the political economy of all this, the increase in student commitment to working for survival (let alone experience) results in a reprioritization of the role of learning in a life-well-lived. Too often, the classroom is an atomized part of a "workweek" schedule that is understood to be, simply, more work just like everything else that is not overtly part of leisure culture. It's up to teachers to transform that workspace, but it can be difficult.
The problem isn't just that students are overburdened with work and oppressed by the class system -- they also tend to deprioritize learning in order to just survive through the grind of the day. When students arrive in the classroom wearing their work or athletic uniforms, it always signals to me that their outside lives are competing for their time and attention. They are overscheduled. The agenda for the day becomes marching orders, and the mind can only process so much. And some students are not shy at all about reminding everyone in the room that that this class meeting is just a brief pit-stop on the race from point A to point B. It is my job to make that pit-stop a meaningful place that doesn't just fuel them up with knowledge and send them back on the track; instead, the pit-stop needs to be a temporary but FULL stop -- a place where both the track and the rules of the race are better understood -- if not revised altogether. Sometimes school can be a place where maps are discovered that leads one into the more exciting and rewarding territories off-road altogether.
Metaphorical ideals aside, I hope to overtly raise issues of economic class in my courses in the year ahead, if only to heighten student awareness about their cultural identity and to learn how I can better accomodate student needs while remaining committed to a liberal arts mission and not some other economic interest. In creative writing courses, I have assigned the theme of work broadly and have always been amazed with what students have to say about it when given free reign to explore their relationship to the workforce. Perhaps I'll even assign this chapter from Bousquet's book for a discussion or research. For me, one of the main goals as a teacher is consciousness-raising. Bousquet frames the questions at issue in this debate in a way that might lead to some productive discussions:
For me, the basis of solidarity and hope will always be the collective experience of workplace exploitation and the widespread desire to be productive for society rather than for capital. So when we ask, "Why has higher education gotten more expensive?" we need to bypass the technocratic and "necessitarian" account of events, in which all answers at least implicitly bring the concept of necessity beyond human agency to bear ("costs 'had to' rise because..."). Instead, we need to identify the agencies of inequality and ask, "To whom is the arrangement of student debt and student labor most useful?"
The answer to that final question, unsuprisingly, is never "to the student."
"Kids will take a chance. If they don't know, they'll have a go. They're not afraid of being wrong... If you're not prepared to be wrong you'll never come up with anything original. By the time they are adults, kids have lost that capacity. They have become afraid of being wrong. [But as they grow up in the classroom and the workplace] we stigmatize mistakes. We are now running national education systems where mistakes are the worst thing you can make...the result is, we are educating people out of their creative capacities. Why is this?"
Here's the video (with apologies for the BMW commercials):
Robinson's home page itself is very creative and includes information about his writing on creativity and the arts in education, including a link to his article, "How Creativity, Education and the Arts Shape the Modern Economy" (pdf).
Pedablogue is evolving to accomodate an upgrade to our system blogging software. Apologies for any errors you encounter along the way. Permalinks may change, so if you may need to run a search to find a page you were seeking.
]]>I. Thou shall teach both theory and practiceII. Thou shall teach students to neither mistake, nor suppress, themselves for their audience
III. Thou shall articulate the difference between vision and revision
IV. Thou shall create a plan and be prepared to improvise
V. Thou shall encourage and practice freedom with restraint
VI. Thou shall boldly state absolutes in the realm of the relative
VII. Thou shall teach reading and writing, and the importance of both
VIII. Thou shall coach students to strive for art but be prepared for life
IX. Thou shall lead as an equal
X. Thou shall temper the dream with pragmatism
I admire Paul's mission to teach a balanced approach to the art and trade of writing. This is a useful addition to research on creative writing pedagogy -- thanks, Paul!
]]>The TAA site has a free preview, but the complete site is only open to paying members. However, if you plan to write, edit, or publish textbooks, this should be an organization you consider joining. Services include special newsletters, writing help, access to information about publishers, agents and markets, and an annual conference on the industry. There is copious publishing advice in their newsletter and in their online archives.
