tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28553339.post4271210313013840112..comments2023-07-17T05:07:53.982-07:00Comments on clashing hats: Friday thingsHilairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09033740943173352249noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28553339.post-80573294155782044872007-11-24T10:10:00.000-08:002007-11-24T10:10:00.000-08:00EE, I know, it is *so* insane. Seriously, it is th...EE, I know, it is *so* insane. Seriously, it is things like this - complete inability to follow instructions - that make me weep for our future. Not even joking. <BR/><BR/>I did have a good time with wine and friend - I really feel like I have a new close friend here. Hurrah!Hilairehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09033740943173352249noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28553339.post-56302265630735568532007-11-24T02:34:00.000-08:002007-11-24T02:34:00.000-08:00Wow, Neophyte. That's really interesting. I'll h...Wow, Neophyte. That's really interesting. I'll have to think more about that. (I guess students aren't aware of the rigor associated with "Reader Response theory," which even annoying critics sometimes think of as a non-critical free-for-all.) I used to call my RRs "difficulty papers" because I asked students to specifically frame them around the parts of the reading that they were having trouble grasping. Someone else in my field calls them "microthemes." So there are some naming issues.<BR/><BR/>Hilaire, I feel better reading your post and am somewhat disheartened. What is the deal with citation? How bloody hard can it be? I was in a meeting where teachers said that one of the outcomes of a class I'm teaching is that students should know Dominant Citation Style in my field. I have told students over and over to please consult the frigging website I listed <I>on the syllabus</I> for citations. With things like RefWorks and bib-ing websites where you just put in the information, there is just <I>no reason</I> to screw up citation style. I tell them quite honestly that I haven't memorized it either, but I know how to go to a frigging website in order to get my questions answered. I was hoping that this had to do with the particular laziness of my oh-way-too-privileged students with their tutors and drivers, but apparently not. Sad. Article titles in quotation marks? Completely beyond my students. BEYOND. I can't even go there. Now I have to go and grade five portfolios. I hope you had a good relaxing rant-fest and drink-fest with wine-drinking friend.Earnest Englishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01947000435270263070noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28553339.post-74803135910485570382007-11-23T18:54:00.000-08:002007-11-23T18:54:00.000-08:00Very interesting, Neophyte! I've thought a lot abo...Very interesting, Neophyte! I've thought a lot about the name of this assignment...I thought critical reading response was good because it mentioned, ya know, *the readings*. Reminding them that they had to discuss them in the assignment. But maybe not. Hmm...This is a whole new way of thinking about this. <BR/><BR/>I actually have an assignment called a "position paper" in one class - that's the other thing I'm grading this weekend - and in that one I am asking them to, like, take a position!! Imagine that. Intervene in a critical debate. Many of them also can't wrap their minds around that, it appears. It's so ridic, all of it. It all comes down to not being able to discern a critical position in the readings, much less in their own minds, no matter what an assignment is called. Frustrating - especially when they're third- and fourth-year students. <BR/><BR/>I shall have to think on this - thanks for the input.Hilairehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09033740943173352249noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28553339.post-38906698200805497062007-11-23T16:53:00.000-08:002007-11-23T16:53:00.000-08:00I don't know how useful this would be, but perhaps...I don't know how useful this would be, but perhaps try taking the word "response" out of the assignment to avoid the evils mentioned in Thing 1? A conversation between two Petri Dish faculty who didn't know that undergrad me was listening: <BR/><BR/>A: "My students never turn in their g-ddamn reading responses!"<BR/>B: "Really? Mine do. They're very worried about them, usually."<BR/>A: "How do you manage that?"<BR/>B: "I call them 'position papers.'"<BR/><BR/>The lesson we learn is that response=gabfest while paper=serious-work. The mind of the undergraduate. What can I say.<BR/><BR/>And yes, yay for wine -- be good to yourself. You're in the home stretch.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com