Beanie

Once again (I feel that I start all my blogs off this way), Bean has been most useful this week (though I fear he’s going to let me down soon). One-on-One conferences worry me somewhat simply because of location, time, and intimidation. Because we are all confined to the basement of Tate Hall, it seems that the atmosphere could be somewhat intimidating for the student. On any given day, at any given time there are loads of students in and out room 1 or 6 with 10+ conferences occurring at once. A student that may not be as confident or would really appreciate a quieter; more focused environment could have some real issues with one-on-one conferencing in Tate. A second issue for me is determining what the appropriate amount of time for a conference. I know current instructors that meet with students for 10 minutes each after they receive their 1st submission back, but that just doesn’t seem like enough. Then again, how do you schedule 40 students for meaningful, helpful conferences? Suggestions?
Also, Bean’s explanation of how to conduct an actual conference was very helpful. One issue I did have was creating an agenda during the meeting with the student. For the sake of time, I think it would appropriate to have an agenda already created of the issues that as the instructor you know need to be paid attention to. Another issue I had was the group paper conferences. If it isn’t already apparent I’m totally apprehensive to situations that could be uncomfortable and subsequently embarrassing for some students, such as (too much) group work, any “on the spot” type of activities (such as reading out loud), and group paper conferences. I always hated my work being compared to my peers as a means to critique it, and this type of conference just seems very… bad, for a lack of a better word. I definitely see some of the benefits it could reap, but I also can see how it could be a catastrophe.