Angela Morales

Class Notes/ Carnegie Grant

English 189

Fall 2005

Weeks 3 (September 12-September 16)

Objectives

During the second two weeks, I had hoped to fix many of the little problems that had arisen as a result of using Web CT. My main goal was to get the class in a solid routine and to begin to understand the finer points of website maintenance. Moreover, I had hoped to begin teaching grammar, although I have postponed this for another week or two. For week 3, and especially week 4, I decided to slow the pace of the class and focus more of my attention on the writing process rather than the website.

Week 3

This week was more frustrating than anything. It seems that each day this week presented new problems, almost all of them computer related. Some students were not able to sign on to the website, some students could not view their quiz scores, some students had added late and needed an opportunity to go back to the first quizzes. I felt as though I were scattered about into a hundred pieces. Maintaining the website has taken much more time than I’d expected, and by the end of this week, I’d feared that I was beginning to lose control of the class.

One day this week, many of my students could not access their internet from their desks and we lost some valuable time in fixing their computers. Consequently, the class seemed to fall apart, and it was hard to get back on track once that happened. At the end of the week, I was ready to give up on WEB CT and I longed for the simple days of a textbook and a grade book.