From what I’ve gathered from the very first day of teaching—very few freshmen want to take English 101. It’s a requirement, a GUR, and a five-credit course that must be taken in the first year of college. For my class especially, it’s extremely hard to get them motivated to do assignments, and I’m often greeted with groans and eye rolls when I ask the class to do an assignment as simple as a freewrite. I don’t necessarily blame them. I mean, I too was that freshman who rolled her eyes at certain assignments and often gossiped to my classmates on how terrible a class was.

I think for my class, the greatest impact I can have on them would be acting as a mentor and an approachable individual for questions and concerns. I don’t have a problem with attendance in my class, nor do I have a problem with students turning assignments in. In order to have a lasting impact on them, I can’t rely on standing in the front of the class and lecturing, or even teaching them fun exercises that I come up with myself.

When freshmen enter their first year of college, they’re often scared, nervous and concerned with making friends and starting college-level classes. And sometimes, as the quarter progresses, they don’t feel like they have an authority figure to confine in (at least that’s what a few freshmen have told me). Because of those concerns, I’ve structured my conferences on really learning about the lives of my students rather than just explaining where they are in the class. I’ll ask them how the dorm life is, when they’re visiting their family next, and any pets they might have. These questions almost immediately put them at ease, and I continue asking similar questions until I see them comfortable enough to start talking about the class.

I even tell some of them that I was an undergrad at Western as well. In a lot of cases, my students instantly light up and start asking me what classes I took as a freshman. During the conferences yesterday, I bonded with a lot of my students by talking about terrible professors in certain departments that they’re dealing with this quarter, and I took the time to scroll through classfinder with them as they prepare for winter quarter.

I really enjoy being a mentor to some of my students and I think I was able to successfully bond with a lot of them during conference time. I don’t really know what this does in terms of an ideal classroom, but all I care about is putting my students at ease and having them comfortable enough to approach me with questions for the future.