I don’t believe that the relationship between students and teachers is inherently negative, however the power dynamic between students and teachers cannot be denied. This power dynamic can lend itself to a somewhat adversarial relationship; students yielding to the demands of the teacher out of necessity can create natural feelings of contempt. In terms of […]
power
My New “Best Friend”
During the first week of class, I was immediately aware of some behavioral issues that honestly made me dread teaching every day. Students would talk over me, question my presence in the classroom, and roll their eyes when I assigned free-writes or homework. The initial behavioral problems got better after conferences, and I was able […]
Solidarity
I keep coming back to the same idea: each person as the expert of their own life. Only the individual can say what they feel, want, need, what’s best for them, why, and who they are. To apply this to the question of the most powerful impact of a first-year writing course (or any course, […]
Identity in the Classroom
What makes me different from all of my students is that I am older than them and from a different generation. What makes me different from some of my students is that I am a brown trans person from a working-class immigrant family. These differences are facts, not in my control. The extent to which […]