Summer is certainly here. Today and tomorrow will continue the 95+ degree temps, heat advisories, and all-around uncomfortableness. Barely into June and we have our first heat wave. I’m not a fan of the heat and humidity for sure, but usually I’ll tolerate it OK. This year, however, it’s a bit early and given how cold and rainy May was, this heat feels that much hotter…that “Bermuda high” doesn’t want to leave us alone here in Eastern PA.

I’m particularly preoccupied with the heat today because it’s the second week of Directed Self-Placement. Today, Wednesday, and Friday I will be taking 200+ incoming students through the process of choosing their first-year composition courses. The week happens to be the largest sessions of the summer. Based on past experience, the room we hold DSP in will get hot and stuffy. And yes, I sweat. Yuk.

We’ve altered the session this year a bit. First, instead of one big session every twice or three times a week for the month of June, this year we’re doing TWO sessions a day twice or three times a week. So far the double-session has worked out pretty good. It’s nice having fewer students in each placement session–I mean, I can actually see all of the students I am talking to. The comparison to class-size is unavoidable here. In the bigger sessions, there are gaps in the room so to speak. That is, it’s much more difficult to connect to students and hold their attention when you are speaking to a room of 200-250 students. Today, Wednesday, and Friday I will probably have 110+ students per session, which will be a little improvement. I am just hoping the smaller numbers (compared to last year) will cut down on the heat in that room. It’s bad enough I’ve got to walk across campus in-between sessions in the sweltering heat…if that room is hot, I’m gonna be a big ball of sweat.

The other thing we’re doing differently is that we are cutting the usual 5 minute video presentation (which includes the university president and two faculty members talking about the importance of writing) and replacing it with some time to hear “student perspectives” on taking college composition. DSP is part of Kutztown’s Connections orientation program for incoming students and there are usually about 15 or so students–the Connections staff–that staff the sessions, help get students where they need to go, put on presentations about the student experience at Kutztown, and generally serve as peer ambassadors for incoming students. During DSP, the Connections staff helps me by passing out the surveys, answering new students questions when they can, and collecting and counting the course selections at the end of each session. During the “training” session this year, one of the more veteran Connections staff suggested that it might be good for new students to get the “students’ perspective” on their composition courses–since, after all, they’ve been through it.

I thought it was an interesting suggestion, but one that comes with a caveat. During that training session, it became clear that there is a sub-group of this year’s Connections staff that is clearly anti-ENG 022. That is, anti-Introduction to College Composition. For example, a few of the Connections staff suggested that they were “scared into” or “knew students who were scared into” taking ENG 022 because of my Directed Self-Placement presentation. One student relayed that their advisor even told them that ENG 022 was a “waste of time” because it “did not count” for anything–a statement not even accurate (and for this I blame the advisor, not the student–ENG 022 counts as a general education elective). So, as I read it, part of the reason for wanting to present the “students’ perspective” is to dissuade incoming students from taking ENG 022. And, based upon last week’s sessions, that reading seems to hold true. In each session, at least one of the Connections students has spoken out against ENG 022 to “represent those students who were scared into taking it.”

This poses several interesting issues. Last week I described this situation as “subtle guerrilla warfare” against ENG 022 (and, obviously, my presentation of the importance of writing). However, I also know that part of my presentation (and of the presentation when Janice and Walt were doing DSP) has strongly emphasized the difference between high school and college-level writing. And to stress the seriousness of our college composition courses. So, I don’t doubt that I may have made some students nervous–”scared”–about college writing. And, some of those students may have chosen ENG 022 because they were scared. After our first session this year, I was tempted to “defend” ENG 022. I have since decided to take a different approach–especially after re-reading an article by Dan Royer and Roger Gilles about their approach to Directed Self-Placement. I decided to simply emphasized the importance of each students thinking carefully about their own reading and writing histories after hearing the presentation. After all, DSP is based on the principle that students need to take responsibility for their educational choices and that given enough information and opportunity to ask questions and self-assess, they will generally make the right choice (at least in terms of their college composition courses).

So that’s where we stand. My one concern is for the “at-risk” students coming to KU. What kind of impact will the new anti-ENG 022 discourse have on those student’s choices? Will fewer students choose ENG 022? If so, will we see more failures in ENG 023? We won’t know that until we run the numbers. But, the choice is still left to the incoming student. As long as I keep on bringing us back to that basic principle–that each student needs to think honestly and carefully about their past experiences and practice with academic writing–then we are in good shape. We will see.

One of the by-products of having the Connections staff included in the presentation is that they are taking on part of the responsibility for incoming students’ choices. That is, if there is a strong anti-ENG 022 discourse that persuades incoming students not to take ENG 022 and then some of those students go on to struggle in ENG 023, then part of that responsibility falls on the Connections staff. That is, a new student could come back to one of the Connections staff next semester and say “I thought you said I wouldn’t have a problem in ENG 023?” That’s what I need to be a little cautious about…I think I need to make those lines of accountability clear in my presentation as well.

Anyway, those are my morning, it’s-already-72 degrees-at-7am ramblings. When I get a chance, I’ll have to post more about some of the stuff I am reading now–English Studies and a book I just got through inter-library loan (and will order for our library now) Cogs in the University Classroom…the latter fits well with my robot themes of late.

Tags: composition, connections, directed self-placement, heat wave, kutztown