Thoughts on the course.
For the last journal entry I just want to discuss the course and what I thought went well and what possible changes could be made to improve it. What the course entailed became very obvious very quickly. There was a pattern to the class, doing the same things every Tuesday and Thursday, and I thought this worked. We always knew when we had to have a book read by and what to expect in each class period. Each student had the chance to lead a discussion which was great practice for being a future teacher. Many people did many different things for their discussions which always kept the class on their toes. We never knew exactly what to expect and were kept on our toes. One thing I would suggest is you encouraging people to do more than simply discuss the book. Some days became monotonous with simply sitting and answering discussion questions. The days that were really memorable were the days we had exercises that required us all to participate actively. I especially like Izzy's and Mandy's discussion where they had us move to different spots in the class room based on what crime they brought up. Everyone had to have an opinion on where to stand and it led into strong discussions about the novel. Some groups needed to have more hands on activities where we had to participate actively. I even think my second day of discussion could have used come more action to keep the class alert. I enjoyed how book talks went in the class and I really like you're idea of having the class do video book talks. I thought the one we saw was very clever and much more memorable than just listening to someone talk for six minutes. With changing media I think is a very strong idea for you to implement into this class. My one other suggestion would be to have better books at the beginning of the semester. I really didn't enjoy our first few novels and thought they got progressively better towards the end of the semester. I know this doesn't help much cause everyone has different opinions about the books, but I thought the first few were very weak. I did however very much like how you split the books into different categories. This allowed the previous books we had just read to be a part of the current discussion. Overall I very much enjoyed this course and I think it was clear that much of the class did as well. Keep up the great work and I am excited to see what 324 is like next semester. Thank you for a great semester and happy holidays.
This is a superb suggestion (maybe something I will make a requirement): encouraging people to do more than simply discuss the book. It's clear from your previous blog that you were thinking about such an adjustment in your discussion time.
ReplyDeleteNot sure how I could ensure we have better books at the beginning of the semester. I do encourage students I've worked with before to sign up for early slots, but I don't want to have to screen the books they choose. I'm going to change up the list of books students will choose from, a selection of novels with multicultural flavor (let me know if you'd like a pdf of it when I get one made). With your nudging, too, to make booktalk time more engaing, either the 1-2 minute or 6-8 minute book talk will need to be a video. I'll see if this picks up attentiveness (your class had the most lively booktalks in my 10+ years of doing this assignment).
Much appreciate your suggestions! I look forward to receiving more in 324 in the spring.