Nearing the end...

The semester is almost over and this new format has brought some amazing rewards and some struggles. 

I'll start with the amazing: these students can write! Alejandro brought tears to my eyes as he wrote about life in his shoes; Enrique's take on nationalism was incredible. The sheer talent and the raw emotion that these students put into their writing is beautiful and I am so lucky to be able to be a part of the process.

Now for the struggles: I hadn't anticipated that students wouldn't turn things in. Since they are posting assignments on their own blogs and websites, it is very difficult for me to keep track of any late assignments. Also, since each student has their own design, it's hard to figure out where things are posted and I'm always worried that I am going to miss something. My solution has been sticky notes: if a student turns something in after the deadline, they have to write the assignment title on a sticky note and physically put that note in the inbox. This is the only way I've found to keep track of all of the late submissions.

When I teach this class again, I need to remember to build a cushion week (week zero) into the schedule for routines, blog building, etc. And I've added a week 17 of "one day prompts" to planbook that I might put online, as a final week if time permits.

This class has been a joy and an honor to teach and I'm proud of the design, and proud of my students.

​Write on!