The Mullett Syllabus

Interstingly enough, I believe everything for my classes is starting to come together; I feel as though I should acknowledge the recent dearth of blog posts: the last few days have consisted of me getting all of my teaching documents together--syllabus, worksheets, lists of song lyrics; I've also spent a lot of time on the road and with family in the time between Christmas and New Year's Eve (today). I've been too consumed with life and preparing for my classroom to make blogs about either. I suppose that happens. Once I get into the classroom on 11 January, I get the feeling that I'll post multiple daily entries; I can't help but think the blog-dearth has something to do with the feeling that I have said all I need to say regarding preparation to teach and now need to get down to the act of doing it.

There are only three things I need to accomplish before I can comfortably say I am prepared to start teaching: I need to pick up my office key, a copy of the writing handbook my students will be using (as a supplement to their reader), and I need to get the digital roster, gradebook and blackboard sites activated for the class. Not a big deal. I can pick up the key and handbook on the first day of class and can have the digital stuff activated (hopefully) via email next week before classes begin. It's all over but the waiting, to augment an old cliche. Did I mention I have a faculty parking tag and email address, as well as my office assignment and telephone number? Hooray! Everything else notwithstanding, I believe the first two weeks of class will be interesting for my students and me.

The syllabus ended up being eleven pages long, but I believe it will be far less daunting if I describe it as the "mullet of course documents (business up front, party in the back)." Most of the other syllabi I have consulted in making my own were, at most, eight pages. Mine is so long because of all the detail I have included regarding the nature of attendance, assignments and how I will grade the students. With any luck, the document will be of some benefit instead of a bureaucratic sort of document which they eagerly cast aside, except for the schedule of homework and reading at the end. Hence, by casting the "Course Objectives" &c section as "business," maybe I can at least suggest the idea that the course itself will be a "party." It seems almost hokey enough to work.

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the first major discussion(s) in class will center around his life and work. To me, this seems fitting because MLK Day falls on the second Monday of the class. One of my teachers in sixth grade once suggested that school should not be canceled on MLK Day because we could better honor his legacy by devoting a day of study to him instead of a day of rest. I can't really buck the system and require my students to come to class. They wouldn't show and they would most likely complain and have me reprimanded. As an alternative, after we have been thoroughly acquainted with each other, the class, and the Minced Words exercise, the students will read King's "I have a Dream" speech over the long weekend; when class resumes after the holiday, we'll discuss the speech (Wednesday) and then I will lecture about the rhetorical structure and effectiveness of King's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" (Friday). This isn't a literature class, and it isn't a class in civics, it is a class in writing and developmental rhetoric; though I want to include social and intellectual leaders like Martin Luther King, Lr., John F. Kennedy, Barack Obama, Noam Chomsky and so forth in class, my aim is to guide my students to enhance their ability with the written word. Though other instruction and activities are necessary for that development (workshops and revision, for instance), studying contemporary masters of rhetoric is a beneficial inclusion to the class: the students get to see "how it's done," so to speak, and I get to introduce them to ideas that overtly serve to enhance their ability with language, but also might influence the way in which they perceive the world around them. I don't aim to change them, rather to expose them to ideas and movements that might intrigue them enough to closely examine themselves and their world.

Here are a few other interesting authors on the list for the coming term: (essays) Garrison Keillor, Mike Rose and Andre Dubus; (fiction and poetry) Sandra Cisneros and Alice Walker. It's a sparse list of "known" authors, but it does reflect the tenor of the semester to come. I hope the students like it.

Minced Words II: The Backup

People forget things; that's why I have selected thirty songs for which I will bring the lyrics to class for students who forgot their own to use. I hope not to have to use them, but it's entirely possible that I will.


