I had wonderful meetings with several English
instructors who are participating in CityWRITe,
Los Angeles City College's Writing Research &
Improvement Team.
Lani gave me the idea of requesting & keeping
Action Research Journals. On Friday, she told me
that as soon as she had mentioned it in our 'big'
meetings, she called a curse on herself. She hasn't
written since. She reflected about the many reasons
& responsibilities that kept her from writing. She
concluded by saying something like, 'We're a lot like
our students, always busy, always swamped. I'm going
to stop hassling them so much about homework.'
This is not the direction I would have taken, or that
I take. I tend to stress instead that the class is
a committment you make to yourself, and that practice
makes perfect, so include the practice in that time
set aside for your studies.
Chris told me his project was to make a conscious
effort
to listen to the two or three students that never make
too much sense. To him, it was in part about
resisting
the drive to ever greater efficiency. He's observing
the effects of his choice to make 'that space' for
voices that usually leave him and the rest of his
class
rolling their eyes. It will be interesting to hear
what he notices.
Nadia wants to learn how to work best with the mentor
who started to tutor in her accellerated class. Once
we started talking, we veered back to an earlier
conversation at the mentor-instructor welcoming
luncheon
earlier that day. Part of the meeting was to discuss
what works and where some problems lay. Several
instructors brought up how unfamiliar many students
are
with not just philosophy or math or psychology, but
with
the whole nerdish love of text and study. I brought
up
the concept of the 'new reader' from literacy studies,
and suggested that it may be a useful analogy. Think
of
your/our students as new students. In a sense, Nadia
has found a native guide to the world of new students.
Her mentor has found a number of ways to signal her
when instructional points or examples just don't
click.
Time remains a problem. Like the Spaniards according
to
Pedro P., we are so 'estressed' by a set-up that
simply
can't be resolved. We need time to write. We need
time
to listen to voices we have difficulty understanding.
We need time to slow down and explain things we take
for
granted. And we need to get throught the course.
I need to take some time and write a paper for my
class.
They all wrote one about 'Reading & Writing at Work,'
and I really enjoyed the papers. Now it's my turn.
'Reading & Writing for a Bureaucrat.'
Genevieve
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