Conferences.

I have held individual conferences all week with my 200 students and I wish that I would've held conferences sooner in the semester. I have found that my students who have been incredibly passive all semester are simply the ones that A.) have no confidence in their abilities and B.) need the most individual attention. Some of my students would've been coming to my office for help with their writing much sooner than now if I would've been the one to initiate the first conference. Granted, I know it is not my job to get them interested in outside help, however, some of these students are second semester freshman who are 18 and don't know how to function inside the university setting yet. I'm learning more and more within the creative writing classroom the balance between the "hand-holding" I normally have to do and the freedom I want to give. My expectations walking into to teaching cw is that these students would be so unlike my comp students, but in reality, every student is about the same. (Even graduate students!) Next semester I am going to require that my students meet with me on their own time at least once in the semester and make it part of their grade.