History 27 Supplemental Instruction Final Report
Area of Inquiry: Does supplemental instruction led by the course instructor improve
student success and/or persistence?
As the History 27 (U. S. Women’s History) Semester Comparison Chart below illustrates,
the withdrawal rate for this course from Fall 2006-Spring 2008 averaged 25%. There was
a big jump in withdrawals to 35% in Fall 2008, which indicated the need for some type of
instructional intervention. I received BSI funding for Spring and Fall 2009 to support
weekly workshops for my History 27 students that met outside of class. Students received
a few extra-credit points for attendance. Data from Spring 2009 shows the withdrawal rate
dropping below 20% for the first time in years. Approximately 28% of History 27 students
attended on a regular basis, with more than 50% attending at least one or more sessions in
Spring 2009. Student persistence greatly improved from the previous semester (from
9.6% to 21.9%). Student success improved by 3.8% from the previous semester, which
was a bit disappointing as I had expected much greater improvement. This seemed like
very little return for all of the time and effort I put into the workshops.
For Fall 2009, 30% of my students were regular attendees. Eighty- seven students took the
first midterm in mid-September, and eighty-five took the second midterm in mid-October.
My retention numbers have never been so high. I was completely blown away by my
success rate at the end of the semester, which was a whopping 70.9%!! The withdrawal
rate was the lowest it had been in years at 13.9%. I must add that this was the first
semester that I had fully integrated Reading Apprenticeship metacognative routines into
my pedagogy. I believe that this did impact my success and retention rates in a positive
way along with the workshops,
In Spring 2010 I did not offer supplemental workshops, but continued integrating RA
routines into my teaching. The success rate remained very high at 69%, but my withdrawal
rate shot back up to 24% by semester’s end.
Discoveries to Date
The supplemental instruction workshops greatly impacted student persistence.
Withdrawal rates for both semesters that workshops were offered dipped below 20%. The
workshops allowed more contact between students, and I found that many strong students
attended and helped some of the weaker ones. The smaller group setting allowed me to
address questions that many were hesitant to ask in the larger class setting. I also had the
opportunity of to show students how to do tasks such as compare/contrast, how to cite
multiple sources, reading between the lines of text, etc. I kept detailed workshop tutoring
logs that appear after the comparison chart below to show the kinds of things we did on a
week-to-week basis.
Analyzing the success numbers is a bit trickier. I saw just a slight improvement for Spring,
but a huge improvement for Fall. The success numbers remained high in Spring 2010, even
though no workshops were offered. I’m not really sure what these numbers reveal about
the relationship between the workshops and student success, only that for both semesters
the success numbers improved.
Future Applications
I will offer the workshop as a one-unit CR/NC course in Fall 2010 as General Studies 4915.
While the workshop content will remain the same, this is different from previous
semesters. Students will enroll and attend on a weekly basis for credit. Our students
already have impacted school/work schedules, and I don’t know if this will draw enough
students to merit a slot on the schedule. If students don’t/won’t take the time to enroll and
attend, it will be difficult to make the case to keep this course in the curriculum. I plan to
offer this course in Fall and Spring, and then determine its future based on enrollment.
I have received funding from Title III/BSI to offer workshops for my two History 7 sections
for Fall 2010. As with History 27, these workshops will be held outside of class on a weekly
basis with students receiving a few points of extra-credit for attendance. I hope to receive
funding to continue these workshops for Spring 2011 so that I can collect and analyze data
on the impact of supplemental instruction on History 7 student success/persistence rates.
History 27 Semester Comparison Chart
History 27 Workshop Attendance/Activity Log for Spring 2009
Week 1: Taking Notes & Study Skills (13 students for week)
Tuesday, January 27, 2009 (9 students)
In attendance: Wendy Avery, Bryner Banks, Marvin Costa, Carrie Decker, Denise Everett,
Briana Kramer, Jazmin Palega, Shannon Redmond, LaSonja Zeigler
Distributed handout on taking notes. Integrated handout points into discussion of class
material covered earlier that day. Angela supplemented my suggestions with
organizational tips and stressed the importance of consistent course material review.
