The misplaced...

First, let me say that the time does go more quickly when I'm working with students--I saw two today--but that the 40 minute appointment is really long; I'm used to doing the whole magillah in 20. I'm sure there will be times when I wish I had more time--or when I suddenly realize I've gone over--but today's appointments, not so much.

Well, I take that back: one of the students probably could have done with double the time, but mostly because she was trying to rewrite part of her essay while I sat there. (And I honestly forget that most people don't write as quickly as I do. Many write better, but words tumble out of me pretty easily. Is it a gift to be able to blather?)

But with both students, I split the time between talking with them about the actual structure of their essays--what the ideas are, how to put them in order and make connections--and talking about the GSP (grammar-spelling-punctuation). And both of them are in the wrong class. The first student I met with is in 101--and honestly, she should be in an ESL-dedicated 001 at best. The other was at least in 001, but again, she needs the ESL focus.

Interesting story with the second student: before she arrived, I got a copy of her first writing sample, which her professor had sent to me with a note saying A. that the student really should be in an ESL-dedicated class but that there isn't room and B. that the student also had a "processing" problem, as she didn't address the prompt. Also on the copy of the writing sample was a note from our ESL Coordinator, saying that--since she "can't" get into an ESL-dedicated class--she needs to meet every week with a tutor who has expertise in ESL, which I patently do not.

I also took a look at the student's schedule and at the possible courses available, and although there are seats in some of the sections, the student may not be able to make the switch; it looks like she may have conflicts that mean she can't take classes on Mondays and Wednesdays, which is all that would be available for her. But I did raise the red flag about weekly tutoring: if she goes in every week, she really does need someone who can address the ESL issues. I think one of the tutors sitting next to me has that expertise, but I'm not the one to say. Still, as I told the student, she shouldn't be seeing me in the future.

But I'm comparing the writing by these two students with the writing I saw yesterday--a student who was placed in 001--and today's 101 student doesn't write anywhere near as well. I don't know how today's student got into 101: whether she placed directly in, or passed a previous level of English (or of "Writing," what used to be the highest level of the now defunct Basic Education Program). But she is in deep trouble. I don't think there is any way to get her writing to what I would consider proficiency at the credit-bearing level in just 15 weeks. I suppose it's possible, if she gets tutoring every chance she gets (technically, she would be able to see someone three times a week--one appointment and two drop-ins--but that's highly unlikely for all sorts of reasons).

This is, of course, one of the most common professorial plaints: "How did this student ever get out of X?" (001, 101, 102, you name it). And yet I'm guilty of passing students who probably shouldn't pass, for whatever reason. So ... that's how. We pass or fail students for a number of reasons, and sometimes their basic writing ability gets overwhelmed by other stuff (including, in my case, just plain weakness about holding the damned line). A zillion years ago, when I was at Laguardia, there was a great deal of kerfuffle over the fact that the school was instituting a proficiency exam prior to graduation or transfer to another CUNY institution, at about the 3/4 mark toward the associate's degree. The faculty thinking was--understandably--shouldn't our passing grades be enough to demonstrate proficiency? But in all my years at NCC, I've been seeing the evidence that that is not, in fact, the case. I do remember running some of the prep sessions for the exam, helping students understand how to respond to the reading in particular--and that's the piece that's most important in what Laguardia does: they provide the support for students who may have gotten passing grades and yet not be proficient. For all students, in fact: without that added support (including workshops specifically tailored for the students who have already taken the test and didn't pass), the benefit of the thing would be significantly diminished. But yeah: I kinda wish NCC had something similar.

Or had something similar when I was still in the classroom. Moot point at this stage.

Shifting gears, I ran into the Young Zen Master as I was leaving the Library today. We didn't have much of a talk--not much to say, really, other than "how are you?"--but it was nice to see him. I wonder if I'll get former students as "clients" in the Writing Center.

(And I keep wanting to call it the WC, but then I think of the British term for a toilet... and I dislike the parallel.)

For now, I'm in the office, pretty much waiting for Paul to finish with P&B. Today will be the first time we've seen each other this semester, and the whole pattern just feels strange: not quite like one or the other of us was on sabbatical, but not like when we were both teaching. And yes, I'll start cleaning out files while I wait. Mostly things will just go straight in the recycling bin, but some stuff I may hang on to just long enough to see if Paul wants it for any reason--and if the answer is "no thanks," then it will go in the recycling bin.

The gradual weaning away begins. Oh, so surreal!