During the first week of class, I realized how important it is to know your students. I noticed how Professor Gleason used knowledge of student demographics to guide her planning, keeping in mind the diversity of the students, that many were education majors, and the finances of students. I'm not sure how to manage to know the student population in advance so it can be integrated into planning without simply having the experience of teaching at an institution before.
I am excited to read the students' letters and see how that assignment goes for them. I was surprised by how many questions Professor Gleason asked in her prompt. There are so many factors that affect a student's performance in the writing classroom and a teacher benefits from being able to study as much student information as possible in advance.
Something I am wondering about going forward is how to effectively take notes on students since there are so many of them. Already students seem to have distinct needs and areas of growth and I want to make sure I address them all. I would definitely like feedback on how to effectively track observations of students.
I look forward to reading their letters, since I think this will allow me to start envisioning planning more specifically because I will be more aware of their backgrounds and needs.
For future reference on getting to know students I will also include a link to the ENGL210 Assessment.
I am excited to read the students' letters and see how that assignment goes for them. I was surprised by how many questions Professor Gleason asked in her prompt. There are so many factors that affect a student's performance in the writing classroom and a teacher benefits from being able to study as much student information as possible in advance.
Something I am wondering about going forward is how to effectively take notes on students since there are so many of them. Already students seem to have distinct needs and areas of growth and I want to make sure I address them all. I would definitely like feedback on how to effectively track observations of students.
I look forward to reading their letters, since I think this will allow me to start envisioning planning more specifically because I will be more aware of their backgrounds and needs.
For future reference on getting to know students I will also include a link to the ENGL210 Assessment.
Dear Laura, It is indeed important for a teacher to know her students individually and collectively. One way I can know my students is via the official CCNY class roster, which lists each student's major (if one has been declared) and each student's academic level, e.g., first-semester sophomore or second-semester junior. Another way I know the students is from the report based on a survey of students from all the ENGL 210s. Which I advise you read and to post on this blog so you have it handy as a resource that you can quote from. And a third resource is the report based on an analysis of student writing from ENGL 210 courses, which you have a copy of already. You can also post that report here. I served as ENGL 210 Coordinator for a year and before that I served as Director of Composition for two years between Fall 2012 and Fall 2015. I learned a lot when I taught ENGL 21002 about three years ago and when I taught the course about 10 years ago.
ReplyDelete