They like me! They really like me!

Well, OK, maybe they don't, but I do like the fact that even the more apparently truculent students from the SF class have decidedly softened in demeanor and seem very willing to hear and absorb my suggestions. With the Budding Literary Critic's group, I got into a little bit of a riff on a bird motif in Oryx and Crake, as one student was noticing that Alex the Parrot seems to show up at various specific points in the narrative. (They also were stunned to find out that Alex the Parrot is--or was--real. I told the story of Alex saying "I'm going away now" before he died, but now I'm not sure that's true. Whenever I say something like that, I wonder how important it is for me to correct myself...) Today I also sort of micro-managed the groups, trying to get interesting and potentially new mixes: some worked, others less so, but all the groups had at least one person in them who could carry the conversation, and sometimes that person was able to bring others along.

One particularly gratifying moment came at the start of class. When Scott subbed for me last week, he used a thematic grid on the board and had students fill in the grid. Knowing that at least one student found that grid structure very helpful in creating his notes, I asked today whether they preferred that approach--and before I could even finish the sentence, they were all vigorously shaking their heads "No." As they explained, the grid didn't allow them enough freedom to bring in whatever they were finding; they had a lot of responses that didn't fit neatly into the boxes. I was thrilled. I know sometimes they need more structure than I provide, and I'm trying to hit a compromise between providing structure and encouraging freedom to explore ideas. At least with most of the students in this particular class, I seem to have struck a good balance.

After class, I had a brief talk with a student who had plagiarized one of his sets of notes. I was very forgiving; I told him I knew he'd been motivated by panic and told him that I honestly would prefer his questions than regurgitated answers. He was so relieved he was almost in tears--but truly, I'd rather he learn something about how to think than that he be punished for being insecure and relying on a cheat to get him through. There are times when the "nope, it's a zero" boom must fall (and I may be getting there with the Media Mogul in the 101s, who said that the zero was "unacceptable" but who hasn't made the effort to see me to talk about it). But often, I find giving the students a chance to fix the mistake pays off better than the punishment.

There is certainly more I could say about today, but I'm getting out of here: Paul and I are going to see Blade Runner 2049 together, so I have to dash. And I have a training session tomorrow (I was actually supposed to go today but spaced it) on the new scheduling software we're supposed to use from now on (and I'll rant some other time about how those of us with advanced degrees are being used as clerks), so I need to make sure I have everything ready in my pack before I leave. And I need to leave in about 3 minutes, so....