Battles of Attrition, Pyrrhic Victories & the Confusion of War: Student Evaluations After a First Year Attempt at Teaching Part II

Most bills that pass are seldom read by even a majority of the legislators who vote on them. [...] Once one understands what the public expects of its legislators, it is no surprise that reading the legislation is of secondary importance to many of them.

-Senator H.L. "Bill" Richardson, from What Makes You Think We Read the Bills, Caroline House Books/Green Hill Publishers, Inc., 1978

Below is the Course Description for English 331, which focuses on American Literature, at my High School:


ENGLISH 331 Credits: One unit per year Weight: 4/4 Course Open To: Grade 11

Prerequisite: English 231

This course is a chronological study of representative American literature. The student, through study, discussion, and analysis, will gain insight into American literature and the men and women who wrote it. The course will include the use of literary terminology and critical analysis as well as the development of vocabulary. There will be a review of English grammar, usage, and mechanics. Students will develop research and organizational skills by writing a research paper. Both written and oral reports on books the students have selected promote independent reading. As part of the school’s School-to-Work initiative, all juniors will participate in a job shadowing experience in a unit that incorporates the use of communication skills that are necessary in the workplace. In addition, this class, to meet the Illinois State Board of Education requirements as a "writing-intensive" course, incorporates the following activities into the curriculum:

1. Writing that is relevant to the subject matter of the course is used as a means to improve writing skills;
2. Writing assignments are given on a regular basis during the time period of the course;
3. Writing is evaluated and feedback is provided using expectations that are appropriate to either early or late high school students as indicated in the Illinois Learning Standards for English Language Arts;
4. Evaluation includes feedback to improve student writing in the following areas: Correct language usage, Organization of compositions, Communication of ideas for a variety of purposes, and Ability to locate, organize, evaluate and use information correctly; and
5. Students address and integrate the elements of the writing process and refine or apply research skills.

Perhaps you will notice that there is no mentioning of "joy of reading," or for that matter simply "reading" in the course description. (For a more in-depth consideration of the relationship between and problem with students and pleasurable reading and an enjoyable read itself, I recommend Francine Prose's Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them.

Excerpt from my syllabus for English 331 this year:

Course Objectives & Goals

The primary focus of this class will be improving our reading and writing skills, i.e. our ability to read and form opinions about the literary aspects of the text, organize coherent and cohesive arguments about the text, and develop a unique writing style that illustrates a confident handling of language and grammar. We will be writing in a variety of styles and for varying purposes, and we will read from a wide selection of texts, which will include at least one book per quarter of your choosing. This class is intended to establish an environment in which you will freely find a life-long enjoyment in/from reading and writing.



Off the top of my head, this year, we read an excerpt from N. Scott Momaday's The Way to Rainy Mountain,  Jonathan Edwards's "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," William Bradford's "Of Plymouth Plantation," Arthur Miller's The Crucible, the chapter on "virtues" from Benjamin Franklin's autobiography, Washington Irving's "The Devil and Tom Walker," Robert Hass's "A Story About the Body," Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants," Russell Banks's "Black Man and White Woman in Dark Green Rowboat," Jamaica Kincaid's "Girl," Valerie Martin's "Death Goes to a Party," Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find" and "Everything That Rises Must Converge," and Tobias Wolff's "A Bullet in the Brain."

English 331 Evaluations:

-Student who writes "12" for expected grade (Does not indicate level of interest in subject)
Course Strengths: Teacher was very easy to relate to & cares about the students, good teacher!
Course Weaknesses: The students weren't behaved and the learning suffered greatly for it.
Instructor Strengths: Knowledgable, relateable, smart, good basics, great first year teacher
Instructor Weaknesses: Being able to control the class
Overall Comments: Great teacher will be missed prepaired the class for the real world of college.

-Student expecting a C with "Some" interest in subject
Course Strengths: It really improved my reading & writing skills & creativity. I have a better understanding of grammar as well.
Course Weaknesses: I find grammar very confusing anyway, so that was kind of a struggle for me
Instructor Strengths: He did a good job with helping me look deeper into stories, write more creatively, & sound more mature in my writing.
Instructor Weaknesses: Have some more creativity with lessons. I got bored easily.*
Overall Comments: I learned a lot in this class and it will help me later in life

-Student expecting a B (Does not indicate level of interest in subject-writes "English 131" for course)
Course Weaknesses: wasnt hard 11th grade english
Instructor Weaknesses: your bad at keeping control of your class
Overall Comments: should have taught more on using (;) and (,) because most people cant use them properly.

