Final Thought

Tonight, for English 670, Kris Sutliff took the class on a field trip to the Academic Development Center over at the library in room 204. Somehow the information that this place even existed escaped most of the students that she has in her class, and half of them are TAs. For those of you who want to learn more about developing lesson plans or achieving objectives for your class, this place is a treasure trove. Dr. Roger Sells, who heads the center, is the nicest guy you would ever want to meet. He presented us with packets of information and, as a bonus, he had a refrigerator full of soda and water as well as a full pot of coffee. All TAs are welcome to pick his brain and use the resources of the Center, and I suggest that it is highly worth your time to take a visit.

TA's Bulletin Board and Academic Dishonesty

I have had a suspected case of academic dishonesty this semester and it really bugs me. Tonight I received an e-mail from Amy (as all of you did) concerning subjects that she thinks were topics of academic dishonesty, ie recycled papers from English 110.

All of this got me thinking that maybe we should post TOPICS ONLY of suspected cases of plagiarism and academic dishonesty on our bulletin board. Since we talk to each other, and at least have a common gathering place, we should be sharing information about papers that are suspect of plagiarism or academic dishonesty. This DOES NOT mean that we should reaveal the suspect's name, but merely post the themes and subjects of papers that have been suspected of being bought, recycled, or plagiarized. We are not experts, but we have all come to recognize papers that seem just a little too polished or slick for the abilities of the writer. Maybe we can make some practical use out of our bulletin board by sending out red flags on subjects that are suspect and some of the content of the suspected paper. When we begin contrasting and comparing then we can either rule out academic dishonesty, or we can quit giving A's to students who don't deserve them.

Sorry Craig, this may take some of your space away from the bulletin board.

Getting all the Drafts

I understand that students will often forget to include their rough drafts with their completed drafts, but it's nearly impossible to grade a final draft without having the rough draft as a reference for suggested changes and revision. I've had a few students in the past that have simply lost their rough drafts and could not, or would not, produce them with their final drafts. In those cases, I simply penalized their grade. My stance on the subject of rough drafts is a mixed one. As students ourselves, how would we feel if we had to turn in rough drafts for every assignment that was given to us? We probably wouldn't like it depending on the way we write. One advantage that our 110 students have, and an advantage that I remind them of constantly, is that they get to have a "do over" for every major assignment in class. In addition, I remind them that they probably don't get "do overs" in their math, science, or psychology classes and that they should take every opportunity to make the most of my comments and treat their rough drafts like gold.

My solution to the problem of missing rough drafts is to simply hand back the final paper and tell them to turn it in when they can produce a rough draft to go along with it (late penalties apply). The rough draft MUST be the copy that I have commented on because I, like many of you, spend much more time on rough drafts than I do with the final papers. With that said, I would never fail a student for not turning in their rough draft(s) unless it was habitual.

When a problem like this occurs with one or two students we can expect that it's ineveitable to happen, but when it occurs with over half the class then the line from "Cool Hand Luke" comes to mind when the Warden says, "What we have here is a failure to communicate." So, he punishes Luke in some interesting ways. Trouble is, we are not their wardens, punishers, mothers, fathers, and MOST OF ALL their friends. They have to take responsibility. But we always need to question what we are doing too. After all, we are not experts in pedagogical practices and don't have near enough experience to deal with all of the challenges we face. We improvise.

I empathize with my students. I remember, and most of you better than me, what it was like to be a freshman. But they're in a transitional stage where they don't have mom or dad to remind them to breathe, and they're trying to feel out the independence they do have. The best advice I could give is to "Walk softly and carry a big stick." Failing students for not turning in their rough drafts or reflective journals is harsh. Letting them know that there ARE consequences for neglecting simple directions (such as grade penalties) is mandatory.

Just for Fun

Just for fun, I decided to include a blog about some funny things that have happened in my class.

The first thing is that I went into class one evening and started teaching and I noticed that several students were snickering and grinning--more than usual--and I couldn't figure out why. Half-way through my lesson, the grinning of students was starting to get on my nerves. It wasn't until I put my hand in my pocket and felt a breeze where I normally don't feel a breeze that I realized why they were grinning. My "fly" was completely down. Of course (as all guys know), this has happened to all of us at some point in our lives. The trouble is: How do you rectify the problem in front of a class full of students without looking like a complete "dolt"? My solution was to turn towards the blackboard as if I was going to write something and zip it up real quick, but as I looked to my left (we sit in a circle) one of my students was laughing his butt off. I don't think I've ever been more embarrassed, but I'm over it.

