Last week Shruthi sent me multiple emails: first, how she had mistaken the deadline for the essay (even though it is clearly written on the syllabus and the assignment sheet I’d given her); then, she sent me an email asking if I’d received her essay, claiming she’d already sent it but that she’d been having problems with Gmail recently, so it was possible that it hadn’t gone through; lastly, that her computer crashed and she had lost the file. I do not believe that Shruthi is being honest with me. Worried that she’s not taking the class seriously, when I met with her on Wednesday I very pointedly reminded her that if she continues not to turn assignments in by their due date, she will not receive credit for the course. Prior to our meeting she had produced an outline of her ideas for the essay, but I saw proof that she had not in fact previously written the essay in that her ideas were still very muddled. At our session, we reviewed her outline. She admitted she was still confused on cap-and-trade strategy but wanted to talk about it in her essay, so we went back and re-read that section in the article. After re-reading, she understood it, and I emphasized the importance of re-reading as necessary. Next she began to write the essay with my assistance. She struggled to formulate a coherent wording of her thesis, so I just asked her, “What are you trying to argue?” and her verbal articulation became the thesis statement, which she was able to refine once it was written down on paper. Then we got started on the first paragraph. With that beginning, she seemed to have picked up some momentum and was optimistic about continuing. I urged her to be in touch with me should a problem arise during the writing process. We have agreed to meet on Monday to review her draft.
This week Chimuanya and I discussed the Baldwin and Woodson articles and reviewed over her first thought letter. She had some syntactical and grammatical errors, so I had her read it out loud, and she caught on to most of them by herself. We talked about how reading one’s work out loud is a great strategy during the editing process. Chimuanya’s biggest issue was not knowing the difference between commas and semicolons, and so she had used them rather interchangeably. After I explained to her the difference, she picked up on her errors and was able to correct them without my help. At the end of our session, we went over the assignment for her first essay, and talked about how she might approach the essay structurally. Chimuanya is a motivated student and a pleasure to work with; I look forward to her first draft next week.
Ali,
I’m somewhat concerned about Sruthi’s evident reluctance/failure to take this course seriously. Your approach with her is sound. When you and I met this week I’d like to talk about the point at which you’d like me to intervene, and whether that is a good idea. I think perhaps we should discuss my dropping in this week on part of your class session with Sruthi; it would send a message that this is a course for credit, and that I am backing you up. But I want to talk this over with you first.
Looks like things are going much more smoothly with Chimuanya.
Thanks for your support, Lynne.
I have the impression that Shruthi is on a better track now, but if she slips up then I think we should take the measures you outlined.
I’ll keep you posted.