The students will feel more of an investment to the lyrics if they choose the song themselves; I am not sure exactly how students who use lyrics of my choosing will react to the exercise. Part of the point in this exercise is to de-centralize my authority as teacher--largely a definitive authority--by allowing other voices to come together and be treated as authoritative English language users, Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins for instance. Should someone choose one of his songs for the exercise, she or he is also choosing Billy Corgan to be an authority from which to learn. Also indirectly, the students choosing their written role models might develop an empowering sense of agency with the written word: they can choose who is "right," whose lyrics are the most pleasing, and then can proceed to analyze the writing and ferret out the words that they think are important. Within this agency is the desired result for the classroom: though indirectly the students have engaged with an "authoritative" source of writing (other than their teacher), their teacher is now able to proceed with the nouns and verbs discussion alluded to in a previous post.


Unfortunately, the classroom must proceed directly instead of indirectly. If I had my druthers, we wouldn't do the exercise until each student had found a song to dissect. There aren't that many hours in the week, though, and we have lots to cover. Directly, then, the following list of songs should prove helpful in greasing the classroom wheel and leading a helpful and (hopefully) fun classroom activity. More musings anon.


Here is the List:

Metallica: Whiskey in the Jar (several bands have done this song), Hero of the Day, The Day that Never Comes.


Red Hot Chili Peppers: Zephyr Song, Californication, Snow, Otherside.


The Smashing Pumpkins: Zero, Disarm, Bullet with Butterfly Wings, The Everlasting Gaze.


Journey: Wheel in the Sky.


Stone Temple Pilots: Interstate Love Song


Green Day: J.A.R., Waiting.


Black Sabbath: War Pigs.


Ozzy Osbourne: See You on the Other Side, Black Rain.


The Cranberries: Zombie.


Nirvana: Come As You Are, All Apologies, Heart-Shaped Box.


System of a Down: Prison Song.


Jay-Z: Empire State of Mind, Hola' Hovita.


P. Diddy (Puff Daddy, Puffy, Sean Combs...): I'll Be Missing You, Come With Me.


Oasis: Wonderwall, Morning Glory, Champagne Supernova.

Daybreak in the Garden of Need and Requirement

People have been asking me--friends and my parents mostly, but also the professor who hired me--why I am so bent on teaching developmental composition (ENG 095) instead of traditional first-year composition courses. After a couple months of letting the question rattle around in my mind, I think I've got an answer.

My friend Sparky called me a humanitarian for my reasoning; whether or not I am remains to be seen, though my reasons for wanting to teach developmental comp. are my own--and are not geared toward casting myself as "humanitarian."

As we sat in his office the day he hired me, I could not give the professor an answer past "I dunno, I just feel like I should," when he asked me why I was determined to teach developmental comp. instead of "Freshman" Composition I & II. Another friend of mine, Jason, told me he felt like he learned more from his students than they him, and I sort-of feel that way about my future students.

My logic is thus: at my university, every bachelor's degree student, to my knowledge, is required to take ENG 101 and 102; those needing additional assistance enroll in ENG 090 and/or 095, depending on the results of their SAT or ACT score. The verb "require" is a major factor in my desire to work with developmental students. Not only are they required to take ENG 090 or 095, they also need the assistance.

Need is a much, much better verb than require, and I think it can work to subvert the assumptions usually associated with requirements: namely that a requirement is something a person does because she or he has to do it, not because she or he might benefit from it, or, perish the thought, enjoy it.

I hope quite a lot that I can further the cause of need towards a goal of a desire to at least clearly articulate oneself in writing. If students can be shown the value of satisfying such a need--and most importantly, if they are shown directly how to satisfy that need outside of the classroom incubator--they might indirectly desire to better their writing. By "indirectly desire" I mean I want my students to develop the zeal of a novelist toward their writing assignments, but I expect them, realistically, to engage their writing clearly and effectively only when they see the vocational and "for school" sorts of applications. If I happen upon an Einstein of prose I would be elated, but I'm not illusioned by the thought that everyone has the desire to write like Einstein did physics.

As with a lot of fields, the middle ground is the most fertile; in my case, the middle ground is between need and requirement.

