Thursday, November 10, 2011
Constantly Working
I like the idea of constant work. I have a lot of experience as a PhD student. But with my students I try to force them to continually work on the next paper they have due. So I make them do smaller writing projects in class. I make them turn in small informal essays that are related. I make them outline and draft sections in class. I make them workshop for three days, making tweaks and bringing in fresh drafts each day. One thing I think I have managed to instill in my students is the need to constantly be tweaking and working on their projects. Of course there are students who put things off and try to do things at the last minute, but the stern rebuke they receive shames them and causes them to doubt the wisdom in such and approach. Never underestimate the power of the long, disapproving head shake.
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I like the idea of making students bring their assignments through 2 or 3 drafts. At the moment, I only make them turn in one draft. Most of my students don't edit their assignments unless I force them to... But why is that? I know when I don't want to edit a paper of mine, it means I'm really not into the topic in the first place. But I'm not sure how to remedy this for my students, if that's the problem, because I already allowed them to write about whatever topics appealed to them. I also sense in some students, I believe, a casual sort of attitude toward their assignments. As long as they don't fail the class, they're comfortable with submitting mediocre work. This is a problem, though, that I don't have any ideas about how to fix.
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