grading woes

I want to address something right now, and the few readers that I have that are interested and who disagree are welcome to do so...

This didn't seem like something appropriate to post to Facebook, so Blogger it is. I submitted my class grades for WR241 (into to poetry writing) yesterday. The grades were about what I expected: a nice spread, maybe 6 As, 13Bs, 4 Cs, 2 Ds, and 1 F.

Then the complaint emails roll in. "How could I possibly receive a C+???" and "It's POETRY WRITING! How could I get a B?"

I made it very clear early in the term that I don't really grade the quality of the poetry. I grade the students' understanding of fundamental poetry elements. I grade their revision choices. I grade their participation, most importantly.

The students who complained about their grades are the students who never talked in class. They never volunteered to read. Never opened their mouth during workshop. Never gave even one suggestion or comment the entire term. And this, after I placed much emphasis on the importance of participation in a creative writing class.

I just don't understand. Well, I do understand, but I don't understand how I could have been clearer! A creative writing class, a workshop environment, whatever you want to call it, simply cannot function without class participation. If you refuse to talk, and sit idly in your seat, seeming uninterested, not engaged, you will not get an A.

Will I have to explain this to every student who did not receive an A in my class? God, I hope not.

Venting complete.

Comment.

Love.

John out.

the last week and healthcare debate continue

I've been feeling a little under the weather the past few days. This is not a new development. I've felt this sickness coming on for a while. I feel fortunate, however, since most of the work for the term is completed and I can wallow happily in my sickness with a box of Oreos and The Price is Right.

I spent most of the weekend grading poetry portfolios. For a while I was concerned over grade inflation, not just in my own class, but in the higher education machine in general. I had my mind set to ease after engaging discussions with colleagues. I don't believe grade inflation exists as much as I believe the role and function of the grade changes from undergraduate work to graduate work. I know this to be true after seeing the grades of my undergraduate poetry students, realizing that creative writers can, in fact, land themselves outside/below/sub-"A" range.

A good friend of mine said on Friday, "in the field of creative writing, at least when you're an undergrad, it's important to be a good student first, and a good writer second. Because if you're a bad writer but you listen and try to learn, you can actually improve."

I think that's true. Then I wonder what type of student I was when I was an undergraduate. I generated mostly A quality work. Sometimes I would stagger by with a B, especially if I was uninterested in the course material, found it irrelevant to my field of study, or if I was unlucky enough to be in the presence of a professor who simply didn't agree with my polarized perspectives. Then I remembered, with my experiences over the past year keenly in mind, that I was not too different from my students I'm teaching now.

Very odd. This isn't much of a revelation. It's merely an observation. I think I was aware of this fact for a while, but either didn't want to admit it, or the pattern seemed to obvious for me to care.

Anyway, this term is winding down nicely. The house is decorated for Christmas. The tree is up and lit. And I have the sniffles/coughs/body aches. Evvvvvvvverything is falling into place.

I'll leave you with this clip from Countdown, since I'm always a fan of seeing Limbaugh grilled over things he obviously doesn't understand. I'm particularly drawn to Limbaugh's definition of the word "sheep." The healthcare absurdity, as I will call it from this day forth, rolls on...

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Good day, all. Thanks for reading.

John

a long overdue update

Once again, I want to apologize for my absence and lack of posting for the last few months. Being in an MFA program consumes a large portion of my time.

After talking with some of my colleagues over the past few weeks, mainly Travis Margoni and Jeff Breitenfeldt, I've come to learn about a number of interesting web tools and platforms. I will be experimenting with these tools (Google Wave, Moodle, among others) during the upcoming winter term. I'll be sure to blog my findings.

In the meantime, please be sure to follow me on twitter (peacocjo) and facebook, (facebook.com/theangrybeaver)

If you're interested in a very interesting radio show on KBVR, out of Corvallis, please visit Travis' blog for podcasts (http://couriernewculture.blogspot.com/) or listen live at www.kbvr.com

Stay tuned.

John

Back to it

Hello everyone. I want to apologize for my lack of posting. I battled an illness for a few weeks, and have recently recovered enough to begin extra work again.

Point of thought: avoid excessive absences while in graduate school...particularly in the last term of an academic year. Incompletes, missing assignments, make-up work...all very bad, especially when you already feel like shit for abandoning your post to begin with.

With that having been said, I'll be making the 3000 mile journey back to Florida for summer vacation starting June 19th. I'll be sure to post a link to some interesting photographs.

In the meantime, catching up on some writing, constructing a (mostly) functional CV...that was depressing...and putting my critical thinking-cap on for some serious graduate-level literature (ooo..."seminar style") papers.

yay.

Good night all.

John

please check this out!

This video was featured on Countdown with Keith Olbermann this evening. It is from my hometown (Pensacola), and shows that a portion of the nation still sees the light with reason and logic.

Kudos to this man!

By the way...the background info for this story is this: "tea parties" were held around the country on Wednesday to protest "taxation," and other things that redneck republicans don't even understand. One of these "parties" was held in Pensacola, and this man...a stout progressivist and Democrat...stood in the middle of the crowd of Republicans and confused the HELL out of them.

Notice how all of the people in the crowd cheer for him until the very end, when they realize that they've been fooled.

racism

A while back, a colleague of mine asked me if things in the South really were as bad as people think. I responded that in order to answer that question, one had to experience the day-to-day life and make a judgment for themselves.

This newspaper article demonstrates that, yes, things really can be as bad as everyone thinks.



If this lady is LUCKY, the news and the story of her racist ass will stay confined to the deep south...but not if I have anything to say about it. She's a TEACHER, for crying out loud!

Anyway, I put up with stuff like this everyday of my life. In Oregon it rains, it's cold, there's dead trees and the occasional scent of rotten moss and fertilizer around every corner, but compared to Pensacola, FL...it's a bloody fucking paradise.

John out.

some stuff

I saw this story on the website of my hometown's newspaper. I thought it was absolutely hilarious, so I thought I would share with everyone. (be sure to check out the video on the right side of the screen for full enjoyment)

http://www.pnj.com/article/20090402/NEWS01/90402015

That will probably only be up for a few days, so get it while the gettin's good.

Also, "Transfer Cases" is now published and available at www.decompmagazine.com. Just look for my name. (there is a typo that I've email them about....a stray question mark. See if you can find it!)

Jedi edit: The stray question mark has been fixed.

John out.