Bloom is off the rose

Yesterday we had another quiz because I like students to see what they may need to keep track of as they read; making annotations works differently for all readers, but I want the students to be able to locate relevant passages when they need to. One student said that "annotations bring back memories of what you read."

I have received their first essays - descriptive essays, and the students are very nervous about how they will do on them. At the end of class a concerned student wrote, "I will would like to know if things will get easier for us." At this point I cannot say and continue to encourage them while holding them to a high standard so they will come out of the course with confidence that they can read any text, respond to any clearly written assignment. I have to keep reminding them that the only way to advance as writers is to keep writing, revising and getting feed back.

The student who asked how to identify a thesis statement is right on it. When we write these 5 paragraph essays, structured and formulaic, it is easy to discern the thesis statement, but when we read the opinions in the New York Times, it is much more difficult to find anything that smeels like "the thesis statement." This we need to address; learning and teaching nuances are tricky, and I have already been asked if I ever change my method of teaching - I, who always considered myself a facile teacher who used different styles to accommodate learning types! I learn something everyday from my students.

Finally, one student asked, "How can we make this class more interesting?" Where do I go with THAT in a college reading and writing course where I thought I'd assigned two good texts? I thought I'd gotten it all figured out with the Independent Project to get the students out of their comfort zones, learning about another human being and about themselves. It just shows how we need to stay in close, close touch with our students. I don't believe in making the class and entertainment session, but I don't want to lose the very minds I hope to feed and flower!