The Collaborative Composition Classroom

To echo what some others have said, I think Jonas and Rachel have already helped prepare us for many of the classroom incivilities (CIs) we may encounter when we begin teaching. Yet I’m grateful to Boice for pointing out that CIs can go both ways: we’ve all had those professors who appear rude, arrogant, and unconcerned with students’ wellbeing; since we’ve experienced what that feels like as a student, why would we demonstrate the same behaviors we used to hate after we become teachers?

Strangely, I’m also encouraged by Boice’s claims that the best teachers (in terms of lowest numbers of CIs, but I think also in other areas) are not the novices but those who’ve been teaching for many years. This takes away some of the pressure to be perfect from the start, reminding us that teaching, like so many other things in life, is a skill which we must develop over time. Starting off on a positive note by conveying to your students that you care about them and want them to learn in your class is (or at least seems to be) a fairly straightforward piece of advice, as does giving teaching feedback to and receiving it back from peers. Both we and our students can benefit from knowing we’re not in this thing alone.

Collaboration in Teaching

Boice suggests that “the most efficient, effective teachers stand out for letting other people do some of their work” because they can utilize or borrow other teachers’ ideas or receive their advice about teaching. The advantages that Boice mentions are actually applicable to the collaboration of other purposes, such as writing. We can always learn something new from others when we collaborate with them. In addition to what Boice says, there is one more advantage of collaborating with others in teaching. In the articles I read about mixed composition classes, the authors of the one of the articles are teachers who coteach in a mixed composition class. The advantage of teaching collaboratively for them is that they have different areas of specialties. One is good at teaching ESL students, and the other is more familiar with teaching NES students. Thus, collaborating is not just an act of sharing responsibility. Sometimes, we do need others’ skills or knowledge to complete our responsibility.

Teachers or writers can actually benefit greatly from collaboration. But we still have to be cautious about the claim that Boice quotes: “If it isn’t all mine, all my own work, why bother?” Occasionally, people will just pass the buck to the person they collaborate with because the division of work is not clearly marked. Therefore, I think it is important to explain clearly which part of work one should be responsible for. Only when collaborators complete their assigned work will their collaboration be efficient and effective.

Sharin' Work and Misbehavin'

Okay, I've finally figured out what it is about Boice that makes me cringe. It's the title of the chapters! With a few exceptions, the title of the chapter says something different from what Boice would like us, new faculty, to get out of his book. In the case of chapter 7: "Let Others Do Some of the Work," I think he really means: don't be afraid to ask for help. I'm totally cool with asking for help, especially because I've never taught before. Of course I am going to collaborate with other instructors. I already have! I've asked for assignments as examples and such. I'm not letting them do work...I'm asking for help. I think Boice's editor should be fired, because seriously, titles are misleading. Just say what you mean, Boice, c'mon.

And as for chapter 8, when reading I kept thinking about the summers I worked as a camp counselor for the Y. I was known as the disciplinarian, and every child who misbehaved was brought to me before a trip to the camp director's office. Of course dealing with a misbehavin' 8-year-old won't be exactly like dealing with college freshman and and CI, but it's a close comparison. In Boice's example of how CI can sometimes be helpful, I saw my trouble-campers. It was the kids who didn't want to play kickball or whatever that allowed me to notice the whole group's dynamic. I'm not going to treat my freshman like 8-year-olds, but the same techniques work.

Also, listening to Rachel's stories about her problem student throughout the semester, made me 1) feel so bad for her and 2) feel like I could handle a problem child. Easy peasy.

Boice sure does seem to enjoy letting others do some of the work. While it's nice as an idea, I'm not sure yet how much I'll use this advice. It seems absurd when applied to writing seminar papers, and less absurd when applied to socializing/serving, but for teaching I'm still on the fence. Certain aspects of teaching I would be glad to let others do (providing sample syllabi, substituting for a class, and helping out with a trouble student are all things I've observed), but there are other aspects of teaching that I think need to be done consistently by the same person. A camel is a horse designed by committee, and all.

I thought that Boice's advice about class incivilities was practical, although I'm not sure I learned anything more from it than I had already heard from Jonas and Rachel. These situations are what make us nervous as first time teachers to begin with, so remembering that staying calm, keeping control of the situation, and trying to stay un-self-conscious are the best ways to handle them is important. It is likely they will make us more nervous, which will in turn make the situation worse. However common CI's are, though, I do feel that Jonas' absentee policy will help enormously, so hopefully I will not encounter these behaviors too often.

