The Tempest

Issue date: 12/12/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Dawn Bonner English instructor Pam Huntington gives students the 12 steps to passing CME.

The English 305 class met for two semesters in the classroom of The Tempest. During those semesters Tempest staff members met quietly in the newsroom and noticed that the students in Pamela Hungtinton's class were having a really good time. When the Tempest staff learned it was an English class, it made it even more of a curiosity.

The class being referenced is the English 305 Introductory Reading and Writing skills class taught by adjunct instructor Pamela Huntington. As unlikely as it sounds, the sound of fun is coming from a class described as: "Intensive instruction in developmental language processing skills, reading and writing skills, and general classroom survival skills."

Huntington said, "I think it's a misnomer that because you are in a basic skills class that it is kill and drill. It doesn't have to be that way; we can take the reading and make it fun for us. I think what the emphasis needs to be on is the skills itself. The literature doesn't have to be boring and we don't have to use some workbook to fill out. We can make it fun."

The college insures students are able to master certain skill levels. The end of the class culminates in taking the Composition Mastery Exam. Upon passing the CME test, students are then able to take transferable college classes.

"In my 305 classes, there are always students who finish with an eight. We are hoping for a four. Four is passing. An eight is the highest score you can receive and means they are ready for English 1. I also teach at Woodland Community College and American River and consistently have students every semester finish with eights. I think it is because of actively engaging students. I've never had a student tell me the class is easy; they say it is hard. I hold them to a high standard and they reach it," said Huntington.

Student Judith Flores' writing has gone from okay to really good, according to Huntington.

Flores said, "I think I did well on the test. I like this class. Last semester I took this class with another teacher and dropped the class because I wasn't learning anything. This semester I learned a lot. She made me do the work instead of just telling me about it in lecture."

Continued...

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