You can find an early draft of my article on Pedablogue.
[p.s. Our server's blogging software has recently been updated, so there are kinks in the system here and there (for commenting, searching, etc.) that I keep stumbling upon... apologies for the bumps in the road as I try to solve these...but do e-mail me if you find something horrendously frustrating. -- Mike Arnzen]
]]>Jennifer Olivarez (aka J. Leigh Welteroth) , Seton Hill U class of 2001
Start with a brief bio that tells us first where you are now, then what your status was in college (e.g. "Creative Writing major, Volleyball player, Tetris fan, whatever.) Let your personality show.
My name is Jennifer (J.Leigh) Olivarez (Welteroth) and I moved to Arvada, Colorado (a suburb of northwest Denver) after college and have lived here for seven years. I love hiking and camping in the mountains and I wouldn’t trade Colorado weather for any other! For the last few years I have been working as a production assistant for a company that manages homeowners associations. I produce layouts and proofread newsletters for over 270 associations. The work is right up my alley: I was an English creative writing major with a minor in graphic design. I aspire to find an editing position in a more creative industry though!
Tell us where you thought you'd be now, back when you were a college freshman.
When I was a freshman in college I thought I would be an elementary school teacher. But I just kept taking English lit., creative writing and art classes and before I knew it, I had changed my major.
Describe your college experience in one word. Then elaborate in no more than five sentences.
Creative. I learned to appreciate and develop my own creativity. And I value the opportunity college gave me to experience my fellow students’ insights and share my own in collaboration.
Describe one very specific lesson from the college classroom that you'll never forget. Give us concrete details. Tell us not only what it taught you, but also how and why it worked.
Dr. Lynn Conroy’s Asian Philosophy Class: I remember there was a group of rather rowdy students who sat in the back and week after week would cause a disruption. And every week she would find a way to keep control of the class. This particular week, Dr. Conroy was teaching about Buddhism. I remember she showed us mala beads, Buddhist robes, and prayer flags. And she taught us to meditate, even the rituals of a meditation ceremony. She taught us how to hold our hands when we meditate and I still meditate that way. (While others learn these things at the temple, I’m always proud I learned to meditate in college.) You know, now that I recall, there was not a peep from the rambunctious group in the back of the class. Her lesson was that engaging. That’s how Dr. Conroy kept in control. She commanded our attention through interesting activities fueled by all the knowledge she has and the excitement she holds for the Far East and its people.
What do you know now that you wish someone would have taught you in school? How might that lesson best be taught?
Somehow even though I learned how to diagram a sentence in high school, a lot of grammar rules either didn’t stick with me or had never been taught. I’ve taught myself about proofreading and editing over the last seven years and often wish I could’ve taken a class on this subject in college. I think a lesson in proofreading could be part of the creative writing curriculum. I feel I’m a better writer now than I was in college because of it.I also remember learning about the publishing industry and how to submit one’s work, but perhaps it would be worthwhile to also teach more to the undergraduates about what happens on the other side of the publishing industry (editing, proofreading, typesetting, etc.). I think in the least it would be beneficial for them to know what to expect in general once a manuscript is accepted for publication. Maybe inviting a guest speaker, an editor from a publishing house, could give students a broader perspective.
What teaching method(s) were you subjected to that never made a dent on your learning?
When a professor would assign students the task of teaching a section of the curriculum to the rest of the class, I never seemed to learn as much, though I appreciated the fresh perspective. With this method, I found that I learned a lot about my own topic, since I invested so much time and energy into it, but I never really learned as much about the other students’ topics. Often the only thing I got out of the other student presentations was a worksheet. And I’m sure they felt the same about my presentation.
What college experience did you find most displeasing at the time, but now recognize as an important contribution to your learning?
Portfolios were a major part of the Core Curriculum when I was in college. I thought it was a waste of time back then, because what future employer is going to care how I did on my term paper about William Blake?I still keep portfolios; however, the term papers have long since been replaced by sample layouts and magazine articles. It taught me how to keep my career organized and to be prepared. Keeping a portfolio and resume current has kept me ready to seize any opportunity that may come my way.
