Response to Time Management

Jessica, I follow a similar Monday, Wednesday structure. Monday we discuss readings and Wednesdays we share work and do writing exercises. Instead of having to talk about everyone's work, I have two or three people volunteer to be "readers." The readers bring in a copy of their prompt for the class and they read the prompt out loud and then we respond to it, usually discussing what we liked about their work and the reader will usually talk at some length about her process in fulfilling the prompt. I've been giving them some challenging assignments based off our readings. Their first prompt when we started prose was to personify an object until it failed, that is until the personification went overboard, became too much, bordered on whimsy. This week they have to write 200 words (no more, no less) on a character, giving the piece a sense of a beginning, middle, and end, and they have to mention the sky. The parameters of these prompts give us something concrete to look at and comment upon. I also think they give us some leeway to provide constructive criticism, since I want the prompt to be a struggle and to fail in some respects. I'm not sure if I'm responding to exactly what you're asking, but I gather that you want class to jump around and have more energy, not to drag on and have intermittent silences. I think class is going to naturally lag in some places. I think it lags more ironically when I have set things to do in class. Perhaps I become less clear-headed or more frenzied when I go into class with an agenda. I think class is more successful when we open up with a general topic of discussion and allow them to talk on that subject for awhile (E.g. character, dialogue etc.) and then we turn to our readings pointing out specific examples in stories that exemplify these subjects. Going into class with a general idea of what I want to accomplish instead of specific goals, I feel like I'm on the same page with my students and can let conversation move organically without forcing the conversation to go the way that I want it to. I also feel more personal investment to make the class interesting instead of giving my students evil looks for not doing the reading and having nothing to say.