Teaching
Back To School…
I’m not exactly old hat at this teaching thing just yet, but I’m also not a greenhorn, either. But, as I sit here in my office before the first class of the semester, I find that I still feel a little like Billy:Ah well. First-class jitters. Kinda like first performance jitters of the stage, except […]
I Don’t Care If It’s True. It Hurts My Feelings, So Shut Up.
One of the writing prompts I assigned to my argumentative writing class directed the students to write about what they thought the role of science should be in our lives. As source documents I had them read this article by Michael Crichton and this article by Stephen Jay Gould. While I have my own views […]
Grading, Grading, Grading………
I’m furiously grading papers in an attempt to get all my grades in on time. Thankfully, I found a wonderful tutorial by Daniel J. Solove, an Associate Professor of Law at The George Washington University Law School, detailing how to speed up grading time. I’m following it to the letter, and man, I’m really cranking […]
Intentional Fallacy
In literary criticism there are many schools of thought on how to interpret and analyze texts. New Criticism, a school of literary thinking that began in the early 1900’s, emphasis a “close reading” of literary texts. New Critical scholars will stress the importance of the text itself, and eschew all external elements, especially the biography […]
Commies Are Everywhere
David Horowitz, a former Marxist turned neo-con political activist, has made a personal mission of revealing the “leftist” political leanings of college professors and their nefarious attempts to indoctrinate their students. I posted a link to this article, “The Two Universities of Texas,” that Mr. Horowitz had written for The Daily Texan. This is how […]
Student Created Video
In my argument classes we’re currently using commercials, and the dubious practices they employ, as the impetus from which to write persuasive papers. At the beginning of the semester I placed each student into a group, and throughout the semester each group chooses a particular topic from the syllabus that interests them, and then they […]
Shell Shock
I love being a teacher, and I cherish all of my students. I feel honored to have the opportunity to instruct a group of young people, even if they tell me something “sucks balls.” Or when they say “fucked up.” Or when they send me really shitty emails. And yes, I still cherish my job […]
Vague Writing
My students constantly amaze me. Some of their emails make my head pound harder than after an ice cream eating contest. Others take my breath away by cleverly switching the video of “Super Size Me” with gay porn. And others still catch me off guard with the things they actually write in their essays. Like […]
It’s Raining Men
In addition to my Comp I classes, this semester I’m teaching a couple of Comp II classes. At UTSA Comp I is a class that instructs students on the finer points of informative writing, while Comp II is argumentative based. Since Comp II is argumentative most of the class is devoted to helping students discuss […]
A Proud Teacher
This semester the writing department at the University of Texas San Antonio offered several scholarships to students enrolled in composition I and II. To qualify for the scholarship the students needed to write an essay discussing the importance of written communication in America. Only three scholarships were available for all sections of composition I, and […]