--I've been intrigued by how many students enjoyed peer editing. If I was a student, peer editing would be one of my least favorite things because I hate group work, and I wouldn't be getting much feedback that was useful. But students who did comment on peer editing talked about how much they enjoyed seeing what other students were writing about, and some of them talked about how peer editing helped them get to know their fellow students. Duly noted--I'll continue peer editing and experiment with peer editing in my 102 classes.
--I had far fewer students complain about my no cell phones policy. A few said they appreciated having a time when they were less plugged in. I am much more committed to my no cell phones policy than I was 2 years ago. I've gone even further in that I rarely allow students to use laptops or tablets. Students have plenty of time to use their devices. In my classes, I want them to use their brains and their hands to record notes.
--Many students liked my adopt-a-tree assignment, which I used in both English 100 and 101 classes. They may have been telling me what they thought I wanted to hear, but their assessments seemed genuine. They talked about being mystified at first, or even angry about how the tree assignments have nothing to do with college--but then they talked about the skills that they honed (description, writing directions, deep observation), and a few talked about how those skills were useful beyond the assignment.
--I put creative writing assignments in every class, regardless of whether or not it's a creative writing class. The students who commented on these assignments talked about how much they liked them both for the sake of creativity and for doing something different and for inspiring them to think about writing differently. Again, they may have been telling me what they thought I wanted to hear, but for the most part, I don't think so.
--I am surprised by how many students I have had this term who want to be writers--not content creators, not influencers, not TikTok stars, but writers like the ones we've studied. You might say, "Sure, of course, you teach creative writing." But the creative writing students were just a small number of the total students who talked about wanting to be stronger writers, not just to be better writers so that they could get better grades. Many of them wanted to continue their creative writing.
--One of my creative writing students wrote about how I had reignited her interest in being an English teacher. She wrote passionately about her desire to teach in middle school or high school. I felt happy about that, about being an inspiration as a teacher, not just as a writer.
--I want to remember that I occasionally would leave a class thinking that it had been a failure (especially with peer editing, which never goes as smoothly as I'd like) only to find out that students had a very different experience.
--I have become even more committed to having a daily writing grade, most of it done by hand. It's a practical way to end the class, and it lets me know what students are learning. I've created larger projects that have them revise the daily writings. It helps us talk about AI, about how it might be useful and how it's not. It ensures that students are doing at least some writing on their own.
I feel very lucky to have had such a great semester with so many students who seemed so open minded and happy to be in class together. I feel fortunate beyond words to be at a small, liberal arts college with increasing enrollment. May this good fortune continue!
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