marking

I have almost finished marking students' assignments. Five to go. All up it has been an interesting experience for me. There are 124 students in first year so the marking of each assignment takes time. I especially like the last assignment because, although it is a demanding one, most students do a good job of the analysis of talk and interaction.

There were some great transcripts and some excellent analyses of these. For me, the detailed attention to classroom talk provided a nice balance to the prescriptions that current literacy programs involve i.e.the ways in which teachers and students bring about lessons was a salient reminder that participants in lessons bring them about, not programs.

Home talk was also well addressed by those students who chose to focus on this. Some great little snippets of talk were gathered, for example, talk at bathtime, talk when cooking the evening meal, and talk about the day's doings.

Well done everyone. Have a well deserved break.