To: Tenure Committee Members: Kay Ostberg, Donna Tufariello, and Kim Goudreau

CC: Thompson Brandt

From: Kate Perkins
Date: May 2, 2014
Re: Reflections on Spring 2014 Semester Objectives

As the semester comes to a close, I would like to reflect on this semesters courses and the effectiveness
of my original semester objectives.

Part 1: Overall reflections on the semester

Overall, I am again pleased with this semester. I made strides in areas where I needed to make
improvements in all of my courses. I tried many new techniques and assignments. There are still
adjustments to be made, but I am happy with my courses this semester.
COMM 090
The Not-So-Good: I tried a hybrid version of COMM 090 this semester. I dont think Ill teach a hybrid
090 again in the near future because of some struggles my students faced with technology. I should
have anticipated the challenges and discomfort 090 students face with technology, but I didnt. I fear my
students got so wrapped up in their discomfort with technology that they were not able to focus on the
course material and ultimately building their writing skills. I had an even-larger-than-normal number of
withdrawals this semester.
The Good: The students who persevered through their technological difficulties did well in the course.
The format of coursework on Monday and Wednesday and application of skills on Friday was a valuable
pattern of organization for this level of students. Also, I again enjoyed a relaxed yet engaged
atmosphere in both of these classes. At one point this past Monday, I had a student ask a question, and
before I could answer, another student answered him. Then, the whole class had an impromptu
discussion about the concept that these two students lead. It was a rare and wonderful moment! That
type of interaction has become something I look forward to in both of my COMM 090 classes this
semester because the students are engaged and comfortable voicing their questions and opinions.
ENGL 121
The Not-So-Good: I had a challenging group of 121 students this semester. They were quiet and difficult
to engage. I struggled to find ways to engage them in their learning process, and Im not sure I ever
succeeded. I found that the course went at a much slower pace than normal because I consistently re-
taught concepts that were not received well the first time. Overall, I was frustrated at the outcome of
the class as a whole and feel that the semester could have gone much better.
The Good: I learned a lot about how I plan to structure 121 classes in the future. One of my mentors at
my previous job told me once that we teach writing, so why arent we making our students write more
than were making them listen or discuss? I remembered that comment this semester as I wondered
why my students werent making the progress I wanted them to make, and I have decided to make my
course much more writing-intensive during each class. I also implemented a reflection process that I got
from Tracy, which had some excellent results. I will continue to use that process as I move forward.
Overall, Im satisfied with my plans for revising my class.
ENGL 122
The Not-So-Good: I still need to work on pacing in this course. I am much more pleased with this
semester than last, but pacing is still the largest issue. I cant seem to find time to give proper attention
to evaluating sources, MLA, and incorporating sources while also giving proper attention to formatting
and writing strong arguments. Ive been focusing more on source use, but I need to give more time to
argumentation, too.
The Good: I had two excellent groups this semester, and they helped to make relaxed, engaging
classrooms. I felt that I could encourage hard work without coaxing, cajoling, or threatening, which is
awesome! I felt far more comfortable with the course and the material this semester, and Im finding
that the quality of the projects has improved. I would like to think that results from better course
content on my part, but much of it is also great students.
Part II: Reflections on major goals set for Spring 2014

I had success implementing my goals for this semester. Though I could have made more progress, the
progress I made had a significant impact on my courses.

Enhance my classroom management skills to reduce distractions and disruptions I was less
tolerant of classroom disruptions and made a conscious effort not to ignore or let students
police their peers. I still had disruptions, but I think there were fewer than last semester. I had
one memorable student from last semester who was good-natured but ultimately disruptive.
We spoke privately one time, where I assured him that I wanted him to succeed but he needed
to respect himself, his classmates, and me by being appropriate. He was much better behaved
after that discussion.

I have to admit that I was fearful that being more stern about classroom distractions would
disrupt the relaxed and open atmosphere of the classroom, but the choice to speak privately to
disruptive students seemed to work nicely. They were not shamed by a public reprimand, but
they were generally less disruptive after the conversation.

I am still trying to learn how to handle students with questions that are off topic or ill-timed. I
had much of that this semester in COMM 090, and I still need to work on fielding those to
minimize distractions.

Diversify skill-building activities to promote learning in all styles This goal was the one I felt
the biggest need to focus on. As with classroom management, I have more work to do, but I was
pleased with the progress I made. I was unhappy with group dynamics in most of my classes, so I
implemented many more quiet-individual and active-individual activities in the classroom. My
most useful was a revised form of peer review for essays. I first had students reflect quietly on
their own essays while assessing specific components. Then, students found a single partner and
assessed his or her draft for a single component. After an allotted time, students found a new
partner and assessed his or her draft for a different component. (Each partner was required to
move to a new location in the room to find a new partner.) The activity went on until each
students draft had been assessed for all of the components I asked for. Students gathered far
more peer comments than a traditional group peer review, and they were far more engaged in
the process of peer review. The process utilized individual work and group work, and it appealed
to visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners. I mention this activity because it fulfilled this goal
while also being very simple. It required nearly no planning or preparation. It was just a smarter
version of my normal activity. I will continue to build smarter activities as I move forward.

Promote revision and self-guided learning outside of the classroom I achieved the least
progress on this goal, though not for lack of trying. I envisioned using technology to achieve this
goal because learning outside of the classroom, particularly in groups, is difficult without
technology. I have been in contact with Michael Skwara about peer review capabilities in
Turnitin and Moodle. As of now, there are not easy-to-use options for peer review in either of
those software. Michael assures me that the new Moodle and Turnitin upgrades slated for this
summer will make peer review available for students and classrooms, which is very exciting. I
will report back after I use these options in the updated software.

I did make some progress with this goal, however, so all was not lost. I used several forum
assignments in Moodle for small writing components like thesis statements. Some students
mentioned to me that getting feedback from several peers at the planning stage of the writing
process was helpful, so I will continue to use these types of assignments.

The reflection assignments I mentioned in the ENGL 121 section also worked toward this goal.
Students were required to at least view my comments in Turnitin and assess their progress. I
used this type of assignment in COMM 090 to help students prepare for their exit exam, too,
and a student said that the assignment was, Hard but helpful. I take that as a win.

Im pleased with the progress I made toward my goals and am overall happy with the way the semester
went. I will continue to work on these goals while adding more for the fall. I have several new projects
and plans for the fall, and Im looking forward to them. Ill keep you updated as the summer and fall
progress.