blog, week 6:

Friday April 9, 2011

Assigning homework has become an issue, made specifically apparent by the results of this week. Despite the fact that I thought we were being clear, those who did homework for the most part misunderstood what was expected, and those who have done homework in the past failed to do their homework for this week - due to other classes. In the real world, that wouldn't fly, we would face consequences - and yet in this setting, given our situation, I feel like I have no other choice but to shrug it off. Victor appears to be of the picture, and the last thing I want to do is drive more people away. It simply comes down to the fact that if they choose to not do what is required of them, I can't do anything for them. I cannot hold their hand and we have no time left to make up for it, really. It is very disheartening to see the simplest of requests unfulfilled, but I knew to expect it this going in.

To his credit, Mikey did his homework wonderfully. He is consistently on top of the game, and I appreciate his dedication so much. Luis is also doing great; it is just that instead of rewriting his scene in summarization with dialogue, he summarized the scene in sentences and paragraphs. That is probably on me for not explaining clearly enough. This is reflected in Bruce's work, who began (it appears) to rewrite his scenes word for word, instead of writing out a new scene in his own words. Because he didn't show up last week there was no chance for us to explain again and fix this.

We are now facing a crunch. I feel that Gabby and I will have to rewrite scenes that have been done incorrectly. Everyone gets a second chance by writing the Act 4 and 5 scenes, but since we will only receive them this upcoming Friday, we cannot help them mend anything if they're not done properly. We will have to take the work into our own hands. Since Gabby will have to skip April 22 nd because of religious reasons, I fear that there will be no time at all now for practicing for a performance. If we had April 22 nd, we would have had two weeks with a full script - at the moment, we have not even half a script for this week, and then we'll have a full script (hopefully) for April 29 th. But then the performance is set for May 6 th, and I fear that to ask the students to practice when we're not there would be impossible - they would probably not get it done, especially since they don't all live near each other.

One solution might be to have Gabby and I act as narrators for the play. Scenes that aren't necessary to act out could be told in summary by us, and then the students could act out the most vital scenes (or complete scenes that we have). This could cut performance time… possibly.

Unfortunately I am at a loss for what could be another alternative.

I am apprehensive about Sherry coming to see our class, only because suddenly I feel that things have become chaotic. Everything I hoped we might accomplish before May 6 th now seems nearly, if not unattainable. As Joe's email to Gabby and I stated, we cannot work outside of the period we have agreed to meet our students - this restriction is so very costly and frustrating, since we are both willing to make up for the lost time in some way. It is sad that in this way we are just as equally confined as our own students by a seemingly unforgiving system.

 

Joe Lockard said...

I wonder about the realism of using 'outside' educational techniques and associated expectations with students who are 'inside.' The low levels of educational attainment in prison populations represent, after all, at least partially the inefficacy of those same normative educational methods. So adaptation is very useful as a teaching skill. I think you and Gabby are doing just fine on adaptation! I agree that the limitations we face are quite constricting, especially as the students do not have anything else to do with their time. However, it takes going to the education director and making special arrangements in order to create another facility schedule opening, if that is indeed possible. As always, we do what we can. If we cannot attain everything we might desire, then we have still done a lot. That is already visible from your description of your students and their work.

 

<< previous week | appendices | next week >>