Minced Words

What follows is an in-class activity I am developing for the first week of class; I will introduce the assignment on Monday in order to give my students the week to prepare. On the following Friday, the students will bring two printed copies of their favorite song lyrics to class; I will have extra lyrics if any happen to forget.

The activity asks that each student reduce the lyrics to one of her or his favorite songs by 75% in order to see which words--nouns and verbs--are the most important in a sentence. By having the students choose which song they use, hopefully this assignment encourages them to take an interest in words, to see them as more than just a classroom activity dealing with the parts of speech. If the students can see that someone--Clint Black, for instance-- uses words to express himself, perhaps this assignment could spark an interest in wordsmithing that will help the students to better communicate in writing for a variety of tasks.

Class Activity: Minced Words

For today’s class, you should have brought in two printouts of the lyrics to a favorite song of yours. In order to make sure they fit into the in-class exercise I have planned, you should also have cleared the song (and its lyrics) with me beforehand.

If you did not clear the song with me—really, that’s to make sure there are enough words in the song, not to censor you—or if you did not remember to bring your song lyrics to class: see me. I brought in a pile of lyrics to my favorite songs just in case.

Here’s what we are going to do (I saw ‘we’ because I’m doing it too!):

1. Count each word to the song and write that number somewhere on the front page of each set of lyrics.

2. On one copy, scratch out half the words and make a note of your new number. (100 words cut in half is 50 and on and on… If you have an odd number, round up before dividing.) Once you are satisfied with

a. The goal is to eliminate words that don’t really bare a lot of meaning. Try to cut the words that don’t add to your interpretation of the song. For example: The goal is to eliminate words that don’t really bare a lot of meaning.

3. Once you have eliminated half the words to your satisfaction, scratch out the same words on the other copy of the lyrics.

4. Now we’ll repeat step two… this might be difficult. Hard to choose! If you end up with an odd number, round up then divide by two to calculate how many words to cut (7 rounds to 8, 8/2 = 4, cut four words). The goal here is to remove those words that have less meaning than the other remaining words.

a. example: The goal is to eliminate words that don’t really bare a lot of meaning.

5. Repeat step three again. Now… so very few words remain! Once you have finished, clearly print your name on either copy of the song lyrics and bring that copy to me.

After everyone is finished, we’ll discuss what we’ve found out about the importance of words and how we can relate that to writing academic essays. This activity counts as your in-class writing for today.

BONUS: If you want to earn five bonus points (2.5%) toward your final grade in the class, take the song you chose for this activity and write 2-3 pages about it; you’ll be explicating—which concerns the process of "unfolding" and of "making clear”—the meaning of the song. Introduce the song, tell me what you interpret as its meaning and then conclude by discussing how you arrived at that meaning. Because this assignment is extra, it knows no due-date. I’d prefer it before Midterm, but, because you choose to do extra, turn it in whenever you’d like.

Technorati!

The monetization and publication process for the blog is coming right along. As a matter of fact, here's a claim token for Technorati, a site of which I am now a member: ZGXEAGB6BNZ6 .

Training II: (Trying it Again) On My Own

Lucky for me, the semester is over and I graduated. Two years of my life spent on my MA and finally complete. I am unusually at-ease right now; the competing forces of “Damn, I wish I could go back” and “Damn, I’m glad I’m done” are at a sort-of stalemate known (to me) as mental tranquility.

I am exactly where I need to be in my career. Graduate school was both a great mental strain as well as a boon to my knowledge and abilities. Not to mention my confidence. We are on Winter holiday now and I am finishing my syllabi and other teaching materials for the coming term. As the title of this post indicates, I feel as though I am feeling around in a dark room full of straw trying to grab one particular straw that connects my past education with my future vocation.

“Sounds about like how EKU was for me, too.” According to my cousin Zach.
I have had very little help (outside of designated class time and one chat) from my professors as I go about getting everything in line to teach next semester.

