And at the 32nd Hour, 4 Weeks, I Now Await the Final Projects. Phew. What a Thrilling Ride

Let's not take a full 4 hours tonight, but...Okay...let's take as much time as we need.

Last night, my graduate students presented their research that we packed in during the last four weeks using a retro, self-study, fill-in-the-gaps methodology in response to Covid-19. It may have been an ill-suited sequence for a research course, with the need to be adaptive and supportive, but I think it was a tremendous success.

Retro. There was no way to collect data in 4-weeks, given everyone is on home-stay, schools aren't open, and the clock moves too fast. I'm not sure if it is a methodology, but I made it one. Students chose tableaus, memories, artifacts, lesson plans, etc. that they experienced the last semester, then designed...

Fill-in-the-Gaps. That is, they asked, "What else can I learn?" by adding surveys and interviews to take their research question further. This, of course, came as a result of a literature review, data plan, and now the findings.

Phew. Data. Data. Data.

4-weeks. And they rocked it. In fact, several of them need to take their research presentations on the road, beginning with a departmental presentation to NAME and SHOW where our University program lacks in preparation. I'm all for this. They lived the work and their scholarship, in action, is calling out where student needs are not being met. Go them.

One of my students used the UNLV YA Literature Summit as a data point, attending 16 presentations, including a Keynote by Matt de la Peña, which he highlighted in his study. For over a year, he's been working with YA literature to flood reading experiences in his classroom and to show his department how choice, culturally-relevant literature, dialogue, and youth-centered practices improves the reading of high school students (this, in position of traditonal, canonized texts). Using a 10th grade class for the trial, and comparing them to the 11th and 12th graders he also teaches, he is proving, once again, that YA-centric classrooms quadruple the reading of adolescents. They read more, they participate more, they enjoy more, and they grow more. He used Matt's story of being a reluctant reader, but also an example of a kid who told the author he loves his books because they're about basketball. When Matt asked the kid for his 5 favorite parts, the kid described 5 scenes that had nothing to do with basketball. The author proved his point.

When we promote student interest in the classroom, they walk away with so much more than just the plot of a single story.

So, it's time to put on my CWP summer hat, as we begin next week and my buddies and I planned abundantly late last night. Yes, I still have to grade, but I'm okay with that because these graduate students rocked and I'm super-proud of them for what they accomplished (patting myself on the back, too, that the feedback I'm getting).

The engagement was real and pure. I went to bed feeling slightly satisfied.