Mixing newbies & returner writing students

Woop woop, I have just noticed that this is the 101st blog entry -- astonishing!

'How do you handle it when you've got both 'returners' and newbies in the same class?' Helen asks. She's started a new course with some who've done one term, some who had a first session before course cancellation, one with her for 18 months and a bunch of students new, possibly even completely new to creative writing.

Yes, big challenge. A compliment to your teaching when students come back for more more more, AND who can ever finish 'learning creative writing'? AND... the returners help to keep the numbers up, so that there can be a class at all. So, congratulations to Helen.

Sometimes as well as this, there's a management extra: at one time, my writing course had an external accreditation (so that it attracted some government funding... financial mysteries beyond my remit and now defunct). After a year or two, the organisation would no longer allow the same course title with students (and me) completing the paperwork for the same credit --- even though they were progressing their writing and writing new stuff each year. So my helpful boss and I devised a solution, which could work for anyone in the 'repeater' situation.

But Helen's other problem is the newbies mixing in with old hands, so I'll address that first. I'm running into the mixed level challenge (but students all new to me) in my current teaching -- but still, that's different to the knowns-and-newbies medley. So what do I suggest?

First -- be upfront and human about it. Warn the (what shall we call them? I'll stick with:) old hands that they will be hearing some of the same jokes, and doing some of the same exercises, and you hope they'll bear with you. Add that As they ARE CREATIVE, and as each piece of creative writing is new, it is good and useful to repeat the exercises.

eg, if it is Character Profile, or even Profile from a Postcard, Monologue, Stimulus Object et cetera -- of course they will be doing it with a different character. So... the writing will be different and they will have exercised even more than before. Similar if the goal is to write a short story or several poems by end of term: of course they need to be new stories/poems, even if from similar starting point. That's what creating is all about. Assure them there will be new content too (subject of next week's blog, to do with solution above).

Then -- you need to gentle-in the newbies as you would with an entirely newbies class, with your (my?) starting creative writing basics -- Bubbling and Chaos Writing (freewriting) (see Matrix book if you don't know what I mean). By using a different stimulus word on the board, and using your pack of word-start index cards/slips of paper, it will still be fun and useful for the old hands.

In the first session or several, don't ask for whole-group reading out. Instead, put people in pairs or threes to share their writing -- much less intimidating for newbies. Try to put old hand with newbies to avoid cliqueiness, and enourage support and new bonding. More next week! BUT ALSO SEE THE 9 FEB BLOG ABOUT FLEXIBLE ASSIGNMENT SCHEME.

Increasing student production rate

Jury's out on my observation. I await the feedback appointment. Unfortunately the observer came for the Shadow part of the session -- always a sticky subject.

Meanwhile: wrapping up our marking creative writing topic with the related issue of getting students to write outside class and hand writing in. Remarkable how so many do not take advantage of getting feedback, who do not use the stimulus and goals to get on and write. I can completely understand a writer not wanting to use precious time and energy simply doing homework for teacher -- we are not in that kind of teaching. So I devised a flexible scheme to cover several levels of writer. It's the Alpha, Beta, Delta assignment.

For the details I refer you to the whole actual description from Creative Writing: the Matrix, which is this term's tutor tip on the book's website at http://www.paxtonpublishing.co.uk A freebie.

Here's another link to look at, with a freebie of sorts. It's the Institute for Learning, which is, as FE tutors, our very own organisation -- very big, recognised and official on over 18 AND UP, UP, UP learning. You kinda-sorta-gotta join if you are teaching in a publicly funded institution (community, prison, as well as FE colleges), because we all have to be registered nowadays. And we have to do CPD -- Continuous Professional Development. http://www.ifl.ac.uk

That's where their freebie part comes in. Turns out that simply reading their monthly emailed On the Agenda news bulletin can count towards your annual CPD requirement. How easy is that!

e-homework, do you?

First of all, try this:

Sun column real reason tip of our own... Our Committee lost our wisdom teeth
and an unfinished of free capacity. Glass Note... a gentle rain, early sense of a shaft of light.
Eternal
old piece of flooding. sky and add Yes we still free.

