Those Willing to Seek - A Joy Narrative.

I had three individual student conferences yesterday.  Two were awesome from the giddy-up, but one took a while to get going.  The difference between the appointments became obvious to me today. 

When a student makes an appointment with me, I always ask them what they would like to address in the first moments after we get seated.  I want them to articulate their concerns before I hit them with any I may have.  The two immediately positive appointments I had were students who were meeting with me BEFORE an assignment was due.  They had their ideas down on paper, a rough draft in hand, and we were able to mold and shape their work proactively.  I always finish appointments by asking them if they have any additional questions and if the appointment was helpful.  In both of these cases, the answer was a resounding, "Yes!"

In the other appointment, the student was meeting with me AFTER an assignment had been passed back.  She was disappointed with her grade and wanted me to address those concerns.  I have no problem walking through my justifications for grading, but this particular student was on the serious defensive.  As I worked through the introduction and the thesis statement with her, she kept saying, "I still would have kept that." 

"Okay," I said, "that's fair.  I'm simply telling you what I see in the paper.  You're the writer, the piece is yours."

"My peer reviewer said it was fine." 

"I understand that.  I think peer review is important, but you have to understand that they are student writers too." 

"Okay," the student said with a sigh.  Arms crossed across her chest, she was a picture of defensive posture.  I felt bad for the girl.  She had worked really hard on the essay.  She went to the Writing Lab twice in an effort to hone the paper, but it still needed work.  By the end of the appointment, she was a little more open to feedback and she promised she would rewrite it.  I promised I would regrade it. 

The difference between the first two students and the last is a simple one.  The first two are actively seeking their knowledge and the last student is working for a grade.  The first set of students brightens my day.  I love working with them on brainstorming, thesis generation, honing their thoughts and ideas, giving them form and structure.  They love to see their work evolve.  They are still working for the grade, but the energy is on the front end.  They know they have to work for it and that kind of enthusiasm is contagious.  If they want to succeed, all students need is a willingness to seek it out for themselves.