Students were very responsive to questions about their own study skills and strategies that
have helped them in the past. One student suggested study groups arranged in class for
those students who benefit from collaborative learning. I will bring this up my classes to
gage interest.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 (4 students)
In attendance: Marissa Navarrete, Jennifer Shirkhani, Debra Webb-Reddick, Sheila YoungLoughran
Repeat of yesterday’s session. This group was more open and seemed to feel more
comfortable with the small-group setting than yesterday’s group. We had a brief
discussion on aging in American culture and how age is viewed very differently in the
indigenous cultures of North America. This ties in to one of the themes in our course
reading. Angela’s tips on how to organize and manage the course material were very well
received by this group.
Week 2: Test-taking Skills (24 students for week)
Tuesday, February 3, 2009 (11 students)
In attendance: Janette Avila, Rocio Chavez, Marvin Costa, Carrie Decker, Denise Everett,
Amanda Lobato, Sharmoneke Lott, Jazmin Palega, Shannon Redmond, Malinalli Sanchez,
LaSonja Zeigler.
Session focused on test-taking skills. Distributed practice quizzes on material covered in
class. Students could use notes and handouts. Exercise designed to reinforce the
importance of taking notes, annotating handouts, and organizing class material. Students
were given fifteen minutes to complete the quiz. Students shared their answers, and how
they arrived at each answer. The last fifteen minutes focused on multiple-choice testing
skills. Students read each question on an overhead transparency and wrote down the letter
that they thought was correct. Students shared how they arrived at their answers. We
finished three out of five questions, and students expressed that they want to finish the
other two questions next week. After students left Angela commented on how helpful this
exercise is, especially at the beginning of the semester. We engaged in some metacognative
conversation!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009 (13 students)
In attendance: Lizbeth Gonsalez, Mia Martinez, Sahar Meher, Shantel Reyes, Angie SaechaoPerez, Cheryl Sandhu, Jennifer Shirkhani, Antoinette Stroughter, John Szwed, Lisa Tran,
Shevette Washington, Debra Webb-Reddick, Shelia Young.
Repeat of yesterday’s session. We completed all five of the multiple-choice questions
instead of just the first three.
Week 3: Comparison/Contrast of European Witch-burnings & Salem Witch-hunt in
preparation for midterm essay exam (17 students for week)
Tuesday, February 10, 2009 (12 students)
In attendance: Janette Avila, Christina Castillo, Adalanica Chavez, Marvin Costa, Denise
Everett, Maria Garcia, Marissa Navarrete, Jazmin Palega, Zuleyma Perez, Shannon
Redmond, Malinalli Sanchez, Lisa Tran.
Session focused on European Witch-Burnings and Salem Witch-Hunt Comparison/Contrast
Worksheet. We pulled out topics from the Salem reading and compared/contrasted them
with the video sheet information on the European Witch-Burnings. I was amazed at the
richness of the discussion. Students were pulling out so many relevant topics, some that I
had not come up with. This discussion would have been so beneficial to the class as a
whole, but time constraints only allowed us to do two topics in class and the rest is their
responsibility to complete as homework. Based on the success of these first three
workshops, I am strongly considering adding a lab hour to the class. A lab hour would
allow me the freedom to do this type of exercise in much greater depth and reach all
students, not just those who voluntarily come to the workshops.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009 (5 students)
In attendance: Shantel Reyes, John Szwed, Marcella Vega, Shevette Washington, Debra
Webb-Reddick
Repeat of yesterday’s session with a much smaller (and less vocal) group. Students did
offer insights, but were much less confident in their answers. I did ask them if they found
the exercise helpful and their responses were very positive.
