Extra credit to anyone who can read my mind right now, I said, and a student said, Seriously?
I didn't hand out any extra credit this morning but I did give a student an imaginary gold star for guessing what I was asking for when I wrote WWTD on the whiteboard.
My first-year seminar class has reached the point in Tara Westover's Educated where young Tara has to seek help her reach her educational goals. She goes to office hours to ask a professor how to improve her performance in class, asks a friend for tutoring, gets her pastor to help her apply for a government grant, and even submits to her roommate's instruction on the importance of washing her hands after she uses the bathroom. (Because yes, she was that clueless.)
On Friday my students will start learning about the complicated process of creating an educational plan and selecting classes for next semester, so today I wanted to draw connections between what they were reading in Westover's book and what they'll be doing in planning their own educational goals. So I asked them to write down specific educational goals for the short term (passing that next chemistry exam, for instance), medium term (getting into a major class next semester), and long term (studying abroad, getting an internship). Then I asked them to get into groups, talk about their most challenging goals, and then answer the question I wrote on the board: WWTD?
Does anyone know what this means? I asked, adding, I doubt it since I just made it up.
That's when I offered extra credit for mind-reading, and they fumbled toward an answer: Who Wants To Dive, What Would They Do, What Would Timmy Do--and then I said, Close, but not Timmy.
What would Tara do said a voice from the front row. (Gunners in the front row, as usual.)
Gold star! (Except I didn't actually have any gold stars.) What Would Tara Westover do if faced with the challenges you've been discussing? And where can you find that kind of help here?
They came up with great answers, so at least for today I know they know how to use campus resources. Will this result in a sudden influx of students coming to office hours? If so, I need to top up my supply of gold stars.
2 comments:
I guessed it before even getting to your third paragraph! (probably my eyes saw the name Tara without me being conscious of seeing it - though I like to think that I just remembered what book you were reading). I would say that I would be your ideal student, but.. maybe not... since when I was at school my english teacher made possibly-not-very-positive comments about my brevity in written work. Anyway, you have cheered me up - here in france they are talking about how important it is we train students how to use AI effectively as it will be important in their future working lives... - so it is nice to hear that someone somewhere is still getting (or at least trying to get) students to think for themselves. thanks, Cath.
Happy to help. We are getting the same message about equipping students to use AI, but so far it hasn't been particularly relevant to this class. On the other hand, I've had to spend a ridiculous amount of time deciphering student handwriting because of all the in-class writing I'm making them do....
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