Faculty Spotlight - Janet Willman

English Instructor SouthShore Campus “Memorization is what we resort to when what we are learning makes no sense.”

Capital Course: I enjoy teaching ENC 1101 the most. I enjoy having students tell me that my instruction is helping them succeed in other courses. I also know that I am making a difference when a student tells me that he or she wishes my class was taken first because what I am teaching would have helped. Ideal Ideology: Learning occurs when students feel safe, when students are not afraid to give answers even if the answer might be incorrect. As an instructor, it is my job to provide that safe atmosphere. Once that atmosphere has been established in my classroom, learning can occur. In this environment, I provide students with instruction that will help them succeed in any course and in the business world where oral and written communication is a necessity. Teachable Moment: I had a student in my ENC 1101 class who plagiarized a paper. I talked with her, and she admitted it was a student’s paper from an earlier class of mine. I gave her a zero for that assignment, and advised her to do all of her own work in the future. I was very surprised to find that she signed up for my ENC 1102 class this semester. On the first day of class, she told me that she had signed up for me again because even though she had done the wrong thing in the previous class, she was completely comfortable with me. I had treated her with the same respect I had before she had cheated. She said she knew I didn’t hold grudges and would not hold it against her in this class. I think this demonstrates the safe environment I referred to early. She felt safe enough to return to me even though she knew I would be checking everything she wrote. Student Success: In my ENC 1101 class, on the first or second day of class, I give students a topic for a sample essay. I make comments on them just like I would any other essay written in that class. But I keep them. Near the end of the semester, I give the students the same topic again as an in-class writing. Once I grade them, I staple them to the first one they wrote and hand both back. The students are thrilled to see their progress. There are such drastic differences in the two pieces of writing. I have so many students thank me for doing this because they say it really shows their progress and it builds their confidence for future classes. Techno Tool: I use Blackboard to post PowerPoint presentations, missed notes, tips of the week for writing assignments. The students complain when I forget to post. Optimized Advice: Be active in the course. When I teach an on-line course, I am in the course shell five days per week. I have a discussion board every week which forces students to be active weekly. Because I am present in the course on a regular basis, fewer students are skipping out on assignments. If there is nothing for me to grade or respond to, I find out who has not logged in that week, and I send them a friendly email. Many instructors will put complete responsibility on the student. But I find myself encouraging students in my face to face classes to be on time, participate, be timely with assignments, and online, is no different in my mind.