Meriah Lysistrata Crawford

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

The joys of freshman comp

Hi folks,

OK, not a lot going on lately. A little fraud, some class action, a soupçon of debtor harassment. Yes, it’s an exciting life.

On the teaching front, it’s a bit more lively. I’ve been noting, with interest, the differences between my three classes. All are English 101, and one might reasonably expect a certain homogeneity – but one would be oh, so wrong. My second class, starting at 5:30, has the most people who are older than the typical college age. It also has the most people who work. They seem slightly more focused and driven than the others, though it’s still early days. The third class, though…it’s one of the last two sections of English 101 added, and it starts at 7 p.m. Given how many of them have 8 a.m. classes, one can safely assume many are in the class because it was all they could sneak into at the last minute.

What does this lack of planning, or late entry mean? Well, they’re a lively bunch. Several students have trouble with arriving on time (more than half the class was late today), and I’m seeing more absences than in my other classes. And they have a certain fondness for their cell phones. Grrrr. I sent an e-mail to the dean just yesterday requesting permission to institute corporal punishment for this class only. I expect a good flogging or three will help turn things around. I can’t imagine he’ll object.

2 Comments:

  • One of the English professors at UMaine Farmington had a sign on her office door: "The beatings will continue until morale improves."

    Go for it.

    By Blogger Patrick Shawn Bagley, at 5:00 PM  

  • Sept. 27? Man, and I thought I was ignoring my blog.

    By Blogger Steve Allan, at 1:38 PM  

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