Teaching Week 4: Writing without Teacher

W. LAFAYETTE, IN (ALC)--
Tuesday morning began early as usual for Purdue ICaP TA Amylea Clemons. After downing an Overpriced venti iced almond latte from Starbucks, Clemons entered Heavilon Hall Room 106 to lead a peer review session of her ENGL 106 class.
But all was not as simple as it seemed.
Twenty minutes into the review, absolute silence attacked the classroom hiding itself in the guise of student boredom. Comments were not made, assumptions were not revealed, revisions were not suggested. Only grammatical errors were pointed out by the more savvy students, who immediately succombed to the ravaging silence upon finishing their underlining.
All this despite explicit, albeit roundabout, directions from Clemons.
"It was surprsing, I guess," Clemons responded when asked about the sudden attack of apathy. "Well, I suppose there were a lot of factors involved in the attack."
Upon questioning, Clemons admitted to feeling "not so hot" and "mentally foggy" Tuesday morning, which "probaby beckoned the silence into the classroom in the first place."
"Once I realized it, though, I really tried to stop it. It was too strong for me, and the whole class time seemed worthless. I just hope the silence didn't linger in the room for the next instructor. I'd hate to think that was my fault," Clemons said in a short press conference with herself Tuesday night.
"I went home and slept for something like 16 hours. Thursday's silence better watch out, because I'm going to kick its ass," she said, striking an anime style pose.
Kaze no Kizu!