It's a wet, grimmy day outside, so I was looking forward to using it to catch up with grading. Then I saw the bulletin board post and several responses. CJ really went after the entire concept of the literacy narrative assignment in very explicit language. If he had sent it to me that would be one thing, but he posted it to the bulletin board for everyone to read.
That choice of his put me in a dilemma: do I take it down and deny him an open forum, which several of the other students have seen, or do I leave it up? For right now, I left it up and responded to it--after three sips of coffee and two pats on the dog's head. I also responded to several of the other students--all of whom were supportive of me. But, gee, I don't want them to have to take my side just because one guy didn't read the assignment and decided to let'er rip.
Some of these students are so conservative that I'm concerned that they will think I should purge the bulletin board. Actually, in the one case, I'm afraid that CJ will go after her on her email, which I can't see. She's a Mormon and let everyone know is, so I can just image what he might say.
This type of stuff is so time-consuming and counter productive. I think about what the guy down the hallway said about not being able to have a provocative discussion in class. Instead, students just bail for a "that's my story and I'm sticking to it" position. I guess we shouldn't be surprised when I read some of our own faculty's comments on listserv. Geez!
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