What habits -- good and bad -- did you pick up in school, that you still continue to apply?
GoodThe bad habits:
- Walking to work (I used to walk to SHC—over the train tracks and up that giant hill!)
- Brainstorming
- Keeping a running to do list
- Reading, reading, reading
- Writing, writing, writing
- Researching
- Too many to do lists
- Tendency to get involved in too many activities and projects
What do you miss about the college classroom, if anything?
I miss the variety of feedback and the exchange of ideas.
If there was one suggestion you would make to college teachers everywhere, what would it be?
Be excited about what you’re teaching and the class will be excited too.
THANK YOU, Jennifer! Congratulations on your success in Colorado and thanks for sharing your thoughts!
]]>Although such things are terribly reductive, they're pithy. A few quick examples from "The Short Happy Lives of Teachers":
Cheerleader aspirations. I teach. Same thing. (Cindi)
Teachers wanted, patience mandatory, sanity optional. (Renee)
Hoped to make difference. Was transformed. (Laura)
My own off the cuff:
After tests, I never said "pencils down."
DId I ask the right questions?
Sold soul to the Devil's Advocate.
Hmmm...harder than it looks! (I prefer this kind of minimalist stuff when you can add a clever title to it: as-is, these read more like dumb tombstone epigraphs!)
Note: AN EXERCISE LIKE THIS WOULD WORK GREAT IN A CLASSROOM.
For now, post your own on the Teacher Magazine site, or here if you like, in a comment. You get SIX words!
]]>Even the Association for Writing Programs has little to offer, from what I can tell (though I did find a free .pdf on their site for Program Directors).
If you know any titles, or have any recommendations, please post a comment below or e-mail me.
The book is a critical study of theories of the Uncanny/"das Unheimliche" as they appear in advertising, film, bestsellers, and online. Chapters include examinations of such topics as the icon of the dismembered hand in the history of horror cinema, and a treatment of the advertising world's "Doublemint Twins" as uncanny doppelgangers. (The Popular Uncanny, btw, was originally my doctoral dissertation at the University of Oregon.)
While the entries in the new blog will tend to lean toward the "academic" side and may refer to theories not all readers will be familiar with, my hope is that the blog will keep my research fresh and fun while also giving me a place to muse about the weirdness in pop culture -- in addition to raising awareness about theories of the Uncanny. As a horror writer as well as a scholar of the horror genre, I think the blog will also help me merge these two interests in new ways. The site design and structure is still under construction, but posts have already been released on such things as the "gaze" in The Ring and the uncanny in a new 'singing robot' art exhibit by Talking Heads frontman, David Byrne. Comments and recommendations are always welcome.
Pedablogue, of course, will continue. I'll post news here about the book when its publication is imminent in Spring 2009. For now, I invite you to come on by the new weblog, anytime.
[See also: "Uncanny Teaching"]
]]>Karissa Kilgore, Seton Hill U class of 2007
Start with a brief bio that tells us first where you are now, then what your status was in college (e.g. "Creative Writing major, Volleyball player, Tetris fan, whatever.) Let your personality show.
I am currently pursuing my master’s degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP), but I will also be starting as a full-time technical writer at Bechtel Plant Machinery, Inc. this summer.I graduated in May 2007 from Seton Hill University (SHU) with a B.A. in English literature as well as minors in creative writing and new media journalism. I was the Literary Editor for Eye Contact, the literary/art magazine at SHU, and published several creative pieces in the magazine. I also wrote a column for the student newspaper, the Setonian.
Most notably, perhaps regrettably, were my experiences on crutches—having broken my left foot twice between the beginning of my junior and senior years, it seemed like I was always crutching around campus. Beyond that, I would like to think that I was a jovial, thriving, active member of the student community and especially of the Class of 2007.
Tell us where you thought you'd be now, back when you were a college freshman.
