From Lockdown Teaching to Pet Lizards: Surprises in the Rising Scholars Program
New Semester!
New Name: We have changed our name to the Rising Scholars Program! The name Rising Scholars is the name being used across the state for education programs inside the prison system. Our program decided (with guidance from the state chancellor’s office) that we would change our name to be in alignment with the state’s programs. RSP for short!
Spring Semester: Last semester felt so hopeful. We got to go inside the prison and teach our students in-person again! It was amazing. We were all so excited to be there: the students and the instructors. There were more than the usual amount of lock downs and cancelled classes, but for the most part, we could conduct our classes face-to-face in the usual way. Sometimes, during a lock down, I went to each student’s cell and delivered their work that way. I could still give them feedback. It was very different and hard to do. Sometimes, I asked them to put their thesis or some other assignment on the cell door, so I could see it and give them suggestions. Other times, they passed me their work underneath the door, and I wrote on it, and passed it back. If the COVID rates were relatively low, the guards let me call students out, and we could work on their assignments for a few minutes on a table in the rec area. It was not ideal, but it was better than the alternative, which was correspondence.
I even met some of my correspondence students! They were very happy to meet with me and to get a chance to go over their work in-person. It was very challenging to give feedback to my students via correspondence, and it was hugely satisfying as an English instructor to get a chance to meet with these students. I fel like I had second chance to help them improve. They could even ask me about some of the material from the previous class. We had a great discussion about Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “The Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” which was not a current assignment, but it could have been since we were reading something else from Marquez. At the end of the semester, one of my students said: He got a C in my correspondence class and he got a B in this class, so he hopes if he gets to take another class with me, he can get an A. I am sure he can!
Some of the literature that the students read last semester used difficult language, and it received some harsh criticism and feedback (completely fine with me — literature is art and art is sometimes offensive), but it was hard to have a discussion about offensive language or cultural context when conducting a class in this way. One of my students wrote me a letter about it. I wrote him back, but it was not as thorough of a discussion as we might’ve had in a classroom. He was a TA in my Latino Literature class during one of my lectures when I was teaching in-person this semester. I had no idea that he was the student who had been so mad at one of my reading selections. After class, one of the other students asked him if he had learned anything in my class that day. He said: Shame. I learned Shame. I said: what?! Then he told me that he felt pretty bad for the things he had said in his letter because he had made some assumptions about who I was and what I was trying to do. We had a great discussion about race, racism, language choices, literature, art, and he went away with a better understanding of what was really going on in that class. I said I was offended by the use of the word as well. He could be offended, but if we only read material that used inoffensive words, we would not be able to read a lot of work, and we would miss out on the other techniques those authors were using or inventing, and other messages that they had to say as well as understanding the historical period in which they wrote. I was so grateful that I had the opportunity to talk to him about it.
Things about Students that surprised me: This semester has started with a two to three week lock-down for all California State prisons. Two of my classes have moved to correspondence for these two weeks. Two of my other classes has decided to start next week in the hope that the numbers will go down. The numbers did not go down, so they have also asked to move to correspondence. I am sad about it, so I am going to write a list of all the things that have recently surprised me about working with this population.
- Some of the students have pet lizards in their cells. I overheard one of my students say: My cellie accidentally killed my pet lizard yesterday by laying down on it. I’m gonna miss that guy,
- My students thought I sent their work to the writing center for feedback in order to make sure that they were doing their work. I am not sure why they thought that, but that was definitely not the case. I wanted them to get the same help that the students on the main campus receive. I was happy to let them know that this was not a punishment or a way to check up on them, but a way to help them. It surprised them.
- They play D&D. Some of them do not like Pathfinders. We had a huge discussion about the differences. Then they quizzed me about my nerd knowledge. I am not sure how well I did.
- One of my students did not want to do the Midterm Scavenger Hunt for the extra credit I was offering and refused to believe that I did that activity with my students on campus because I was making it “too easy.”
- One of my other students refused to guess on quizzes if he did not know the answer. I could not convince him that guessing was okay.
- I overheard another student discussing Nietzche.
- They are very competitive and always want to know how they are doing compared to the students on campus.
- One student: You get an A for the class and a B for Love in the Time of Cholera.
- A few of my students are starting a book club! I am so proud of them. They said it was inspired by my class because one day someone said that this class would be so much more fun if they didn’t have to write essays and could just discuss the book. It would actually be more fun for me too because I wouldn’t have to grade anything! They decided to start a book club focused on material that would be advantageous to other incarcerated students. I read their proposal, and it looked really great. I hope it is approved.
