Writing Lab - Between Classes

One of the classes that I am teaching for Advanced Writing has the option to use a writing lab. I thought initially it was a great idea because we had so many short stories, poetry, etc. to get through that I thought it would be very helpful with the grammar portion. Well, in the past week, I have totally lost it because of the representative that I deal with. My husband keeps telling me to speak up about him to the book buyer at the school or the English Department. I keep waiting because I don’t want to get him in trouble. I want to give him a second chance like some of my students.

When I decided to use the program, I asked if he was available over the winter break to visit our store and teach me about the program. He agreed and spent 4 hours with me while my husband waited on customers at our store. I thought that was a lot of time and I was still very fuzzy about the program. But I decided it could be helpful for those students who needed extra help with their grammar and as an introduction to the logistics of citation, MLA style, etc. Well, some students balked at the cost of the program and others were annoyed and confused at the amount of work for the program.

After taking a diagnostic exam, more grammar tools and exercises are individually assigned for each student. I imagine for some students, it was a lot of reassigning grammar lesson for review. There was the star system which meant a video about grammar which when they watched it gave them a 100 % but they weren’t obligated to review the video. And watching a video which gave them a 100% was not to be included in my grading.

So, there were all these loopholes in the program and the computer had to be set up to allow access to the program. I had difficulty; my students had difficulty so I asked him to reset the times allowed for the diagnostic exam. Some of the students complained all their work was lost. I asked him to address some of the technical problems with my class and so he did. He set the dates further back but not without chiding me that the most successful instructors did not waive from their initial plan. Not something that I needed to hear and something that I already understood. What I didn’t understand was why he was not able to teach me how to alternate the dates for the work due for each student and when I asked; he told me that he needed to be in a dark room alone to concentrate on the task and then the computer program would need a day to update.

The second meeting, he didn’t show up or rather he said he did but he came at the end of my office hours and never bothered to enter the classroom but stood outside, or so he said. The third time, he entered the adjunct room just as I was getting ready to leave for my English class. At that point, when he stated that it was better to show me the program and not before my students, I blurted out “Why did you wait till the last minute to arrive.” I was very stressed. Again, he addressed some of my students concerns, and again tried to pinpoint some of the blame on me by suggesting that my altering the course for my students to access the writing lab was not a good idea. At this point, I didn’t need to hear that again. He managed to stall me in the parking lot for another 20 minutes while he discussed how he thought it would be a good idea to come to our business again and discuss the merits of the writing program.

I understand that at most of the universities, they have a week training session to learn about the program, so my hasty ascent was well intended but needed to be modified along the way. I have decided to allow my students until the end of the semester to catch up with My Writing Lab. I still think it is a great tool but I think the representative , even after a year and a half, of selling the program doesn’t have a good understanding of the life of an adjunct or the needs of the English Department. Upon speaking further with him, I found out that I was the only person on ground using the program. The only instructors using the program were from the online program. This told me everything that I needed to know. If the students were with the online department, that indicated more knowledge and familiarity with computers. Something needs to change and I probably will not use the program again but instead will use the book and resume instruction on grammar to the Advanced Writing Class. That beats the odds of only have 7 students enroll out of 18. However being the good student I am that didn’t stop me from swinging by to chat with the full time faculty from the English Department who uses the program but unfortunately, she was not in.