Week 4: QAR instruction & application for reading primary source material (22
students for week)
Tuesday, February 17, 2009 (16 students)
In attendance: Wendy Avery, Tanzania Cole, Marvin Costa, Michelle Currie, Carrie Decker,
Denise Everett, Maria Garcia, Rita Gonzalez, Amanda Lobato, Sharmoneke Lott, Jazmin
Palega, Zuleyma Perez, Malinalli Sanchez, Marcella Vega, Rachel Westergard, LaSonja
Zeigler
We reviewed topics for comparison/contrast essay. Did the RA QAR exercise using the
handout on David being late for school. Students answered the questions and then I
identified the four different types of questions. Spent most of our time reading and
discussing Chapter 5 of Harriet Jacobs’ slave narrative, using the QAR method. I had given
them some questions on the reading last week in class and we identified the question types
and discussed the answers. We didn’t get all the way through the reading, but they told me
that the QAR method is helpful in making sense of difficult text.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009 (6 students)
In attendance: Lizbeth Gonzalez, Shannon Redmond, John Szwed, Lisa Tran, Sheila Young,
Debra Webb-Reddick
Repeat of yesterday’s session. Smaller group but a few students were very vocal.
Productive session.
Week 5: Quiz Bowl Contest with review questions for Midterm #1 (27 students for
week
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 (15 students)
In attendance: Amber Carija, Adanelica Chavez, Rocio Chavez, Maria Garcia, Rita Gonzalez,
Isabel Hernandez, Amanda Lobato, Zuleyma Perez, Andrea Pierce, Shannon Redmond
(winner), Kristina Ruiz, Malinalli Sanchez (winner), Farid Siddiqi (winner), Phien Vo
(winner), LaSonja Zeigler (winner).
Broke students into four teams. Each team gave itself a name and had a buzzer. I read
questions from lectures, readings and two videos, all information for Midterm #1. Once a
team buzzed in they were given a short time to discuss the answer. One point was given for
each correct answer, and a one-point deduction for each incorrect answer. The winning
team was awarded two more extra-credit points in addition to the two points given for
participation, plus a women’s history pencil (for good luck on the multiple-choice portion
of the exam.) The players weren’t very animated, which was a surprise to me although
they seemed to benefit from the review.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009 (12 students)
In attendance: Wendy Avery (winner), Alexandra Hayman, Lizbeth Gonzalez (winner),
Lindsay Jones (winner), Briana Kramer (winner), Shantel Reyes, Keyla Santizo, John Szwed,
Marcella Vega, Shevette Washington, Debra Webb-Reddick, Sheila Young.
Another quiz bowl session, but much more animated and fun. I loved this group!
Week 6: Workshops cancelled for March 2 and March 4
Students just took first midterm, and this material does not appear on any other exams.
Workshops will resume next week when we have relevant material to use in our sessions.
Week 7: Reading for comprehension & critical analysis: Declaration of Sentiments
(23 students for week)
Tuesday, March 10, 2009 (12 students)
In attendance: Janette Avila, Bryner Banks, Adanelica Chavez, Michelle Currie, Carrie
Decker, Maria Garcia, Rita Gonzalez, Amanda Lobato, Maha Mojaddidi, Shannon Redmond,
Malinalli Sanchez, LaSonja Zeigler
We continued working on a worksheet distributed in class. We read through the
Declaration of Sentiments, and deciphered and wrote down the meaning of the introductory
paragraphs, list of sentiments, and concluding paragraphs in words that are more
accessible to 21st century Americans. We then discussed questions that are attached to the
worksheet that ask students to work more closely with the text to relate the author’s issues
with today’s feminist agenda. By the session’s end, I think that most of the students really
understood the relevance of the document to their own lives. They will be quizzed on the
document next week in class.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009 (11 students)
In attendance: Wendy Avery, Elizabeth Gabriel, Lizbeth Gonzalez, Danica Pagan, Shantel
Reyes, John Szwed, Lisa Tran, Marciella Vega, Shevette Washington, Debra Webb-Reddick,
Sheila Young
Repeat of yesterday’s session.
Week 8: Reading for comprehension and critical analysis: Mary Richardson Walker
article (20 students for week)
Tuesday, March 17, 2009 (12 students)
In attendance: Janette Avila, Adanelica Chavez, Rocio Chavez, Michelle Currie, Maria Garcia,
Briana Kramer, Amanda Lobato, Sharmoneke Lott, Maha Mojadiddi, Shannon Redmond,
Lisa Tran, LaSonja Zeigler.
