I just got home from work and I had a looong day. I had two classes, office hours, and then a meeting with all of the other instructors for my class so that we could go over the test. My kids did fairly well overall. I had an average of 82% and my lowest score was a 60. That’s pretty high compared to some of the other sections, so I’m happy that most of my kids are getting the material. I did a lot of administrative work for my class today, getting ready for the rest of the semester. Hopefully my hard work will pay off.

Before the semester started, I had to do a sample lesson on audience analysis. Part of my lesson was showing a video of a speaker at Harvard. Well, the projector’s lightbulb blew up, effectively ruining my lesson. Today I had to teach the lesson for real. Well, guess what…the video didn’t work again. This time Internet Explorer decided to close for no reason. I felt like I was up a creek without a paddle. Nuts and bolts. Nuts and bolts. I was screwed. At least I had enough knowledge about the topic to do a lesson on the fly, but I was really disappointed. It was going to be an easy day because I had already gone over a lot of the information and so we were just going to watch the video today. It would be a nice, relaxing beginning of the week. Oh, well.

I’m concerned about my grading. Today we had meeting with all of the speech instructors and we watched two different videos of speeches. We each had to grade the speeches and then compare our scores. On the first speech, my grade was significantly higher than all of the other instructors. On the second speech, my grade was significantly lower. The speeches were to be graded, using a rubric, on a scale of 0-50. For the first speech, all of the others’ grades were between 30-35. Mine was a 45. One the second, all of the others rated them between a 22 and a 26. I rated the speech as a 14. I think that the difference between me and most of the other instructors is that I’ve been exposed to a much larger variety of speeches through my nearly decade-long tenure in speech and debate. I’m looking at different things than they are, and I believe that I’m looking for more practical performances. Or maybe I’m just way off base.

Today was the first day of speeches in the class I’m teaching. They all seem to be doing fairly well. There are a couple of concepts that I want to go over again because they don’t seem to be understanding them, but it’ll have to wait until Friday because they’re giving more speeches on Wednesday. I only got through nine speeches today, so now I have to get through 15 on Wednesday! I’ve filled out all of their evaluations, but I haven’t added up their scores yet. I want to wait to do that until they’re all finished because if I see I’m being too hard or too easy on the ones that went today, I might not grade the same on Wednesday. If I add them all up after Wednesday, then I can adjust the whole class.

I gave quiz number three today. I have had two current events quizzes, but I haven’t had one over the things they’re supposed to have been reading, so I decided it was time. This was a real quiz this time. The first two have been very short and very quick. This quiz was composed of ten questions that actually required evidence of reading comprehension. I’ve learned that these kinds of quizzes do more than just tell me if they’re learning; they also tell me whether or not I’m covering the course concepts effectively.

The average score was between an 78% and an 79%, and I thought a couple of the questions were kind of tough, so I’m happy with those results. I generally want the averages to be between a 75% and an 80%, so this worked out well. Those scores are in the C to C+ range. When the scores are in that range, I know that most of them are getting what I’m teaching. If it’s a bit higher, I know I can teach it a little more in depth. If it’s a bit lower, I know I’m either not teaching it right or I’m talking above their heads.

I also have to look at each question individually. If they all missed the same question, I know I probably need to go over that concept again. If only a few of them missed it, but they all gave the same incorrect answer, I know they’re confusing the concept with something else, so I need to clarify it.

I gave another quiz today. My students did much better, although I believe the quiz was much easier. I asked them to name two republicans and two democrats running for president. The average student got 3/4, although some got none. Most of them named Obama, Clinton, Giuliani and McCain, but I also had a few name Romney and one or two named Fred Thompson. I’m going to build on this quiz because I think it’s important for them to know this stuff. I’m thinking about having them listen to a speech and create what they believe the candidate’s outline was for the speech.

I have a student who is depressed because they miss their home and friends. I talked to them in my office today and encouraged them to join activities on campus. I felt the same way when I went to college, but Sigma Nu and the speech team really helped me feel at home. I hope they feel better about college.

I gave a quiz today. My class made me mad on Monday because they weren’t staying up on current events, which I have repeatedly told them was a requirement for this class. I asked them who Alberto Gonzalez was and I only had two people who had even heard the name. Today, I gave a current events quiz with three questions.

1. What is the name of the public official who resigned on Monday after months of criticism regarding his actions as Attorney General of the United States?

2. To what charges did Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) recently plead guilty, potentially ending his 27 year career?

3. Which country battled wide-spread fires that may have been started by terrorists?

The class averaged an 42%. Only one person got a 3/3, and four people got zeros. What frustrates me most is that seven people didn’t know the answer to the first question after we had talked about it for a while on Monday. None of them were absent, so they don’t have an excuse. Oh well, I can’t force them to stay up on current events. All I can do is make sure they know their grade will suffer if they don’t.

All this week I have been taking a seminar that is designed to get me ready to teach my classes that start next week. I’ve been told that it takes a few hours to prepare for a 50 minute class, and they weren’t kidding! This evening, I have been working on creating my lesson plan for Audience Analysis. I only have 25 minutes prepared, and it took me an hour and a half. I have so much information that I won’t have any difficulty filling the 50 minutes, but it’s difficult to organize it cohesively and know what I’m going to say and know what I’m going to get the class to talk about. It’s now after midnight, and I’m calling it quits for tonight. I’ll finish it tomorrow.

On the upside, I got some things accomplished on my lunch hour today. I turned in my W4, I9, direct deposit form, and I got some other forms filled out and turned in. Now I just need to find a way to get to the health center. They’re only open from 9-11:45AM and 1-4PM. Unfortunately, my seminar is from 9-12PM and 1-5PM. This is a bit of a problem.

I got some more things put away in my apartment, and I got a shelf hung up! I have two more, but I’m going to wait until I know my neighbor isn’t home. I feel bad pounding on the wall that we share.

More later…