Hop in a time machine with me, set your clocks back a week and let’s pretend the Fall 20009 semester is still in full effect. As the semester wound down and final assignments came due and commencement day grew closer and closer… I lost the ability to focus. In fact, I was so boggled that I couldn’t bring myself to post a blog. It was a week ago today as a matter of fact that I tried to write this post:

Training II: Here I Go Again, On My Own

So today it becomes official; I have graduated and I am in line to begin filling the heads of 29 students with knowledge immeasurable; I still need a second job though. Or third, if substitute teaching counts. Or fourth, if trying to get paid as a freelance writer and editor counts. Today is the first day of my life as a chap with a Master’s degree, no job, and plenty of debt.

The point here is this: I can’t find anyone with the time to say “Hey Ben, I think your first lecture should concern…”. It’s really beginning to unnerve me. Today, for instance, I waited for at least an hour to speak with a professor who coordinates Freshman Composition programs. To no avail. He was in a meeting with someone else and couldn’t see me.

Not a big deal. I am writing about one of my favorite professors from graduate school. I’m not trying to demonize him. We have been trying to coordinate a meeting for about a week and a half now and it seems like every time I am busy every time he is free and vice versa. I’m hoping we’ll be able to coordinate another meeting sometime soon: preferably tomorrow or Friday, but no later than around the middle of January. Sounds like a wide swath, yes, but the university—and those who work there—shuts down, I mean it’s a ghost town—over all breaks.

Perhaps it’s my own damned fault for taking an extra semester—i. e. taking my leisure—to finish graduate school and thus begin teaching in a Spring semester instead of a Fall one, before which there would have been an orientation seminar. I need a damned seminar because it seems to me that I’m not going to be able to scrape together enough testimony from friends and professors to amount to a hill of shit.

So there we go. Reset your clocks and come back to Christmas Eve-eve. I suppose it’s taken me a week to calm down after the semester has ended. Everything went as planned, though whether or not my feelings of inadequacy are “my own damned fault” remains to be seen. I’m at my parents’s house for the holidays before going to Tampa to see Emily and her family.

As I’ll relate in a subsequent (and hopefully more eloquent) post, things are really, really looking up as far as getting in-line for the semester is concerned. I have my office, phone, email, parking tag and and and… all for next semester. This is going to happen!! Next post in a few hours. Time to “monetize” this blog. :-D

ZGXEAGB6BNZ6

Compositionist: React!

People will eventually read this blog. When they do, I want them to know that as a burgeoning composition teacher, I plan to integrate technology into my classroom as much as possible and as soon as I have the latitude to do so. By the by, I'm trying my hand at writing HTML again... I really should be more literate when it comes to technology.


Created by Online Education

On Observing Two Classes

The observation process as a requirement for my Seminar on Composition (ENG 800)was, I believe, a tremendously helpful learning tool. For me, as someone who will begin teaching (for the first time) next semester, just seeing how others conduct their classrooms—how they handled problems, addressed and evaluated students, and approached the teaching of writing overall—enhanced my own understanding of how to teach the writing process to basic writers. Seeing the classrooms whose experiences informed the mindset my colleagues brought into our discussion of composition related the theories and concepts of our seminar to something more concrete: the act of putting those theories into practice.
Observations also helped me to see that not everything discussed in the seminar has to be included in a lecture; at first blush to the professional literature, teaching composition can seem quite a daunting task. I remember not being entirely sure where to start or what to include in my lectures as I prepared both for day-to-day teaching as well as for long-term projects. I suppose one of the most valuable things for me to see, as a new teacher, is that class happens day-by-day… even in making long-term plans; observations let me see that even long-term plans—such as essay revision, workshopping, preparing for standardized exams—are carried out one step at a time.
I also took some valuable classroom management ideas from my observations. Since I plan to have my students workshop their papers in small-groups during classtime, seeing how Dr. Milde conducts his workshops was extremely beneficial to me. Even though his was an ENG 101 course, I believe I can relate the same benefits to ENG 095 students by sort-of shepherding-along the peer-response process as much as possible without being intrusive. Dr. Milde had his students create metaphors in description of the paper they were workshopping; I was apprehensive at first, but after seeing the potential for discussion the metaphors held, I definitely want to employ them in my student workshops next semester. I also have some forms and handouts from our seminar which could also be helpful.
Observing Kim’s class helped me to see how best to manage classroom problems; some students used cell phones, others fell asleep, but Kim handled the situation expediently and professionally. Her students seem to respect her and to understand how to behave in the classroom. Once she verbally corrected her students’s behavior, they seemed not to repeat it. Overall, I think my classroom observations were tremendously beneficial to me as I both completed this seminar and prepared to teach developmental composition next semester.