We began reading and critically analyzing a reading distributed today in class on one of the
first Euro-American women to cross the Plains and settle in Oregon Territory. They will
write their second in-class essay on this article. The main question I ask them is to use
evidence from the article to show how Mary conformed/did not conform to the 19th
century female ideal of “true womanhood.” We discussed certain passages, and then
connected them to the ideal. I gave them a worksheet to map out each of the four virtues of
“true womanhood” and we wrote down evidence that pertained to relevant virtues. We got
through about one third of the article, and will continue with this exercise next week.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 (8 students)
In attendance: Wendy Avery, Ashley Deane, Lizbeth Gonzalez, Lindsay Jones, Shantel
Reyes, Shevette Washington, Debra Webb-Reddick, Sheila Young
Repeat of yesterday’s session. Group was more talkative, and Briana Kramer (who
attended yesterday’s session) sat in because she wanted to discuss the article further. She
had read through it and came up with some great insights. Although this was purely
spontaneous, it was a great example of “student modeling,” because students were jotting
down her ideas and asking questions. A great session!
Week 9: Reading for comprehension and critical analysis: continuation of Mary
Richardson Walker article (22 students for week)
Tuesday, March 24, 2009 (11 students)
In attendance: Amber Carija, Adanelica Chavez, Rocio Chavez, Maria Garcia, Rita Gonzalez,
Isabel Hernandez, Amanda Lobato, Andrea Pierce, Farid Siddiqi, Rachel Westergard,
Lasonja Zeigler
Continuation of last week’s session topic, but group was not very responsive.
Attentive but not responsive. I kept asking questions but students didn’t really engage in
any discussion about any of the passages or content. I’m a bit puzzled by this. Will see how
tomorrow goes.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009 (11 students)
In attendance: Ashley Deane, Lizbeth Gonzalez, Allison Maloney, Sahar Meher, Shantel
Reyes, Cheryl Sandhu, Lisa Tran, Marcella Vega, Shevette Washington, Debra WebbReddick, Sheila Young
Same topic, same response as yesterday. After the session I had a lengthy chat with Angela
and one of my brightest students this semester (who attended this session.) We
brainstormed ideas to improve student engagement and response. I like what we came up
with. Next semester I will break the students into groups and assign each group a certain
section of the reading. They will do the mapping for their section and share it with the
larger group. I have to refine this a bit, but I think it will work better than me working
through the whole text with the whole group.
Week 10: Quiz Bowl Review for Midterm #2 (only held one workshop on Tuesday,
cancelled Wednesday’s workshop because it would be held after midterm exam had
been taken) (11 students for week)
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 (11 students)
In attendance: Maria Garcia (winner), Lizbeth Gonzalez (winner), Rita Gonzalez, Lindsay
Jones, Ana Martinez (winner), Shannon Redmond, Shantel Reyes, Farid Siddiqi, John Szwed,
Lily Vo, Debra Webb-Reddick
Great quiz bowl session!
Week 11: Workshops cancelled for April 14 & 15
Students just took second midterm, and this material does not appear on any other exams.
Workshops will resume next week when we have relevant material to use in our sessions.
Week 12: Textbook primary source readings on women in the industrial workforce
(16 students for week)
Tuesday, April 21, 2009 (8 students)
In attendance: Amber Carija, Adanelica Chavez, Carrie Decker, Maria Garcia, Rita Gonzalez,
Shannon Redmond, Lisa Tran, LaSonja Zeigler
Students will take a quiz next week on four primary source readings from their textbook.
All students were given a handout on the readings with questions and a chart to be filled
out as they are reading. I broke the workshop participants into three groups and assigned
each group a part of the reading. Each group explained their answers for each of their
sections, to the larger group, in several different contexts. We didn’t get through the whole
worksheet, but we made great headway.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009 (8 students)
In attendance: Lizbeth Gonzalez, Sahar Meher, Shantel Reyes, Cheryl Sandhu, Marcella
Vega, Shevette Washington, Debra Webb-Reddick, Sheila Young
Repeat of yesterday’s session.
