I'm not the world's most dedicated blogger, and I've never pretended to be. I get so caught up in other things in life that I forget to post or lose time to post. Thank goodness I'm not so remiss with my practice. I'm glad I have a break in my grading load today to write. Something has been bugging me.
A few weeks ago, I got back my teaching evaluations from last semester, and for the first time ever, students reported on it that they really, seriously, truly disliked the project I have have them do ever since I started teaching yoga. They were pretty blunt and specific about why. The project is a group project (with at least one other person, but no more than 3 other people) where students work together to put to paper a practice of their own design. One of my goals for them as a class has always been that when they leave me after 16 weeks, they have a good grasp of basic hatha practice and a little background with meditation, as well as being able to construct their own practice.
In the past, while students have fussed at the start of term, they ended up really liking the project, giving great compliments about it on their evaluations. They enjoyed being able to actually talk with classmates, whom they normally just sit next to on a mat and seldom even say hello to. They enjoyed being able to put their favorite flows and poses into one practice, and some enjoyed creating a much more challenging practice than what we would normally do in class. And they REALLY liked that we did all of the practices together (they usually worked in about 6-8 groups, and we had 8-10 practices together after they were due, so we could do them in class and then talk about them).
But not last semester's cohort.
They had been grumbly from the start to the finish, griping about group members, opening fussing at each other in class, sending me emails about how so-and-so wasn't pulling his/her weight (I have a form for them to report this at the end of the project so I can adjust grades, but they had to tell me "right now"). Students who had placed their mats next to each other all term moved, breaking their nesting habits and thereby making other students fussy. I knew I was going to get some backlash, but nothing so strong as what I got.
So that's where I sat, with that in my lap and a heavy heart from it. I had wanted them to enjoy the class, it be their refuge from the rest of their coursework, but no, it had become a really stressful experience. And as a result, most of the practices were so lackluster that we didn't do them in class. Many were very poorly constructed and had to be sent back to the groups... I had them to individual revisions to avoid their having to bang heads again. A weenie's approach I know... I should have had them work out their differences if they wanted an improved grade.
Therefore, I decided to give this semester's classes a choice in whether or not we did the group project. I knew what the results would be before I posted the online surveys.... I expected about 80% to be against, 20% to be for, and that's what I got (exactly that in one class, 85/15 in the other). So I told them we wouldn't be doing it, but that if they wanted to do it for their own personal benefit, I'd offer it as an extra credit project, to make up for that sick day they they had, or to help boost their midterm or final exam grade.
And that's when the surprise came in.
Out of a class of 25 people, 20% would be 5 people.... but 9 have contacted me for the details, from just one class (3 from the other so far). And that's just in the first 48 hours. I suspect when I take the sheets to class next week with the project details, almost all of them will disappear.
They want to do the project, they said.... just not as a group. They wanted it to be personal, just for them, just like the reflective journals are that I have them post for me monthly. Two of the students asked if they could work together, and I obliged.
I was feeling so down about this. I had always thought it was a great assignment. I knew when given the option of "less work" that the majority of students would happily skip down that path, but I never hoped that so many would do it on their own. Anonymously saying you want to do it and actually doing it are two wholly different matters! Two of the students are meeting with me next week to have me go over their practice drafts with them, and I suspect I'll have more....
In the end, if I end up with 50 papers to review and give advice on how to improve, I won't mind. These are young women and men looking to actively improve themselves, to challenge themselves, and that's so much what both yoga and higher education are about. Moments like these are what make teaching worthwhile, regardless of the subject, and it makes me so proud to be a teacher both on the mat and in a classroom. I just wish they weren't so rare.....
