Around the Internet

I have explored the Honors College Blog Ring (which I have not joined) and found Traci's blog. She was in my creative non-fiction class last spring (05) and then disappeared in December. I had wondered what happened to her. I read her "Goodbye" in the Echo and asked Tim, but he was vague.

Anyway, I also found this: A Teaching Manifesto (A personal view on undergraduate university education) and I am not sure how I feel about it. I understand about treating students as adults and allowing them to fail if they choose to do so, but it is really hard, especially for freshmen. Coming out of high school, most of them are not prepared to manage their time well enough to succeed.

The first year I taught here, I made assignments, explained them, answered questions, and then collected them. Amazingly, a lot of students failed because they did not get their work in. And many more strung out their work for days and weeks after the due date. In fact, I got a paper from one of those classes LAST WEEK (2.5 years late). So I have done more hand-holding and management. And I take attendance and drop students for non-attendance.

I began dropping for attendance this year because last year I had a student who appeared to be having personal problems, so I let her attendance slide. Then she turned around and said on the anonymous evaluations how my Comp II class was "just like high school" and not all that useful. (I don't really know who it was, but she and the evaluator had similar writing voices.) Well, how would she know? She never came. I could have taught those students to write like Michael Chabon and she wouldn't have known. (I still get mad).

Back to the subject at hand, I am not sure how I feel about putting all relevant info online and testing and not requiring attendance. If I lectured, which I don't, I might see more value in this philosophy. None of us, though, like to feel that our only value is that of a scantron machine. We like to believe that we are making contributions to our students. Otherwise, why would we show up every day? It certainly is not the money.

Tomorrow's Professor Blog is a discussion of technology in education. I'll be looking more at this one...