Observation: Kevin Cassell

English 297: Survey of Later American Literature

Submitted to Professor Matthew Hofer, English 593.

25 April 2006

Monday, 24 April 2006, 7-8:15 PM

By Liz Smith, Graduate Student in English

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Summary: I entered the classroom, Mitchell Hall 105, at approximately 6:50. Twelve students were present, all of whom were women. Most of the women were involved in a conversation. A couple of students shot curious glances at me as I settled into the desk farthest from the door. Fifteen students ultimately showed up: 13 women and two men. After a little while there was a lull in the conversation. “What time is it? “one woman asked. “7:01,” the woman sitting next to me answered. A brief discussion ensued about whether or not class could be cancelled, but since no one had received any e-mails and there was no sign on the door, the students concluded that class was on. Mr. Cassell arrived at 7:04, according to the watch of the woman sitting next to me. I suspect, in fact, that her watch might have been running a bit fast, but I didn’t have a watch on me, and the clocks in Mitchell Hall are completely unreliable. I had no way to be sure.

Mr. Cassell began with business. He proposed that the next week of classes be a free week, in which class would not be held but students would meet with Mr. Cassell individually to discuss the class and their upcoming papers. He asked for feedback from the class; when a student raised his or her hand, he called on him or her by name, sometimes even by their full name. The group agreed that having one-on-one meetings would be better than full-class meetings.

Mr. Cassell then did something no instructor I’ve ever observed has done: he had me introduce myself. I told the students who I was and why I was there, and one student (whose name, I believe, was Kirsten) gave a brief plug for Mr. Hofer’s African-American Modernism class next fall. Mr. Cassell then called roll, then began class in earnest. The students had red Toni Morrison’s short story “Recitatif” for class, and he divided them into small groups—three groups or four and one of three—to answer their choice of three questions.

While the students worked on the questions, Mr. Cassell had individuals come talk to him one by one to schedule the next week’s conferences. I sat with one group and listened to their discussion, glancing around me from time to time at the other groups. I was told by the aforementioned woman sitting next to me that the previous class meeting had consisted of a lecture on Postmodernism. All of the groups appeared to do a great job staying on task. Once Mr. Cassell finished setting up appointments, he and I took a few minutes to discuss the class.

Reaction: It seems odd to say this in reference to observing a class, but I had so much fun in Mr. Cassell’s class. His rapport with his students is amazing, and he seems to have struck an excellent balance between student-centered learning and teacher-centered learning, and between entertaining his students and teaching them important information. I learned a lot in this class, and I believe the students did as well. Indeed, they were taking a more active part in their own learning than one often sees in undergraduate classes: during a discussion retarding the races of “Recitatif”’s tow main characters, a student claimed that she knew one of them was an African American, and several students called out: “Where’s the textual evidence for that?” Rather than addressing their comments solely to Mr. Cassell, the students were speaking to each other as well. Overall I was impressed by the dynamic in Mr. Cassell’s classroom, and while I’m not entirely sure how well I could duplicate that dynamic in my own classes (for example, my natural introversion seems to preclude that somewhat), I look forward to trying.

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