WR214: Writing in Business
next to last day at OSU
Today was my next to last day teaching at OSU. My business writing class is going so well! With only 7 students, I was both excited for the small class and worried about class dynamics. But the students have been working so well together (with the usual problems of who is pulling how much weight), [...]
from 13 to 8
I started out this summer with only 13 students in my writing in business course. In the first week, the enrollment has dropped to 8. This is the smallest class I’ve ever taught — well, tied with an 8th grade exploratory creative writing course I taught my second year teaching middle school. I’m excited for [...]
spring 2008 = finished
I just submitted my last grades for Spring 2008. The term is finished. Well, almost. Heather and I gave out two incompletes for our Women Studies course. But otherwise, I am finished.
Some quick end of the term reflections:
Teaching 4 classes is do-able. Teaching 5 classes is insane. I won’t be attempting to do that again.
I [...]
i tried to prevent this problem
Last term I had my students’ final business writing reports due the last day of class. The presented the problem that I would grade during finals week and then, when it came to the last report or two, I’d come across a plagiarism problem. This was difficult, because it would mean trying to get a [...]
ideas for scaffolding students’ business proposals
I’m enjoying teaching business writing a lot more this term than I did last term, but I’m still frustrated with my students business proposals as I read them. There are some things that I thought I was clear on when giving in-class instruction, but must not have been, and then there are some things I [...]
I feel like a failure
I just got a call from a friend who works as an academic adviser on campus. He told me that a student complained to him about my extreme delay in getting work back to students in her class. This is a very understandable complaint — I’m way behind in grading in technical writing. I’m all [...]
conferencing with students
Yesterday I put myself through hell, scheduling 27 20-minute conferences with students (4 didn’t show up), and come 6:30 when I finished, I was exhausted.
Today, I have considerably fewer, though I also teach two classes today. However, I’m currently sitting here waiting for my third appointment, but she, much like the previous student, hasn’t shown [...]
teaching is women’s work
Today in my business writing classes I had students group up and review a sample résumé, brainstorming what the document was doing well and how the author could improve the résumé.
What I didn’t tell them was that this was my résumé from 2003 when I was applying for middle or high school English teaching jobs. [...]
grades: done
I just submitted my grades for all four sections of my class. Upon reflection, I think I was too soft grade-wise throughout the term, and offered a bit too much extra credit at one point. However, it’s been a wonderful term, and I had some amazing students in my class who seemed to enjoy the [...]
onward!
Grading now completed for two out of four classes. Second PhD application about to go into the mail. Onward!
