“Numbers, Narratives, and He vs. She: Issues of Audience in Composition Research”

     I must admit, I never really thought much about how I write when completing a research project. By that I mean voice. In my mind, all research papers, articles, and even encyclopedia entries can be read in the same robotic voice. At least, that's been my experience up to the articles we've read over the last few months.

     My wife once told me about white privilege- certain benefits I experience just by being white. As I read through the second portion of the article dealing with the feminist perspective, I couldn't help but think that I also benefit from male privilege. This might sound ridiculous, but I've never thought of it before. As a white male, there are many perspectives that I have difficulty understanding. Perhaps ignorant would be a better term to describe my position.

zenofzero.blogspot.com

     I realize that as the only male in the class I'm treading dangerous ground. It's an area I'm not qualified to talk about because I've never experienced any issues. I know the mainstream opinion of most feminists now is that they aren't looking for equality, they are looking to tip the scales to the opposite extreme and make men inferior. But the majority are looking for a voice and a fair way to be heard and not patronized. (In brief defense of some men, sometimes "let one of the men get it" is an attempt at chivalry, not chauvinism.)

     I'm not very surprised that Hunzer found students would prefer to be tutored by members of the same sex. If I had to guess, I would automatically assume a female student would feel a male teacher was railroading her, and a male student might not take a female teacher seriously, trying instead to impress her. Of course, news stories about relationships between teachers and students have been all too common, so perhaps same sex tutoring is a good way to cover your behind.

whs.weldre4.k12.co.us

     In regards to mathematics and statistics, SGO's have made it incredibly important for teachers to be savvy in how numbers can work in your favor. We place students in one of three groups (low, medium, high) based on certain criteria (previous year's grades, attendance, a baseline test). Midway through the year, we reassign students to groups based on their performance in our classrooms. It doesn't take a genius long to figure out that if you front load the year with incredibly difficult work above grade level, students will be placed in lower groups. The midway check is given based on grade level material and viola! Students suddenly perform better.

www.comicmath.com

     I recently administered the second round of STAR testing to my students. It's a diagnostic tool used for scheduling and determining intervention. My students didn't really take it too seriously the first time and the second time they had just taken midterm exams. Neither time was an ideal representation of what my kids are capable of. The results were disappointing and has quite a negative impact on my demographic. My struggle is trying to motivate ninth graders who supposedly read on a fourth grade level. Even if the data is inaccurate and the kids are better readers than the results show, they've already defeated themselves mentally.