catscradle

The class I'm teaching is going well so far. At least it is for me, hahaha! Actually the first week went rather well for all of them. There was a technical glitch that ate some posts, so all the instructors were told to give the students full credit for anything posted to the dicsussion board that week. I had some students really go out of their way and do a great job, so I wasn't happy to give the slacker students the same grades, but what are you gonna to do?

Now I'm having an issue with half the class not paying attention to the due dates. I put them in the syllabus and in the weekly agenda, so they can't say they didn't know when the assignments were due. I wouldn't think it a huge issue as they simply won't receive full credit, but half the class - that's a lot of grading to catch up on when I was hoping to have it done today.

I'm also having a tough time getting them to leave the confines on their own heads. Some (3 out of 22) have been really great about incorporating the text or outside sources into the discussions, but most are still just posting their personal uninformed opinions. Not good in a diversity class. I really don't care what side they come down on, as long as they can show they're gathering information and informed when they answer the questions.

If there's anyone out there that knows a good way to convince people that reading is good for them, please let me know.