Now, something I probably neglect a lot in my thinking is the idea of time. The mental stress that being in graduate school has often had this weird effect on the time for me. It squishes the joyful moments and likes to stretch out the bad. But I also think the classroom itself has this weird effect on time as well. I think Fish highlights that the college classroom seeks to do a lot of work in very little time. However, I think something that I seem to be missing from this perspective is how as a graduate student there is little time to myself. I am constantly thinking about how to use the classroom better reinventing ideas and assignments and in-class activities. Every little moment counts, and it is devoted to my studies and my class. There are times where I am like nope today is a day for me to do nothing, however, the majority of that time is still am thinking about class and my job. Now that I think more about time as a resource in class, I am found with a bunch of questions, how do I use time more efficiently? are my class activities too lofty and take away valuable time. I know Fish discusses much more then this in is the first chapter but I could help but hone in on my own time thing. Mainly, cause I have none. So How does one get more time?
Kyle,
ReplyDeleteI feel this so much, and as Margaret also said in her post about how even when she's not doing work, she feels guilty for doing fun things instead. I feel that too as well as what you said. I constantly reflect on the problems surrounding time and labor, especially in regard to disability. For the classroom, time is definitely not perceived in the same way, as you mention. But, for disabled students, time can be even more warped compared to the expectation. Some times students take much longer than to perform a task. Moreover, we as graduate students are juggling so much, and time is a construct of "productivity" (whatever that means). So that brings me to wonder—what would a college look like without a mindset toward "productivity"? without binding us to a construct? without students having to meet preset deadlines for preset terms?
Kyle,
ReplyDeleteI really like the way you describe the changing of time in graduate school. We have this weird dual role as both educators and students ourselves that I feel like is not discussed in terms of mental health. We are put under immense pressure to be both a great student and a great educator. It's truly impossible to satisfy the needs of both identities without spreading ourselves so thin that our mental health is at risk.
As I've been planning out my lessons for the unit I am teaching in my mentor's classroom, I have a sense of panic about not being able to fit everything I need to into the time that I have. We are taught that writing is a process and progress is not a linear thing, but at the same time we are expected to produce students who are at least halfway decent at writing or else our entire program is chastised for not being effective when these students hit their upper level courses. In my opinion, there is way too much pressure put on First Year Composition that doesn't seem to be put on any other department. This is obviously because writing spans across all disciplines whereas something like calculus will only be used in a calculus classroom or related job. Universities need to do a better job of taking the pressure off of graduate students.
Kyle,
ReplyDeleteI like that you explored this concept of time, and when thinking about Fish's text, I can't help but ask, "What am I supposed to do with my time." Fish would say that in the classroom, we need to teach critically thinking & writing skills by "academicizing" the content we explore in order to break down how an argument functions both rhetorically & syntactically. I agree that I should not use my time to stand at the front of the classroom and tell my students to vote for a democrat; however, if I am using decontextualized political content (??) as Fish suggests, them I am doing to address oppression at some point, so so many arguments we encounter are rooted in oppressive assumptions that often go unnoticed. So what should I do instead? Not address those assumptions?
This, so much this! Time and how we use it. The reason what I love Ball State and our department is the freedom we have in teaching the material. I think we shouldn't feel guilty about how we utilize time, as long as our students are learning and participating and collaborating. So what if your assignment is goofy and fun? Each prompt that I introduce comes with a scavenger hunt like role playing game. It takes a shit load of time to create but the students really enjoy spending time with it, especially since I think it makes them forget they're in an English class. Sure, Stanley Fish would ask why I'm wasting so much time playing games with students over prompts, things that they are to read and understand on their own (they don't read them, in case you were wondering). Fish misses the mark so often in his book but, despite all of that, I think he brings up valid concerns that we should all be reflecting on. Time, like you've pointed out, might be one of those concerns. Bethany brings up a good point about time FOR STUDENTS, especially disabled students. Those are things we should be thinking about.
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