Week 13: Small-group work on Madam C. J. Walker/Politics of Hair online articles
and worksheet (23 students for week)
Tuesday, April 28, 2009 (16 students)
In attendance: Amber Carija, Harlene Cayabyab, Adanelica Chavez, Carrie Decker, Maria
Garcia, Rita Gonzalez, Amanda Lobato, Sharmoneke Lott, Maha Mojadiddi, Jazmin Palega,
Shannon Redmond, Malinalli Sanchez, Madhuvi Sharma, Lisa Tran, Marcella Vega, LaSonja
Zeigler
Students were given a five-page worksheet in class with URLs to five online articles on
Madam C. J. Walker and/or the Politics of Hair. They are required to read each article and
pull relevant facts, commentary, quotes, visual images, etc. and place them on the
worksheet under the appropriate headings. They will use this worksheet in class while
writing their midterm essay, and will be required to cite all five articles. I modeled 2/3 of
one article and them broke them into four groups. Each group was in charge of one article.
They wrote in article information on the worksheet under the appropriate headings. We
had time for one group to share their work. As they shared their work, other students
wrote down what the group had found. We ran out of time, and I asked if they wanted to
devote one of the workshops next week to this exercise, and most responded in the
affirmative.
Wednesday, April 29,2009 (7 students)
In attendance: Lizbeth Gonzalez, Lindsay Jones, Shantel Reyes, Cheryl Sandhu, Shevette
Washington, Debra Webb-Reddick, Sheila Young
Repeat of yesterday’s session with much livelier discussion. Angela ran the session on her
own, and did a great job. I interjected (probably too often) and we made it most of the way
through two articles.
Week 14: Special Session on Monday to complete Walker worksheets/Quiz Bowl on
Tuesday (25 students for week)
Monday, May 4, 2009 (17 students)
In attendance: Amber Carija, Adanelica Chavez, Carrie Decker, Maria Garcia, Lizbeth
Gonzalez, Rita Gonzalez, Alexandra Hayman, Lindsay Jones, Alison Maloney, Mia Martinez,
Sahar Meher, Cheryl Sandhu, Lisa Tran, Marcella Vega, Lily Vo, Sheila Young, LaSonja
Zeigler
Special session to complete Walker worksheets in preparation for midterm essay this
week. Great discussion on politics of hair, and tying in Michelle Obama and Walker to this
issue. The worksheets looked much better after the session than before.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009 (8 students)
In attendance: Adanelica Chavez (winner), Carrie Decker, Maria Garcia, Lindsay Jones,
Amanda Lobato (winner), Cecy Martinez (winner), Malinalli Sanchez, Farid Siddiqi
(winner)
Quiz Bowl contest in preparation for Midterm #3 this week.
History 27 Workshop Attendance/Activity Log for Fall 2009
Week 1: Taking Notes & Study Skills (25 students for week)
Tuesday, August 25, 2009 (17 students)
In attendance: Victoria Andrade, Jacqueline Angel, Tiffany Burton, Morgan Clark, Christine
Dorigo, Vanessa Garcia, Cassandra Goodman, Jerilyn Guererro, Lana Janoski, Tiffenie La,
Nicole Manzana, Annabelle Pahulu, Patricia Reynoso, Cassandra Riley, Shadell Roman,
Beverly Sibley, Maria Turner.
Distributed handout on taking notes. Integrated handout points into discussion of class
material covered earlier that day. As part of the discussion I incorporated organizational
tips from former “A” students (such as Angela) and stressed the importance of consistent
course material review. Once we read through the handout, I talked them through how to
outline notes from a previous lecture. I made an outline on the board by giving them clues,
and letting them throw out suggestions. By the end of the session we had outlined the
entire lecture in a clear and concise way. They could see what good note-taking looked like.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009 (8 students)
In attendance: Babar Ali, Alice Alvarado, Jackie Daniel, Nga Le, Antoinette Madison, Marisol
Rico-Camarena, Chrystal Wilhight, Tyawana Young.
Repeat of yesterday’s session. This group was smaller but very vocal, so we had no
problem completing the outline.
Week 2: Test-taking Skills (26 students for week)
Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009 (19 students)
In attendance: Alice Alvarado, Jacqueline Angel, Morgan Clark, Carrie Decker, Victoria
Dominguez, Christine Dorigo, Angelica Ferdinand, Vanessa Garcia, Sierra Glass, Wendy
Gomez, Cassandra Goodman, Lana Janoski, Jeanette Lanet, Annamarie Navarro, Annabelle
Pahulu, Patricia Reynoso, Beverly Sibley, Maria Turner, Chrystal Wilhight.
