Goals for 2011

I'm still pondering my goals for the coming year.  Sixth grade teacher and tech guy Josh Stumpenhorst (@stumpteacher on Twitter) has his goals all laid out, and they are

Josh Stumpenhorst

1. Getting more of his colleagues on Twitter.
2. Spend less time plugged in
3. Create more tutorials
4. Run a half marathon
5. Become a recognized Jedi
6. Email or call five students' parents a week
7. Start writing a book
8. Expand his Personal Learning Network
9. Writing more grants
10. Read more than he writes, listen more than he talks, and solve more problems than he complains about.

For his complete post, read here.

Writing and Living with Flair

Very interesting blog post about a college writing teacher who not only encourages her students to write with flair but has resolved to live with flair.

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How to Develop Questioning and Curious Learners

Ever hear of College Unbound?  Touted as a program "designed to harness the passion of students," College Unbound connects "students with live-learning (internship) experiences that are rich with working knowledge and building skills, students become immersed in their learning.


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Time for a new approach for training community college writing teachers?

Interesting piece in USA Today by Inside Higher Ed's Scott Jaschik regarding university programs that are supposed to prepare teachers to teach writing at community colleges

In the piece, it's pointed out that regarding hiring writing instructors, community colleges

• aren't content to hire literature doctorates who are applying for composition jobs at community colleges because of the tough job market for new humanities Ph.D.'s.  (Note: Having been on many hiring committees, I've seen a goodly number of candidates like these).
• are looking for someone who has actually been in a community college classroom.

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Of completion rates, pass rates and grades...

I taught two classes of Eng 8 (6 credits each) in the Fall 2010 semester at Leeward CC.  BTW, Eng 8 is the first in a sequence of courses offered at my college.  Though a basic reading and writing class, Eng 8 is quite rigorous, at least that's my opinion and that's the way I designed it to be.

Here's the semester recap:

Section 1 -- 26 enrolled

• N* = 12 (of these, 3 were no-shows; 4 completed the class [i.e. they were still attending class up to the last day and took the final exam; the other 5 dropped out at varying points in the semester.) (*N is our college's equivalent of F for remedial/development courses; however, an N grade does not bear upon a student's GPA).

• D = 0
• C = 5
• B = 8
• A = 1

Section 2 -- 25 enrolled

• N = 8  (of these,  2 completed the class ; the other 6 dropped out at varying points in the semester).
• D = 4  (all 4 completed the class)
• C = 8
• B = 4
• A = 1

Overall:

• 51 enrolled
• 37 of 51 completed the class = 72% completion rate
• 27 of 51 passed (C or higher grade) the class = 53% pass rate

Overall Grades for the two sections of Eng 8

• N = 20
• D = 4
• C = 13
• B = 12
• A = 2

When  I did some poking around to find out about pass rates for community college courses, I discovered a plethora of material about pass rates for nursing exams and the like but not much else except a discussion of how the pass rates might too high by a community college dean.  As for completion rates, the discussion focuses on the rate of completion to earn a degree rather than completing a specific class, though to earn a degree, one will have to complete (and pass) a slew of classes to do so.  Speaking of which, the national goal is a degree-earned completion rate of 50% by 2020.

Well, I have seen 27 students in my classes this semester heading in that direction.