The second thing is that I had a student come up to me the other night after class. She is a smart, timid, and articulate girl, but she had a concerned look on her face.
She was one of my choices for the students who would receive letters from the department on their excellent work.
"Mr. Knox," she said "I got this letter in the mail from the English Department"
"Yes, Casey," and I knew what letter she was referring to without her telling me.
"Well," she said "They're gonna' make me change my major to English!"
God bless this poor girl. She thought that the letter she received from the department meant that she had to change her major. When I explained to her that it was something to be proud of and that it didn't mean she would have to change her major, a look of relief washed over her face and she thanked me profusely. I don't think the thanks was for recommending her to receive the letter, but was more for the fact that she didn't have to change her major!

Writing what we teach and revision

Last semester and this semester I have written along with my students. My Dad was an old naval officer (and later a minister) that always taught me that you should never ask someone to do something that you are not willing to do yourself. It wasn't bad advice. I feel that I should be writing the same assignments that my students write.

It's also interesting to note that my examples are not always the best. I use my written examples as an in-class example, but I often catch mistakes and areas that could be improved. This is not such a bad thing. It shows students that we all make mistakes and can use revision in our writing. I'm the first person to point out mistakes that I have made and, hopefully, we all learn from them.

So far this semester my students have done a much better job with their revisions. I can actually see substantive changes between their rough drafts and the revised drafts. But I empathize with my students on revision. I can't tell you how I revise. I don't know what my method is, and it may change from paper to paper. The one thing I DO know is that I never write a paper the night before it's due. I allow myself plenty of time to do the paper, and I read it and tweak it several dozen times before I would consider printing it. But like many of my students, once that paper is printed it feels like it's chiseled in stone. I have no desire to go back and rework something that has been committed to ink and I can recite in my sleep.

Time, of course, has a way of changing the way we think. When I now read papers that I had written in my freshman, sophmore, and junior years I wonder how I could have turned in such rubbish.

plagiarism revisited

I was on a Web site the other day that claimed the papers they sold "are not plagiarized because each one is created according to the needs of the client." Yeah right! Somehow this idea that I can buy a paper that is custom made does not constitute plagiarism is really disturbing. What's most disturbing is that it makes detecting plagiarism that much more difficult. Googling words and phrases from a custom designed paper do not produce any results.

I've got an individual, now, that turned in his/her Memoir assignment (the second assignment in my schedule). This person is a pretty good writer, but the Memoir seemed to be just a little too slick. The person in question is from Saint Louis, and the paper talked about the individual's stay in a rehab center for heroine addiction. Because there were some red flags about this paper, I Googled some key phrases from the paper. The only thing I found out was that this individual used a real doctor's name and an actual rehab name for the place he/she claims to have attended. The only problem is that this place is in south Florida and it's one of those rehab centers for the rich and famous. The writing in the paper made it sound like it was a local place from this individual's home. Although I don't know the personal background of this individual, I find it hard to believe that he/she could spend over a year (which he/she claims) in a rehab in south Florida that caters to rich people.

Now I'm faced with that dilemma of giving this person an A for a paper that clearly deserves it , but may be plagiarized, or confronting this person on the paper that seems to be brutally "honest" if it's true. This is not a good position for me to be in. To compound the problem, this person's other papers are well-written, not spectacular, but well-written. He/she does, however, have one of the worst attendance records in my class because he/she claims that working hours are taking a toll on attendance. My assumption is that if this individual's family had enough money to send them to a fancy rehab for a year, he/she would not need to work to go through college.

This is my first suspected case of plagiarism. Am I being paranoid? What might be done that I could handle this with sensitivity? I certainly don't want to send a signal of accusing this person of plagiarism if their paper is original and written by them.

Pigeon holes

I don't like the idea of being pigeonholed into one form of teaching or another. I associate myself more with the "expressivist" point of view than any other--and I know that's like saying I'm a communist--but I don't strictly adhere to everything that the expressivists advocate.



Why is it that we always have to label things that puts us in one camp or another? A good example of this phenomenon would be abortion. Can I be pro-abortion if it occurs in the early stages of pregnancy and be against it if it involves partial-birth abortion? It can't be done according to radicals on both sides. "Your'e either with or against us" is the motto. I have always refused to play that game.



When we teach, we do what works best for us. We can study pedagogy theories until the cows come home, but in the end it all boils down to our ability to disseminate information to the students. It doesn't rely on labels that define our teaching style. Whether it's Flowers, Bartholmae, or Elbow we would like to emulate, it still boils down to US. If someone can figure out the right and wrong ways to teach then I would quickly prescribe to that point of view, and we would all be drawing the same pictures for 603. The theorists may have good ideas, but let them come and try to teach my evening class of apathetic, sleepy students who have worked all day and could give a rat's ass about English. I wonder how successful they would be?



Does anybody know Elbow's number? I think I'll call him and see if he can give me a one on one with my class.