Fight!

Today, we had a most interesting class. Very few of us had done the
reading, and those of us who did (myself included) had no idea what it
meant. It was not written in English. It was in Theory, which is a
language that looks, at first glance, similar to English. In any case, we
were asked to summarize and contextualize (more jargon) one of these two
articles. We all chose the first of the two. At this point, there was the
"tell me what you found" part of class. We complied. We understood that
article.

Yeah, well the second article was next on the list, but none of us had done
that one. So we sat there like surly junior high students and looked at the
table. This was not appreciated by the prof, who asked continued, pointed
questions, followed by a deep and sturdy silence. I timed one of the
silences. A full minute. Might not seem like a long time, really, but you
try being on either side of the question while the time ticks by. She
finally started to yell. I swear, if I had had the faintest idea what to
say, I'd have said it, simply to avoid the silence. Really. But I had no
idea, so I stayed quiet and avoided eye contact while projecting "gosh, I
really need to think on this" as strongly as I could. The "do not call on
me" mantra echoed through my thoughts, and I was as miserable as the rest of
the class.

With only fifteen minutes left to go (this had been going on for thirty),
she asked us why we didn't want to talk about the article. I guess
professors have to get desperate to ask this. I wish she'd asked it
earlier, because I had an answer. The stupid thing made no sense. It was
written entirely in theoretical jargon, explained none of the statements it
made, and referred to people I'd never heard of as though I'd read their
latest multi-volume masterpiece of theory. We stated as much, gradually,
trying not to upset the already volatile Dr. Guh.

She responded by telling us in that raised, "I'm trying so hard not to yell"
voice, that we needed to speak up about that earlier in a discussion so we
could talk about it. After this, things got worse. Yes. They can indeed
get worse.

She brought up grading, and told us that we had to be at 100% by the end of
things. We had been told continually up to this point that we merely had to
grade 12-14 a week in first reads. There is a 60 paper gap between what
we've been told and what she demanded. We balked at this, and a little
argument ensued. You will be thrilled to note, SR, that I did not
participate and therefore am probably on no one's shit list.

We spent the rest of class and over getting lectured in a threatening tone
of voice (along with the "finger," where the prof stabs the air in
accusation) that we were all going to get horrible grades if we were not
caught up, and that we'd had plenty of time to get caught up. The response
was an overwhelming "Nah uh! Prof 2 said we only had to be within 60
drafts!" It continued, and got uglier, but I won't. You can probably
imagine the tension in the room, and our collective anger. She ended by
telling us that she expected us to email her a concise statement of what we
were thinking we had to do in order to do our jobs.

Now here's my big bone to pick with all this. They told us straight up that
we weren't qualified to grade at all, but that we'd be getting some practice
through the semester. We were getting paid training through the classes.
Then they told us that starting the first day of classes, we'd be grading,
but that we still weren't going to be doing first reads. Then they threw a
shitload of first reads at us that they'd been holding back until that
point. They told us not to worry about the number, but that we were to do
12 a week. Then they told us, better make that 12-14. Then she comes by
and says we have to do all of it, including that which had piled up from
before we were even allowed to grade the nasty things.

Plus, we still aren't qualified to teach according to state law, and we're
teaching a significant portion of the class by grading. This is illegal,
I'm sure.

Well, my email explained that I thought the composition faculty had met (and
I forwarded proof of this meeting) and decided that 12-14 was enough, but do
try to get caught up if you're not already going over 5 hours. I sent along
the email that stated this. People, I'm spending far more than 5 hours a
week doing this. They can't just say when all the big presentations and
projects are due that we need to do four weeks worth of grading in addition
to what we've got, in the remaining three weeks of class. It isn't ethical.
So far, I've been quiet, but I *will* baulk if things go that direction.

That's about it. My dinner is ready, and I'm going to eat and grade.

End.