In attendance: Session focused on multiple choice test-taking skills. Distributed handout on
multiple choice test-taking tips and we read through it together. I prepared ten multiple
choice questions from material we have already covered in class. We looked at each
question separately and used the RA “think aloud” model as a group to come up with the
correct answer. This was a great way to illustrate common pit-falls students encounter
while taking this type of test, while reinforcing the importance of class attendance, notetaking and thorough test preparation.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009 (7 students)
In attendance: Kelly Brown, Jackie Daniel, Tiffenie La, Nga Le, Antoinette Madison, Nicole
Manzana, Adela Sombrerero.
Repeat of yesterday’s session. We couldn’t get into our classroom, so the session was held
on the stairwell in the back of Building 300!
Week 3: Comparison/Contrast of European Witch-burnings & Salem Witch-hunt in
preparation for midterm essay exam (27 students for week)
Tuesday, September 8, 2009 (19 students)
In attendance: Alice Alvarado, Victoria Andrade, Jacqueline Angel, Tiffany Burton, Carrie
Decker, Christine Dorigo, Vanessa Garcia, Sierra Glass, Cassandra Goodman, Lana Janoski,
Angel Lorenzo, Antoinette Madison, Annabelle Pahulu, Patricia Reynoso, Cassandra Riley,
Shadell Roman, Nina Santos, Beverly Sibley, Maria Turner.
Session focused on European Witch-Burnings and Salem Witch-Hunt Comparison/Contrast
Worksheet. I copied the grid worksheet format on the board, and we went down through
each topic, basing our responses to information on the blue worksheet from the European
witch burning video. I modeled on the board what their worksheet should look like. Then
they began reading the Salem article to themselves, completing the appropriate gold
worksheet question. Then we placed relevant information from the article on the
worksheet, and drew conclusions based on the two sources, the video sheet and the article
worksheet. I feel like they can do the rest on their own since I modeled what I want them
to do.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009 (8 students)
In attendance: Jackie Daniel, Tiffenie La, Harleen Mangat, Nicole Manzana, Marisol RicoCamarena, Adela Sombrerero, Chrystal Wilhight (left early-no points), Tyawana Young (left
early-no points).
Repeat of yesterday’s session with a much smaller group. One student suggested a very
helpful tip-putting the numbers of questions on the comparison worksheet next to
important information so that students can find the relevant information much more
quickly. I’m going to share this tip with my students.
Week 4: QAR instruction & application for reading primary source material (23
students for week)
Tuesday, September 15, 2009 (23 students)
In attendance: Alice Alvarado, Victoria Andrade, Jacqueline Angel, Cheyanne Bennett,
Alyssa Butterworth, Denise Clark, Carrie Decker, Victoria Dominguez, Christine Dorigo,
Vanessa Garcia, Sierra Glass, Wendy Gomez, Cassandra Goodman, Lana Janoski, Harleen
Mangat, Nicole Manzana, Annabelle Pahulu, Patricia Reynoso, Shadell Roman, Marisol RicoCamarena, Beverly Sibley,.Adela Sombrerero, Maria Turner
Did the RA QAR exercise using the handout on David being late for school. Students
answered the questions and then I identified the four different types of questions. Spent
most of our time reading and discussing Chapter 5 of Harriet Jacobs’ slave narrative, using
the QAR method. I had given them some questions on the reading last week in class and we
identified the question types and discussed the answers. We got all the way through the
reading, and they told me that the QAR method is helpful in making sense of difficult text.
Wednesday workshop cancelled since the MW students had taken the quiz earlier in the
day. Since the workshop covered the quiz material, holding a workshop on this topic would
be pointless.