My last blog entry received a message in Japanese (I assume?) characters. No idea what it says, but Google Language Tools gives the above as 5th of 212 translations. Daren't publish the characters as sent, for who can know (in my lack of language) what it says. One title says Hiroshi customers, the next says Mushrooms Mushrooms.

So, sorry to that commenter, but thanks for the venture into Google poetry. Another translation starts: Pine, wearing morning bath, standing. Another, Sung-dyed piece of yellow gold. Mmm, nice. I do write haiku, so maybe that's the source.

Meanwhile, MoiraG commented back a few entries on the joys of being a student as an aid to teaching creative writing (O Yes). And that set me wondering about 'homework' in our area. My daughter is completing her doctorate in clinical psychology and has to hand in everything in hardcopy AND online -- so they can do accurate wordcount (and maybe plagiarism checks). But that's university for ya. A colleague of mine in adult ed does allow students to send work by email attachment. Myself, I refuse e submissions -- what do you do?

Here are my reasons, as written to a student at the end of last term (having announced and repeated my policy earlier in the course):

(a) why should I have to go to the work, ink and paper-invest of printing it out in my place and my time when I have so much other work and time at the pc and printer

(b) it allows student to send in any old time and feel he/she will get feedback, whereas the time of a tutor at home is spent on preparing for class, and doing feedback on student's work in a planned time to fit the tutor's schedule (the tutor's own writing, other work and life activities)

(c) writers need to learn to meet deadlines and present to parameters set by editors/competitions etc professionally. ie, 'play the game'

(d) it is good writing practice for a writer to print out in hardcopy to critique and revise his/her own work -- to be able to see it whole.

I always only do hand-written feedback on the page, by the way -- when I have once or twice done on screen I end up explaining and nearly editing by way of explaining... can't help it, I'm a writer, I get sucked in. No sir, on the page, puleeeeze.

So am I an old meanie, or what?

Desperately seeking nellie & moira & bryan

Three kind blog-readers posted comments back in January, and I have only now seen them! I thought I'd taken care of my change to new pc, new server, new email address for my blog, but seems it didn't penetrate all the layers.

So I never got the alert and didn't look back to see the comments. Very sorry!! Bryan said re 11 December he's a Nanowrimo veteran and he likes a teacher sharing the journey...

But especially nellie and moira, in January, commented on Writing Students Demand Homework (26 Nov 2008 blog) and asked for the Homework sheet choices and Stuckness prompts I offered.

But now I reveal my total pooterishness -- I cannot figure out how to reach them. So I hope you are looking at this dear bloggees (is that a word?). For them, and for anyone else, the best way to reach me, so that I can reach back to you, is to go direct to my Matrix book Paxton Publishing website, from where there are direct email routes to me. Also, I suppose, by asking you to go to this trouble it shows that you really really do want to get in touch. Or else you can instruct me on blogspot procedurals! Humble apologies.

Writing students demand homework

Back to the present, as it were, my new pc, new server, new email address settling in. I hope. As I was saying, surprise, delight and demand came to me from students last week, in the form of requests for homework.

Maybe writing students have changed, or maybe I'm doing something differently. When I began teaching creative writing and asked students to bring in something done at home for the following class -- and planned a good 15 minutes to hear these and give feedback -- I was sorely disappointed. And left with an embarassing gap in my planned 2 hours.

I've learned since then how to fill sudden gaps (pairs talk on latest writing need etc; or a spot of reflective writing). Still learning: how to give homework on demand.

One class has a lot of new-to-creative writers, new to classes too. Very shy of reading out. So I devised a takeaway sheet with a dozen or so possible scenes, situations or monologues to choose from. These jump off from information and exercises covered so far in class.

For my other class, more advanced and deep into their own pieces, I created '8 Days a Week' -- an envelope for each writer containing 8 slips of paper. Each slip has a starting phrase or a situation, very simple and sketchy because the writers are in completely individual worlds and stages of their work in hand. Instructions: to be used Only for Stuckness. They should really endure and overcome the blank page freeze syndrome for themselves... but I've softened and provided an emergency escape.

If anyone out there wants to know the Homework Sheet Choices or Stuckness Prompts, contact me via comments.