I had set my first-year composition students to work writing about their personal goals when a student raised his hand and asked, "Are we allowed to use first person?" Part of me wanted to point out that it's really difficult to write about our own experience without using I, but mostly I wanted to celebrate: He knows what it means to write in the first person! He's not an ignoramus!
Of course I don't expect my students to be ignorant, but on the other hand, we've been warned that this year's first-year students have faced educational disruptions during the pandemic and may have arrived on campus woefully unprepared for college-level work. On the other hand, maybe their pandemic experiences built their resilience and self-regulation; maybe they were forced to strengthen just the kinds of skills that will serve them well as independent learners. I mean, who knows? It would be a mistake to draw conclusions prematurely about what kinds of students this past year has produced. I'd rather see some evidence first.
Based on the evidence I've seen so far--two first-year classes first thing in the morning, two upper-level classes later in the day--all I can say for certain is that they were all present and followed directions. I did have to remind a few students to pull their masks up over their noses, but otherwise they were model students. But they all have reading and writing assignments due Wednesday, which will provide more evidence about essential skills like reading and writing and following instructions.
As for me, I'm already worn out after only one day of classes and I still have to stick around for a department meeting this afternoon. I put up some new photos of my grandkids in my office to infuse the place with youthful joy, so now I can get to work reading my students' first-day-of-class writing while surrounded by happy grandkid smiles. There's nothing to despair about today, but ask me again in a couple of days and I'll be the first person to let you know.
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