Week 5: Quiz Bowl Contest with review questions for Midterm #1 (34 students for
week)
Tuesday, September 22, 2009 (27 students)
In attendance: Babar Ali (winner), Jacqueline Angel (winner). Alice Alvarado, Cheyenne
Bennett (winner), Kelly Brown, Alyssa Butterworth, Denise Clark, Morgan Clark, Victoria
Dominguez, Christine Dorigo, Angelica Ferdinand (winner), Vanessa Garcia, Sierra Glass,
Wendy Gomez, Cassandra Goodman, Jerilyn Guererro, Lana Janoski, Angie Lorenzo, Harleen
Mangat, Nicole Manzana, Anamarie Navarro, Annabelle Pahulu, Patricia Reynoso,
Cassandra Riley, Jasmeen Rodriguez, Maria Turner (winner), Chrystal Wilhight (winner).
Broke students into four teams. Each team gave itself a name and had a buzzer. I read
questions from lectures, readings and two videos, all information for Midterm #1. Once a
team buzzed in they were given a short time to discuss the answer. One point was given for
each correct answer, and a one-point deduction for each incorrect answer. The winning
team was awarded two more extra-credit points in addition to the two points given for
participation, plus a women’s history pencil (for good luck on the multiple-choice portion
of the exam.) These students are boisterous and so much fun! Best Quiz Bowl ever!
Wednesday, September 23, 2009 (7 students)
In attendance: Katie Cree (winner), Megan Connors (winner), Veronica Gonzalez (winner),
Tiffenie La, Antoinette Madison, Marisol Rico-Camarena, Adela Sombrerero. Vanessa
Garcia and Lana Janoski also participated, but were part of yesterday’s game, so will not
receive any points for today’s session.
Much smaller group, but fewer wrong answers. Very positive group.
Week 6: Workshops cancelled for September 29 & 30
Students just took first midterm, and this material does not appear on any other exams.
Workshops will resume next week when we have relevant material to use in our sessions.
Week 7: Reading for comprehension & critical analysis: Declaration of Sentiments
(23 students for week)
Wednesday, October 7, 2009 (6 students)
In attendance: Kelly Brown, Jackie Daniel, Kinya Harrell, Harleen Mangat, Nicole Manzana,
Adela Sombrerero
We continued working on a worksheet distributed in class. We read through the
Declaration of Sentiments, and deciphered and wrote down the meaning of the list of
sentiments in words that are more accessible to 21st century Americans. We then
discussed questions that are attached to the worksheet that ask students to work more
closely with the text to relate the author’s issues with today’s feminist agenda. By the
session’s end, I think that most of the students really understood the relevance of the
document to their own lives. They will be quizzed on the document next week in class.
Thursday, October 8, 2009 (17 students)
In attendance: Alice Alvarado, Jacqueline Angel, Tiffany Burton, Denise Clark, Lakenya
Cooper, Carrie Decker, Christine Dorigo, Vanessa Garcia, Sierra Glass, Cassandra Goodman,
Lana Janoski, Angie Lorenzo, Patricia Reynoso, Shadell Roman, Beverly Sibley, Maria
Turner, Diem Tran
Repeat of yesterday’s session.
Week 8 & 9: Reading for comprehension and critical analysis: Mary Richardson
Walker article (29 students for week)
Wednesday, October 14, 2009 (7 students)
In attendance: Kinya Harrell, Lana Janoski, Yvette Lerma, Nicole Manzana, Marisol RicoCamarena, Beverly Sibley, Adela Sombrerero.
We began reading and critically analyzing a reading distributed today in class on one of the
first Euro-American women to cross the Plains and settle in Oregon Territory. They will
write their second in-class essay on this article. The main question I ask them is to use
evidence from the article to show how Mary conformed/did not conform to the 19th
century female ideal of “true womanhood.” We discussed certain passages, and then
connected them to the ideal. I gave them a worksheet to map out each of the four virtues of
“true womanhood” and we wrote down evidence that pertained to relevant virtues. We got
through about one third of the article, and will continue with this exercise next week.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009 (22 students)
In attendance: Babar Ali, Alice Alvarado, Victoria Andrade, Jacqueline Angel, Kelly Brown,
Alyssa Butterworth, Tiffany Burton, Denise Clark, Morgan Clark, Lakenya Cooper, Carrie
Decker, Christine Dorigo, Vanessa Garcia, Sierra Glass, Cassandra Goodman, Angela
Lorenzo, Harleen Mangat, Nina Santos, Adela Sombrerero, Diem Tran, Mimi Tran, Maria
Turner.