I initially thought that I wanted to teach high school… but that changed after the completion of my freshman year. As I continued my studies at SHU, I eventually discovered the splendor of composition, writing, and the English language, and decided I would continue my education in hopes of some day teaching ESL or writing at the college level or running a writing center.
Describe your college experience in one word. Then elaborate in no more than five sentences.
Networking. I met the most wonderful people during my college years and I am still in contact with the ones who are most dear to me. They are more than just friends, though; I have true resources and mentors within my human network. Opportunities and encouragement alike have come from my network. But more than these, I value the personal connections I’ve made.
Describe one very specific lesson from the college classroom that you'll never forget. Give us concrete details. Tell us not only what it taught you, but also how and why it worked.
In my senior year I took a figure drawing class. The teacher loved that I wasn’t an art major. (He told me my lines and strokes were poetic and lyrical. “Very Matisse,” he said.) It was a three-hour studio course, so the pace was rather relaxed, but the teacher gave periodic lessons about using guides to draw symmetrically, noticing nuances in light and shape, and including or ignoring detail.When I drew, I saw shapes and light but at first I tried to draw everything. It was frustrating and when the model changed poses I usually hadn’t even finished one drawing. The teacher saw this and reminded me to notice what is there, but also to notice what is not there. He suggested that in my next drawing I shade in the shadows and voids before focusing on the physical matter. I tried it and loved it. My drawing wasn’t something you’ll find in the Met, but it taught me about my own way of seeing. Learning that I had a choice to recognize details changed my perspective of a variety of things in my life, including writing.
What do you know now that you wish someone would have taught you in school? How might that lesson best be taught?
In general, I wish that Compassion 101 was a subject in schools… the world could use it. But for myself, I wish someone taught me more about real studying and note taking. My middle school years were plagued by notebooks filled with Exactly What the Teacher Wrote on the Board, and my high school years were spent experimenting with my own methods. Eventually I found things that worked for me, but I don’t feel like I ever knew how to study.
What teaching method(s) were you subjected to that never made a dent on your learning?
I’m going to answer this one from a different (and perhaps more positive) angle…I recognize that my teachers used a great deal of scaffolding within (specifically) the English courses that I took. I trusted that I would be able to get a grip on what we were studying before stepping into unknown territory and that always gave me confidence. Courses that did not build up to acquisition and use of new knowledge proved to be frustrating from start to finish.
I appreciated when teachers allowed students to take leadership roles in the classroom. Leading discussions, teaching a lesson, and giving notes helped me remember (and apply) the things I was learning. Lecture is okay, but in measured doses. I don’t recall having many long lectures, but perhaps that’s because they didn’t make an impression on me. When the classroom was student-centered and student-driven, I was a satisfied student.
What college experience did you find most displeasing at the time, but now recognize as an important contribution to your learning?
Ugh, I got a B. It was horrible because I was an A student all my life. It wasn’t that I thought I knew it all or always deserved the very best grade; my perfectionism was getting the best of me. I recognize now that getting that B helped me loosen up a little and see coursework as real learning and not just a competition or a conduit to a pristine grade point average.
What habits -- good and bad -- did you pick up in school, that you still continue to apply?
The good habits:The bad habits:
- Planning ahead
- Writing every day
- Reading something for yourself (and not just for class)
- Trying to see the positive in every situation (no matter how grim)
- Having realistic expectations of others
- Reaching outside your comfort zone
- Considering different points of view than your own
- Planning ahead (sometimes to the point of absurdity)
- Relying on technology too much
- Forgoing food or sleep to focus on work
- Not making enough time for myself to “live”
What do you miss about the college classroom, if anything?
I don’t miss much at all, really, because I’m still in the college classroom! I’m just at a different level now, so of course it is not exactly the same as my undergrad experience.
If there was one suggestion you would make to college teachers everywhere, what would it be?
Get to know your students. Having a personal connection with someone whenever possible helps me in innumerable ways, and I know I can’t be the only person who feels this! The best experiences through all my years of schooling have been with teachers who loved not only their subject material and their jobs, but also their students.
THANK YOU, Karissa! Great reflection and advice!