English 101 at Ashland

I commented before that a room number change was in process. This is it (just a couple of doors down the hall from the original assignment): English 101-A & 101-RCCPA will be meeting in Bixler 309

School starts in about a month, and I just got assigned to our section last Wednesday, so it’s time to start thinking seriously about our coming semester together. (By the way, all colleges experience these last-second rearrangements—it’s not surprising that Ashland is still nailing things down.) The first rearrangement (possibly) is our room number. I have two back-to-back classes in Bixler, and I have asked the official powers if the classes can meet in the same room so I don’t have to do a lot of shuffling. Watch this space for the latest when they make their decision. (This brings up an excellent point: Before your first day, take a last-minute look at your schedule to learn whether your classes are still where you thought they would be.) What to expect in our course In a way, our English course is like learning to ride a bicycle. There are a lot of tasks you need to focus on, but it is really difficult to separate them ou...

Background Beginning about 1980, we got enthralled by computers, the academic world more than anyone else. We got the idea that nobody would ever write anything by hand again and computers would be our only way of communicating. Ohio public schools stopped teaching children handwriting because they were convinced that everything would be done by machine and picking up a pen would become an ancient, useless skill like churning butter. I see the results of this attitude every semester: If I give a quiz in class, half of the students do not have pen or pencil, and I suspect that they do not even own them. If we do an in-class writing exercise, several students will be shaking their hands in pain after five minutes. You would think they had stuck their hands into a fire. If a student must miss a class session, I get an email with the incredibly insulting question: “Did we do anything in class?” It would never d...

Any good musician, athlete, or artist will tell you the same thing: good equipment and setup are extremely important. They all believe in good quality specific tools, so I’m going to send you to the store. Walmart or Target (or the campus bookstore when we are back in session) should have everything you need. (By the way, I want to keep this project very inexpensive.) Pencils, pens, etc. A couple of common yellow #2 pencils would be a good choice (though you would have to figure out a way to sharpen them). Rollerball pens are also very good for what we are doing. There are several good brands, but I like the Pilot Precise V5 Rollerball Pen (you can get a package of seven in a variety of colors for about sixteen bucks). You might like to buy a single pen and try it out; if you don’t like it, you can try something different. Avoid ballpoints, especially the cheap give-aways from the bank. (The lady at my bank says she always brings in her o...

Years ago, I knew a guy who tried to learn tap-dancing by reading a book. It didn’t go too well. He had the history and the theory (sort of) but not the moves and rhythm. We have the same problem with this blog item: I can share some tips and tricks and tell you of some problems I have faced, but handwriting is a very physical skill and a lot of what you need will come from just watching someone do it (and watching yourself for places you can improve). But we have to begin somewhere, so here we go. Personal disclosure: I wasn’t taught very well either, so I began with two really big mistakes. I held the pen in a death grip so tight that my hand was sore after just a small amount of writing (and I destroyed several cheap fountain pens before I learned to lighten up). Not only that, but I somehow got the idea that the goal was to write very fast. So here is the first rule: Relax! Chill a bit! What we are trying to make Seventy-five or a hundred ye...

A little background Years ago, the in-class handwritten exam was standard in almost every college course. Across Ashland University, we are returning to that sort of assignment, and many other colleges are doing the same, to assess what students can do without ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, or any other machine doing the writing. What do you know? That’s the question we are working on. Here is my advice for doing well on these tests. Before the test It’s always OK to ask beforehand what sort of test it will be. If you are asked to discuss course content (lectures, reading, and so forth), spend some time reviewing your notes. Bring your own pen and paper. Bring extras—pencil points break and pens run out of ink. If your instructor has special requirements (blue book, for example), be sure to bring the right stuff. A good night’s sleep will help a lot. You probably do not want to tank up on coffee. ...

Any time I tell someone I teach college English, I get the same question. Not “How do you get through reading all those papers?” Not “Are students less prepared than they used to be?” Not even “Freshmen are a fun bunch, aren’t they?” No, the question is always “What are you doing about Artificial Intelligence?” It’s a fair question, and it’s being asked on every college campus in the country. Before I get around to answering it, I want to deal with a couple of other questions. Why is A.I. so appealing? I don’t think most of my students sat down in April and said to themselves, “I think I’ll cheat my way through college.” The problem, though, is that many high schools have not done much with teaching students how to actually write things (your teachers may not have known either), and then you get to college and you’re in ...

Right now, most of the world is racing off to buy clothes for the Fall. That’s OK and pretty understandable—you are about to begin a new enterprise and you would like to look your best. As you plan your shopping trips, here are a few things to remember: Your classes are not all in the same building, so several times a week, you will be power-walking from one place to another. You need decent, comfortable shoes. North-central Ohio weather is somewhat unpredictable and can be cold and wet. Those comfortable shoes should be able to survive a bit of snow and water. You would be wise to get a hat and gloves. Whatever style you wore in high school will work just fine here. Even your high school letter jacket. You won’t have that much space to store things; on the other hand, you probably want more underwear than you had in high school because you might not get around to doing your laundry too of...