Most students had completed the worksheet, meaning they had read the article already. So
we spent the time taking quotes and other evidence from the text and fitting them into the
“virtues” chart. It really helped students to see the differences between the virtues, and
reach conclusions about how well she conformed to some and not others.
Week 9: Quiz Bowl in preparation for Midterm #2 (12 students)
In attendance: Spice Allen, Katie Cree (winner), Carrie Decker, Sierra Glass (winner),
Veronica Gonzalez, Lana Janoski, Tiffenie La, Yvette Lerma (winner), Harleen Mangat,
Nicole Manzana, Patricia Reynoso (winner), Marisol Rico-Camarena.
Week 10: Workshops cancelled due to midterm completion
Week 11: Essay preparation for Madam C. J. Walker/Politics of Hair online articles
and worksheet (19 students for week)
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 (11 students)
In attendance: Alice Alvarado. Denise Clark, Christine Dorigo, Sierra Glass, Cassandra
Goodman, Annabelle Pahulu, Patricia Reynoso, Beverly Sibley, Maria Turner, Sierra
Ventura, Chrystal Wilhight.
Students were given a five-page worksheet in class with URLs to five online articles on
Madam C. J. Walker and/or the Politics of Hair. They are required to read each article and
pull relevant facts, commentary, quotes, visual images, etc. and place them on the
worksheet under the appropriate headings. They will use this worksheet in class while
writing their midterm essay, and will be required to cite all five articles. I modeled how to
read and choose material from one article. I mentioned that we can focus another
workshop on this assignment in the coming weeks.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009 (8 students)
In attendance: Babar Ali, Kelly Brown, Rebecca Danaher, Jackie Daniel, Carrie Decker,
Kinya Harrell, Lana Janoski, Nicole Manzana.
Repeat of yesterday’s session.
Week 12: Textbook primary source readings on women in the industrial workforce
(24 students for week)
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 (15 students)
In attendance: Victoria Andrade, Denise Clark, Morgan Clark, Lakenya Cooper, Christine
Dorigo, Vanessa Garcia, Sierra Glass, Cassandra Goodman, Nicole Manzana, Anamarie
Navarro, Patricia Reynoso, Beverly Sibley, Diem Tran, Maria Turner, Sierra Ventura.
Students will take a quiz next week on four primary source readings from their textbook.
All students were given a handout on the readings with questions and a chart to be filled
out as they are reading. We quickly filled in the chart which required them to look at the
union demands, and then draw conclusions about working conditions based on the
demands. We then compared the 1911 union demands with an 1845 legislative testimony
by Lowell “mill girls” to see how the workplace had changed in the post-Industrial
Revolution era, and how these changes impacted female workers and the larger workforce.
The exercise required them to go deeper into the text to draw conclusions about the turnon-the-century industrial workplace.
Wednesday, November 12, 2009 (9 students)
In attendance: Babar Ali, Kelly Brown, Rebecca Danaher, Carrie Decker (no points-left
early), Kinya Harrell, Lana Janoski, Yvette Lerma, Harleen Mangat, Marisol Rico-Camarena.
Repeat of yesterday’s session.
Week 13: Midterm #3 Prep (19 students for week)
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 (13 students)
In attendance: Alice Alvarado, Kelly Brown, Denise Clark, Jackie Daniel, Christine Dorigo,
Vanessa Garcia, Nicole Manzana, Annabelle Pahulu, Patricia Reynoso, Jasmeen Rodriguez,
Beverly Sibley, Diem Tran, Maria Turner.
Students voted to work on their Madam C. J. Walker/Politics of Hair Worksheet. Students
broke into small groups, with each group reading one of the five articles and using
information to fill in their worksheets for essay prep on their upcoming midterm. We all
came together and two groups had time to share what they had found, while the other
groups wrote down the info. on their worksheets. Some study groups formed after we
were done to continue the work at a later time.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009 (6 students)
In attendance: Babar Ali, Sierra Glass (winner), Lana Janoski, Harleen Mangat (winner),
Marisol Rico-Camarena, Adela Sombrereo (winner),
Students voted to do Quiz Bowl. Jennifer Lange sat in and took photos!