Last week’s frustration with the
disinterest, as well as the lack of work ethic demonstrated by the students of
the DANCE 107 Survey of Dance Teaching Methodology class, has been replaced
with a clearer focus and intensified determination to get everything I can out
of this internship experience.
Though the last discussion Dora and I
had with the class appeared to be successful with several of the students, we
realized that the information was not reaching the students who hadn’t been
showing up to class. Dora and I discussed the matter a little more after class and
we agreed that Moodle is definitely going to be useful in addressing this
issue. However, we needed to find a way to address communication and accountability
issues with the students immediately.
Dora suggested I create a document to
send to the students, outlining the issues of attendance and personal
responsibility. That is all Dora had to tell me in order for me to create a
document. Because, not only are all the expectations and responsibilities of
the students clearly listed in the DACNE 107 syllabus that was handed out to
each student the first week of class, Dora read the syllabus out loud to the
class, and she kept referring to it for the first two weeks for “those of you
who are new to Glendale College…who may have been late as you figured out
traffic and parking…”
Attendance or lack thereof, is a huge
issue at Glendale Community College. I happen to be enrolled in three classes
at the college. I have been appalled by the amount of students who arrive late.
Some arrive as late as 30-45 minutes into an hour and a half class! Most of the
time, there are at least 1/3 of the seats empty until halfway through a class!
As a student, I have been observing how teachers
deal with the situation of attendance and late assignments. My HEALTH 104 professor, Coach Bryan Ramon,
is very clear about it. When he’s gotten a question about when an assignment is
due, a missed a test, or a missed class, etc., he answers simply: “We’ve gone
over it in class, it’s in your syllabus, if you don’t have it, it’s on Moodle.”
He doesn’t discuss it; he just moves on to the topic. Rob Kibler, my ART 111
professor is even less accommodating. I bet I’ve heard him say the following,
at least ten times: “If you miss class, you miss the handouts. If you’re late,
you miss the information. Tough! Not my problem. If you don’t care, why should
I?” Oh, and if someone looks bored, he has no problem saying “How rude! What if
I came to your house and looked bored like that while you were trying to tell
me something. If I bore you, leave!” I think he’s my hero! J
With Dora’s guidance and support, as
well as the great examples of the two wonderful professors I mentioned, I am
even more motivated to find the most efficient means possible to best
communicate with a younger generation; a generation that appears to have a much
shorter attention span than the people with whom I am used to working. In fact,
I’ve become so motivated I visited the Moodle Education center two weeks ahead
of schedule.
I was able to meet with Connie Lantz, the Instructional
Technology Support Specialist for Glendale College. She set me up with a mock template so I could begin
exploring Moodle’s features. That night, I stayed up until 2am inputting DANCE
107 assignments. It’s an incredibly user-friendly utility. Hopefully we can
have the DANCE 107 class ready before next semester.
In
addition to all the fun I’ve been having with Moodle, I created the “DANCE 107 Survey
of Dance Teaching Methodology Student Responsibilities & Accountability”
and the “DANCE 107 Dance Audition Workshop Notice” documents. I am thrilled to
have secured Jim Keith and Jackie Sleight to give these students a little dose
of tough love and reality! J
I am hopeful the hard working students will
continue to get all the materials they need, and hopeful the less motivated
students will have no choice but to glean some information in the process. I am
certain I am gaining tons of useful information! J
