The first few weeks are usually a heavy lift to build trust with students and to invite their authentic selves into the classroom. I know it’s difficult for many of them to stay or even get motivated with their classes and it’s not actually their fault. It’s unclear why they are required to take certain classes in the first place. In my courses, I strive to create space for students to experiment with their own ideas without the stress of grades or high stakes assignments.

The first day Rachel and I decided to combine classes. COMP II and EMW are linked courses and we are both very interested in collaborating. We want to do things differently. I think it went well. First we got to know each other and then we read “Letter from Home” by Kiese Laymon- it was one of Rachel’s suggestions and I thought it was generative and raw and a good representation of autobiography (we will be exploring this genre later in the semester). Rachel prompted students to get deeper into the text and I noted the broader sociological elements that structured the piece like medical racism, social identities, policing, and imperialism.

We also agreed to have a joint course site on CUNY Academic Commons instead of having two separate brightspace shells. I shared with students my ethical stance on brightspace and why we would not be using it in our course. It’s also a heavy lift to get students to create their accounts and get used to using the course site- we want them to use it at least once a week to write a weekly reflection blog. In our next week of EMW classes we talked about the system of grading and the politics of reading together and got more specific about the structure of our course. I hope that students take the invitation to bring their thoughts and ideas into the space of our classroom and being to trust that this is a safe place to take risks, make mistakes, experiment, and be creative. I look forward to learning from them and from this experience.