The Second Week of Class

This is where the rubber meets the road, so to speak. I begin to use the WSJ in class this second week. Now for a more detailed description of my main classroom use of the WSJ.

I begin each class by asking a student (selected at random) what article they have selected from the WSJ. They must select articles from editions published since the last class session, but that day's issue is not an option because many students would not have had time to read it. The student announces the article title, date, and page while the rest of the class turns to that article in their copies. The student then gives a brief overview of the article, tells the reason for selecting that article, the relationship to course material or topics, connections with previous articles we have discussed, etc. Then I and/or fellow students ask questions, offer comments, or mention related articles. If other students have prepared the same article, they can chime in as well.

The grading is easy. That is very important to me as an assistant professor with many other demands! I keep a class list in my textbook for just this assignment. As the students discuss an article or immediately after, I note write down the date and a check mark if they presented at an appropriate level, or the date and a 'no' if they were unprepared. If they are absent (unexcused) that day, no points. At the end of the semester I assign the points for this exercise based on the percentage of times they were called and prepared times the total points allocated to this exercise. (If they were prepared every time I called them, they are assigned all the possible points. If they were prepared half the times I called them, they are awarded half the possible points.) I am more lenient in the beginning of the semester and ratchet up the required level of discussion, analysis, and application as they become more accustomed to the discussions.

I have to tell you that it does not always go well in all of my classes initially. Some of my students or classes struggle to read and present an article well. I will talk more about this as the semester progresses.