Well, that made me feel better!
New Semester!
New Name: We have changed our name to the Rising Scholars Program! The name Rising Scholars is the name being used across the state for education programs inside the prison system. Our program decided (with guidance from the state chancellor’s office) that we would change our name to be in alignment with the state’s programs. RSP for short!
Spring Semester: Last semester felt so hopeful. We got to go inside the prison and teach our students in-person again! It was amazing. We were all so excited to be there: the students and the instructors. There were more than the usual amount of lock downs and cancelled classes, but for the most part, we could conduct our classes face-to-face in the usual way. Sometimes, during a lock down, I went to each student’s cell and delivered their work that way. I could still give them feedback. It was very different and hard to do. Sometimes, I asked them to put their thesis or some other assignment on the cell door, so I could see it and give them suggestions. Other times, they passed me their work underneath the door, and I wrote on it, and passed it back. If the COVID rates were relatively low, the guards let me call students out, and we could work on their assignments for a few minutes on a table in the rec area. It was not ideal, but it was better than the alternative, which was correspondence.
I even met some of my correspondence students! They were very happy to meet with me and to get a chance to go over their work in-person. It was very challenging to give feedback to my students via correspondence, and it was hugely satisfying as an English instructor to get a chance to meet with these students. I fel like I had second chance to help them improve. They could even ask me about some of the material from the previous class. We had a great discussion about Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “The Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” which was not a current assignment, but it could have been since we were reading something else from Marquez. At the end of the semester, one of my students said: He got a C in my correspondence class and he got a B in this class, so he hopes if he gets to take another class with me, he can get an A. I am sure he can!
Some of the literature that the students read last semester used difficult language, and it received some harsh criticism and feedback (completely fine with me — literature is art and art is sometimes offensive), but it was hard to have a discussion about offensive language or cultural context when conducting a class in this way. One of my students wrote me a letter about it. I wrote him back, but it was not as thorough of a discussion as we might’ve had in a classroom. He was a TA in my Latino Literature class during one of my lectures when I was teaching in-person this semester. I had no idea that he was the student who had been so mad at one of my reading selections. After class, one of the other students asked him if he had learned anything in my class that day. He said: Shame. I learned Shame. I said: what?! Then he told me that he felt pretty bad for the things he had said in his letter because he had made some assumptions about who I was and what I was trying to do. We had a great discussion about race, racism, language choices, literature, art, and he went away with a better understanding of what was really going on in that class. I said I was offended by the use of the word as well. He could be offended, but if we only read material that used inoffensive words, we would not be able to read a lot of work, and we would miss out on the other techniques those authors were using or inventing, and other messages that they had to say as well as understanding the historical period in which they wrote. I was so grateful that I had the opportunity to talk to him about it.
Things about Students that surprised me: This semester has started with a two to three week lock-down for all California State prisons. Two of my classes have moved to correspondence for these two weeks. Two of my other classes has decided to start next week in the hope that the numbers will go down. The numbers did not go down, so they have also asked to move to correspondence. I am sad about it, so I am going to write a list of all the things that have recently surprised me about working with this population.
- Some of the students have pet lizards in their cells. I overheard one of my students say: My cellie accidentally killed my pet lizard yesterday by laying down on it. I’m gonna miss that guy,
- My students thought I sent their work to the writing center for feedback in order to make sure that they were doing their work. I am not sure why they thought that, but that was definitely not the case. I wanted them to get the same help that the students on the main campus receive. I was happy to let them know that this was not a punishment or a way to check up on them, but a way to help them. It surprised them.
- They play D&D. Some of them do not like Pathfinders. We had a huge discussion about the differences. Then they quizzed me about my nerd knowledge. I am not sure how well I did.
- One of my students did not want to do the Midterm Scavenger Hunt for the extra credit I was offering and refused to believe that I did that activity with my students on campus because I was making it “too easy.”
- One of my other students refused to guess on quizzes if he did not know the answer. I could not convince him that guessing was okay.
- I overheard another student discussing Nietzche.
- They are very competitive and always want to know how they are doing compared to the students on campus.
- One student: You get an A for the class and a B for Love in the Time of Cholera.
- A few of my students are starting a book club! I am so proud of them. They said it was inspired by my class because one day someone said that this class would be so much more fun if they didn’t have to write essays and could just discuss the book. It would actually be more fun for me too because I wouldn’t have to grade anything! They decided to start a book club focused on material that would be advantageous to other incarcerated students. I read their proposal, and it looked really great. I hope it is approved.
