I took my English 1002 class to the library today for a kick-off activity to get them started on the obligatory research paper that has afflicted second semester freshman writers since the Industrial Revolution when my pedagogical forbears invented the two-semester freshman comp. sequence. What a boring tradition! The challenge, then, is to make what one writer I read in grad school refer to as “the vast unflowering desert of freshman composition” into a fertile pasture.
The class today encouraged me. Clutching the “location/citation worksheets” I devised for the task, they attacked the reference section with grim determination. The reference librarian was my aid and assistant, greeting them in the stacks with questions, “What is your topic?” and then pointing them to this reference set or that dictionary or this encyclopedia. As the students found the articles in the books and took them to the tables to read and evaluate their newfound treasures, I sensed their pride of achievement: They had chosen a topic, and now they were becoming subject matter “experts!” More than one student made remarks like, “This is cool!”
I really was humbled in the process. I realized (for the zillionth time in 22 years of teaching) that so much of what I do as a teacher ultimately depends on my getting down from the high horse, stepping out from behind the lectern, moving to an obscure post in the back of the class, and watching them take control.
I saw that happen today in English 1002. Those kids were awesome!!
