The Essay Dance

Today was the final exam for one of my favorite classes. I've taught sections of ENGL020/021 before, but this group had a little something special. They were responsive and fun to be around, which makes my job as a teacher just that much more fulfilling. Plus, they all seemed to grasp the material (even better).

Part of my final exams is a self-evaluation--just a brief, introspective set of questions asking them what they got out of the course, how much do they feel they've improved, what they felt was most important that they're taking away from the class, and what they wish would have been different. These help me as a teacher, but help them, too. And one of my students wrote, "I'll never forget the essay dance!"

This will clue you in to what kind of teacher I am--i.e. a little on the odd side. But I think that's what it takes, sometimes, when you're teaching a subject that is not necessarily popular with the crowd you're supposed to be teaching. These students are here to become medical assistants and accountants; not write essays for the rest of their lives (as I point out to them, only nerds like me do that). The Essay Dance is a sort of spontaneous thing that happened in class one night early on, as I was trying to explain the proper organization of an essay and how it should wrap up lightly with each paragraph before going on to the next, and then wrap up as a whole in the conclusion. Unconsciously, I began doing a sort of hula while explaining this (perhaps my inner self thought they needed a visual). And thus the Essay Dance was born. And hey, if it helps them remember that tidbit of information, so be it. Let's Essay-Dance the night away.