Well, that made me feel better!
New Semester!
New Name: We have changed our name to the Rising Scholars Program! The name Rising Scholars is the name being used across the state for education programs inside the prison system. Our program decided (with guidance from the state chancellor’s office) that we would change our name to be in alignment with the state’s programs. RSP for short!
Spring Semester: Last semester felt so hopeful. We got to go inside the prison and teach our students in-person again! It was amazing. We were all so excited to be there: the students and the instructors. There were more than the usual amount of lock downs and cancelled classes, but for the most part, we could conduct our classes face-to-face in the usual way. Sometimes, during a lock down, I went to each student’s cell and delivered their work that way. I could still give them feedback. It was very different and hard to do. Sometimes, I asked them to put their thesis or some other assignment on the cell door, so I could see it and give them suggestions. Other times, they passed me their work underneath the door, and I wrote on it, and passed it back. If the COVID rates were relatively low, the guards let me call students out, and we could work on their assignments for a few minutes on a table in the rec area. It was not ideal, but it was better than the alternative, which was correspondence.
I even met some of my correspondence students! They were very happy to meet with me and to get a chance to go over their work in-person. It was very challenging to give feedback to my students via correspondence, and it was hugely satisfying as an English instructor to get a chance to meet with these students. I fel like I had second chance to help them improve. They could even ask me about some of the material from the previous class. We had a great discussion about Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “The Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” which was not a current assignment, but it could have been since we were reading something else from Marquez. At the end of the semester, one of my students said: He got a C in my correspondence class and he got a B in this class, so he hopes if he gets to take another class with me, he can get an A. I am sure he can!
Some of the literature that the students read last semester used difficult language, and it received some harsh criticism and feedback (completely fine with me — literature is art and art is sometimes offensive), but it was hard to have a discussion about offensive language or cultural context when conducting a class in this way. One of my students wrote me a letter about it. I wrote him back, but it was not as thorough of a discussion as we might’ve had in a classroom. He was a TA in my Latino Literature class during one of my lectures when I was teaching in-person this semester. I had no idea that he was the student who had been so mad at one of my reading selections. After class, one of the other students asked him if he had learned anything in my class that day. He said: Shame. I learned Shame. I said: what?! Then he told me that he felt pretty bad for the things he had said in his letter because he had made some assumptions about who I was and what I was trying to do. We had a great discussion about race, racism, language choices, literature, art, and he went away with a better understanding of what was really going on in that class. I said I was offended by the use of the word as well. He could be offended, but if we only read material that used inoffensive words, we would not be able to read a lot of work, and we would miss out on the other techniques those authors were using or inventing, and other messages that they had to say as well as understanding the historical period in which they wrote. I was so grateful that I had the opportunity to talk to him about it.
Things about Students that surprised me: This semester has started with a two to three week lock-down for all California State prisons. Two of my classes have moved to correspondence for these two weeks. Two of my other classes has decided to start next week in the hope that the numbers will go down. The numbers did not go down, so they have also asked to move to correspondence. I am sad about it, so I am going to write a list of all the things that have recently surprised me about working with this population.
- Some of the students have pet lizards in their cells. I overheard one of my students say: My cellie accidentally killed my pet lizard yesterday by laying down on it. I’m gonna miss that guy,
- My students thought I sent their work to the writing center for feedback in order to make sure that they were doing their work. I am not sure why they thought that, but that was definitely not the case. I wanted them to get the same help that the students on the main campus receive. I was happy to let them know that this was not a punishment or a way to check up on them, but a way to help them. It surprised them.
- They play D&D. Some of them do not like Pathfinders. We had a huge discussion about the differences. Then they quizzed me about my nerd knowledge. I am not sure how well I did.
- One of my students did not want to do the Midterm Scavenger Hunt for the extra credit I was offering and refused to believe that I did that activity with my students on campus because I was making it “too easy.”
- One of my other students refused to guess on quizzes if he did not know the answer. I could not convince him that guessing was okay.
- I overheard another student discussing Nietzche.
- They are very competitive and always want to know how they are doing compared to the students on campus.
- One student: You get an A for the class and a B for Love in the Time of Cholera.
- A few of my students are starting a book club! I am so proud of them. They said it was inspired by my class because one day someone said that this class would be so much more fun if they didn’t have to write essays and could just discuss the book. It would actually be more fun for me too because I wouldn’t have to grade anything! They decided to start a book club focused on material that would be advantageous to other incarcerated students. I read their proposal, and it looked really great. I hope it is approved.
Well, that made me feel better!
