Computer Writing and Research Lab | University of Texas at Austin

Semester schedules

Submitted by krdorsey on February 21, 2008 - 11:31am

So, this semester of teaching for me has been very much about doing things on my terms. Don't get me wrong, I think that I generally end up teaching the things that I most want to teach the way that I want to teach them. But at some point every semester guilt seeps in and I find myself doing things because I think-I-should, or someone-thinks-it's-better, or I've-been-told-to. This rarely works out.

I'm not trying to say that my way is better than anyone else's. I'm actually confessing to something much more damning--if it isn't my idea, if I am the least bit resistant to it, I can't sell it to my students.

For personal reasons, I promised myself this one semester of no guilt, and the results have been mixed, but it's been interesting. The thing I want to mention here is the syllabus schedule. The first place I taught, we were encouraged to give schedules for each paper project. So, if you taught 4 essays a term (which we did--4 essays, all revised at least once, in 10 weeks. Brutal), you would give 4 schedules, one at the beginning of each paper cycle.

I didn't like that so much. I found that I had trouble keeping an eye on the overall arc of the course and always was struggling to fit in the final paper at the end of term.

Here, I always felt like I was encouraged to give a tentative semester schedule, or at least a half semester schedule. So I have done that for the last 4 years. But that REALLY doesn't work for me. I'm always behind, I'm always changing paper dates (which I feel terrible guilt about) and I always feel that students see this as a failure of organization on my part (which it might, in fact, be).

But this semester I gave due dates for papers in the policy statement and NO schedule. On Tuesdays I provide an agenda for T and TH's classes, and homework for Thursday and the following Tuesday. I warned my students that they should set aside an hour of homework time for every class hour per week and told them that I knew that sometimes there would be a little more work than that, and sometimes a little less.

The jury is still out on how my students feel about this system, but I LOVE it. I'm on the schedule I've laid out for myself for the semester. I haven't had to change any paper dates (and it doesn't look like I'll have to). I find the whole system more flexible, and at the same time, more effective.

I wonder how others deal with their schedules----?

»

my ideas!

Submitted by Ljones on February 21, 2008 - 11:37pm.

I find that I teach much better with my own ideas as well. I think there's a lot to be said for thinking through your own assignment (or policies). It's hard to penalize students for things you didn't actually care about in the first place.

For instance, I used to harp like a crazy woman about passive voice. Somehow in 398T I got it into my head that it was extremely important. Now I only go over it with a student if I think that using active verbs would be the best way to fix their clarity issues. I don't circle every last "is" like a complete hypocrite! I used to hate trying to avoid using the passive voice in my comments.

As far as semester schedules, I made a complete schedule of their reading and writing assignments at the beginning of the semester. The syllabus is on the website, and I warn the students not to print it out. Whenever I change the syllabus, I tell them about it in class, but I also urge them to double-check the syllabus on-line before each class.

I find that planning each class in advance helps me a lot. Instead of scrambling to figure out what to do in each class period, I more of less follow the plan I've laid out for myself. This semester it's working especially well because the reading assignments are only about 20 pages each day. That way I have time to do a couple of things per day. For example, last week we discussed the reading and then did a workshop where the students revised each other's sentences for clarity. The first activity was planned in January, and the second was a response to student work.

I've also tried writing the syllabus one unit at a time. I still give them the paper dates at the beginning, but only give a detailed syllabus for the unit we're presently working on. That never seemed to bother them.

»

A constantly changing syllabus

Submitted by boudreault on February 21, 2008 - 1:14pm.

I am so glad you posted these thoughts. I grapple with a similar issue. At the beginning of the semester I think every detail through and put together an organized syllabus. But then three or four weeks into the semester the dynamics of the class force me to revise the schedule, adding a reading and writing assignment, pushing back the first essay, or slowing things down to go over trouble spots the students might have. But the students cling to the original schedule like its their lifeline and get really upset when I change due dates. So that's when I end up feeling guilty.

Last semester I started telling students what we'd be doing that week and then next, much like you described in your post. Except it hadn't occurred to me to let the students know at the outset that that would be the structure of the class. I also like how you tell your students what to expect in terms of how many hours of homework per class.

I'm still working out the balance between putting together a detailed enough schedule for the students to understand what they'll be responsible for but that also allows enough wiggle room for change as the semester evolves. So I have nothing to offer in terms of what I do with my schedule. But I really like your approach to a situation I'm also dealing with. I'm looking forward to seeing other posts on the subject.

»