-Student with "Some" interest in subject (Does not indicated expected grade for semester)
Course Strengths: we learned how to analyze stories & do good book reviews
Course Weaknesses: nobody actually taking the homework seriously

-Student expecting A (Does not indicate level of interest in subject)
Course Strengths: -group talk--this class made us all bounce ideas off each other.
                              -workshopping stories/Analyzing Everything
Course Weaknesses: we always seemed to be off doing our own thing (HW & stories & IRP [Independent Reading Projects]) than doing things as a class.
Instructor Strengths: Your passion for writing and reading inspired me. You taught us(me) to look at stories/writing in a different way. You knew your stuff! Also you treated us like adults; Not sugar coating everything as if we were little kids.
Overall Comments: The way you see English is unique, or maybe I have never been around that before. The way you take a (story/poem) what ever--And then over analyze it was flat out freaking awesome. In the past year of being your student I have gained so much. Not to be a kiss up, but you & your classes had the most impact on me and my life this year than in the past 2 years of High School. Your teaching methods are great but what got me was seeing that you loved what you were doing which made it enjoyable & interesting! Also your ability to talk for 80 minutes & make it sound like a planned speach, but its not! Also, Also, you gave a feel that you actually cared about what we/I was writing. The comments you left on Journals & papers...& stories were not short & simple. They showed that you actually took the time to read what I had to say & then make relative & some times funny comments. So basically, this class-(Not the students but the class course in general)-was the best I could have had this year. You most definitaly get teacher of the year. It makes me sad that you wont be teaching next year & for underclassmen to get to enjoy your class as I did. So in closing, just know that you made A HUGE impact on at least one student which is Normally every teachers goal...right? haha! But seriously thank you. You are a great teacher & you'll be missed.

-Student expecting A-/B+ with "Much" interest in subject
Course Weaknesses: NOT HAVING THE AMBITION TO READ & DO ASSIGNMENTS

-Student expecting A with "None" and "Some" interest in subject
Course Strengths: Writing was fun or helpful
Course Weaknesses: identifying parts of speech

-Student expecting B (Does not indicate level of interest in subject)
Course Strengths: grammar and writing skills, breakdown of stories
Course Weaknesses: boring*, uninteresting
Instructor Strengths: smart, knew the stuff, very knowledeable
Instructor Weaknesses: went on long rants

-Student who writes "11th" for expected grade with "Some" interest in subject
Course Strengths: got us all involved
Course Weaknesses: didnt learn too much about grammer stuff
Instructor Strengths: helped explain everything better

-Student who writes "11th" for expected grade with "Some" interest in subject
Course Strengths: grammar exercises, writing journals
Course Weaknesses: Reading
Instructor Strengths: Reading in class-stories
Instructor Weaknesses: patience
Overall Comments: I liked this class, it was fun.

-Student expecting B (Does not indicate level of interest in subject)
Course Strengths: learned how to write better, also understanding writing
Course Weaknesses: didn't become much better at writing
-Student expecting B with "Some" interest in subject
Course Strengths: This course got me ready for my ACT.
Course Weaknesses: This course was kinda boring*
Instructor Strengths: knew the information and was smart
Instructor Weaknesses: not great at explaining, got mad too easily.
Overall Comments: good course.

-Student expecting B+
Course Strengths: I learned a lot about writing and reading in this class. It helped me a lot with the ACT.
Course Weaknesses: I felt like we needed to work on grammar a little bit more, and sometimes the class is boring.*

*At a time in the Spring Semester, I really wanted to assign my English, Journalism, and Social Issues classes--the three classes that were required to write far more than the American History class--Wayne C. Booth's essay, "Boring From Within: The Art of the Freshman Essay." I thought better of it, imagining that the consequences of the subsequent reactions to reading--Mr. S called us boring and said our writing sucks--would overwhelm the possibility of the benefits of reading and understanding. Of course this all became moot in considering who would read the essay.