On Wednesday April 13th 2011, I attended the Kutztown University English Conference in the McFarland Student Union Building. I went to the “Writing Under the Ax” session at 1:00pm in The President’s Room (Room 250). The way the session was set up was there was a panel of teachers and professors and chairs for an audience. I sat a few rows back next to the lovely Miss Vanessa Long. It was funny because we both randomly showed up to the session and neither of us knew each other were attending. The panel ranged from high school teachers, university professors and community college professors.
The first question asked to the panel was “How do you think the defunding of education will affect your classroom?” The panel then discussed the question and they all had a lot to say. I agreed with the majority of what was said. They discussed how if there was defunding there would also be less hiring of teachers. Fewer teachers equal a larger class size. This would be absolutely terrible. Students would not be able to get the individual attention needed. Teachers would have less time for grading and for desired office hours. There will also be less time for student/teacher conferencing time slots during classes because of the larger size. Students would also have less rough drafts of their papers. This is because the teacher will have to grade a whole lot more papers and needs more time to grade. With fewer rough drafts there will be less time to improve your paper or your grade. The panel also discussed that with the budget cuts more and more will start to become online learning. I agree with what one of the panel members stated “I don’t want to be a content delivery machine. I want person to person interaction.” I personally would rather go to a class then have an online class. I enjoy discussing my work with teachers and finding out ways that I can improve.
The panel also brought up the topic of the PSSA’s. PSSA’s are the worst testing ever. Alright…. I lied…. SAT’s and ACT’s are the worst testing ever. But PSSA’s are the worst IN school testing. My favorite part about them was that at my school we got a tiny snack and a small juice carton during breaks. The panel mentioned that there is a possibility of having PSSA’s at the college level. When that was stated Vanessa and I looked at each other with a look of horror. Luckily, we might graduate before that starts! Hopefully we do! Unfortunately, I had to leave the conference a little early. I had to get to University Choir. But overall I was happy that I attended this session. It helped me become more aware about what might happen if/when the defunding happens. Let’s all hope and pray that it doesn’t!
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