Would you rather watch three episodes of 'CSI' or three episodes of CI?

What is this, an early Christmas gift from Boice? Chapters that make me feel better about teaching?

First, in chapter 7, he’s all like, “let other people work for you.” Cha. I’m on board, Robbie, I’m on board.

Chapter 8 confronted me with a scary situation—his suggestion that two of every three classrooms experience these CIs. It will probably happen to me. But I think that Boice has given some good advice here.

His point about timing echoes what we heard from J+R. If something is going wrong, shut it down immediately. Establish your authority early on or you’ll never get it back, and then the value of the class will suffer.

I also like Boice’s approach because it endorses a removal from self. It’s like when a jazz soloist escapes self-consciousness to reach his potential. Being self-centered is a quick way to problems with student behavior.

I think we—the MAs, I mean—we’ve got an advantage because we’ve been students so long and so recently. I think teachers run into trouble when they can’t imagine themselves in their students’ seats. As long as we ask ourselves what we’d want as one of our students, I think we can maintain strong connections in the classroom.

Decoding CI

Boice’s chapter on class incivilities is to me one of the most useful chapters in his book. I’ve learned several things:

1. The CI I experienced during my two semesters of teaching several years ago are common. They didn’t just happen to me because I was a non-native speaker and super nervous. It’s good to know that I was not the lone sufferer.

2. CI can be prevented or reduced by the display of immediacies and positive motivators on the instructor’s part. If I send wrong signals to the students, appearing cold, aloof, arrogant, or negative--when in fact I’m just tense and insecure—they might interpret my behavior as CI and react with their share of CI.

3. The first few days of a semester is very important in setting up the right tone. As Boice aptly puts it, they’re waiting for you to “make the first move.” Be careful, you’re entering a precarious relationship. Once I was given the advice of “be(ing) yourself when you teach,” but that seems far from enough.

4. When CI occur, do not panic. Remain calm, remind yourself to breathe. Here, another advice from Boice comes handy—pause and reflect. So often, quick reactions only worsen bad situations.

5. People are not born a good teacher. It takes years of practice to become one.

Lessons learned from 30 Rock...

My wife and I love 30 Rock. If you haven't seen it, I recommend renting at least a season from Ragtag. It is a show designed to replicate the production of a show similar to Saturday Night Live. Liz Lemon (Tina Fey), the main character, is in charge of production of the show, and must deal with the corporate issues from her boss, Jack (Alec Baldwin), and the drama between the cast and the writers.

In an episode I've seen several times, Liz Lemon tries to give up eating junk food. Her co-worker, though, Pete, actually encourages her to eat the junk food. He claims that junk food is her stress release, and without this stress release, Liz will go crazy. Why? Because she is overworked and overstressed, and must deal with constant negative criticism. Pete himself admits that his own stress release has been taken (drinking coffee alone in the morning and reading the newspaper) and it has had drastic effects - at one point, Pete is sticking thumbtacks in his skin and eventually joins a 'fight club'. He urges Liz not to give up her own stress relief, because he fears what she will do.

This is what came to mind when reading Boice this week. When he stresses letting others do some of the work, I began thinking of my own past experiences where I would take on more work than I could handle - in fact, one quarter I started out taking 28 credit hours, two of which were advanced econometrics, and one of which was a studio art photography course. Needless to say, I was overworked and grumpy until I ended up dropping a couple of courses to a manageable load.

As an instructor, I believe we need to pace ourselves, and, at times, ask others to do some of the work, so that we don't end up like Pete and poking ourselves with thumb tacks to relieve stress (or turn to other unhealthy stress releases). One time, my own mentor (who I think may even be a little too slow-paced, but he's older) asked me to go watch his car when he parked illegally while he spoke with a student. Forty-five minutes later he came down and was surprised that I was still there. He was in no hurry, and figured I would simply leave after too long. This is the opposite extreme, as I was way too nice, but nonetheless, this guy does know how to delegate.

Long story short, I think the Boice is on to something - rather than turn to unhealthy stress releases, I think we should learn both to say 'no' when we are overbooked and to delegate to people who are willing to help. I'm now simply reiterating Boice, but hopefully the pop-culture reference made this more fun to read.