Since I started taking TC classes in January, every time I talk to someone who's been in the program a while and I mention teaching ENGL 1301 they tell me the same thing, "Don't base your opinion of teaching on 1301 or you might give up on teaching all together. It's terrible!" I heard this so often that I became determined NOT to let teaching 1301 be a negative experience for either me or the students. I'm not teaching this semester, just grading, but I also came to grading with the intention to keep a positive attitude towards the students. However, I have experienced some frustration, and amazement, at the frequency and consistency of mistakes in virtually everything I am grading. This frustration peaked one evening when I confirmed that both my 16 year old son and 11 year old grandson know that periods and commas go inside quotes, while most of the freshmen I am grading do not.
So, I was grateful for Shaughnessy's introduction to Errors and Expectations, especially when she states, "...BW students write the way they do, not because they are slow or non-verbal, indifferent to or incapable of academic excellence, but because they are beginners and must, like all beginners, learn by making mistakes" (p.390). I also appreciated Dr. Kemp's gracious tone as he urged us not to judge our freshmen too harshly. I think it is important to remember that our freshmen are not stupid, just beginners. It doesn't matter what we think they "should" know or do, or how frustrated we may get with the "system" that allowed these students to come to college so ill prepared. The fact is they are here and, to a certain extent, their fate is in our hands.
Let us be nurturing rather than avenging angels!
Very true, Linda. Sometimes it is hard not to be be curt and flunk a student when I have a strong suspicion that they have simply not put much effort in, but I still give constructive comments and refer them to places in St. Martin's that could help them in the event that they truly are trying. What you've said is the exact reason I do this even though I sometimes feel like I may be wasting my time writing suggestions to someone who will never read them. At the same time, though, I hope that maybe they will read my comments and be able to write more the next time, or maybe, with another correction or two, finally get a problem that they have struggled with straightened out.
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