Training

I'm starting to think my own classroom assignments will be a teach-yourself type situation. I feel as though I can handle the classroom, but at the same time it feels as though there was some great party where everyone learned the secret to preparing to teach their first developmental composition class... and I wasn't invited.

I still feel like I missed the boat even though I am totally confident in my abilities. Today is for getting ready for the coming semester.

Priorities

I keep getting distracted from my schoolwork; I was supposed to be done with Thomas Middleton a few days ago, but I'm still working on the essay. The deadline is tomorrow at noon, so I'll be done by then whether I want to be or not.

My teaching materials--syllabus, writing prompts, reading assignments--call at me and I'd much rather be working on them!

Just thought I'd share.

Mental Workload

I get the feeling that no one is going to understand the mental stress involved with teaching; sure, to start I'll only lecture about 6 hours a week to 30 students, but that number will grow in subsequent semesters. Fall 2010 could mean double that if I'm lucky. Outside of classroom time, I'll match each lecture hour with an office hour and will have plenty of papers to grade. The students will write every day; considering that I am a composition instructor, I believe daily writing is imperative if the students are going to approach the written word with any degree of skill, comfort or value.

Tally all that up and I've got 180 student paragraphs to read a week, 12 hours time committed to the students, and on top of that their major assignments--each of which will be about three pages long. Throughout the term, that's fifteen pages or so per student: that's 450 pages per semester... and if they give me three drafts, that's 1350 pages I'll have to read and annotate.

Plus there's the book-keeping aspect of things: grades, attendance, student excuses, my observations, being observed.... la la la.

And I'm looking for a second job.

A Good Morning/Afternoon

I took last night off. Emily and I watched Angels & Demons, had a pizza and a few cocktails. Overall, I feel very rested and ready to tackle the last week of my graduate career. Plus I've accidentally lost ten pounds... not even sure how.

After I finish going on about Thomas Middleton I'm going to devote the rest of the day to my teaching materials for next semester. They're coming along... but I'm going to hone my specific writing tasks and establish a point value (I'm thinking 500 points) for the class.

More on that soon.

My Assignment

I hope these posts improve as time marches forth. I'm under a lot of stress as I begin this account; nonetheless now is when I must necessarily begin this blog.

I am 24 years old and have just finished my Master's Degree program at Eastern Kentucky U. in Richmond, KY. On January 11th, my class is in-session for the first time. I'll be working with two sections (of 15 students each) of developmental composition students: at my university, that's ENG 095.

Yesterday I received my textbook for the course. It's the sixth edition of American Voices: Culture and Community, by Dolores LaGuardia and Hans P. Guth. I am perfecting my syllabus based on it as I finish my essays on "The Revenger's Tragedy," assumed to be by Thomas Middleton and on Anne Bradstreet's "Contemplations" within the context of her Several Poems.

These assignments (among other, now achieved goals) are stressing me more than the prospect of teaching next semester; I'm tired of being a student for now and feel I am on the apex of the sort of job I have desired my entire life as a career-minded person.

Time to do homework. I'll check-in later.

Ben