An Interview with Karen Barr
by Joyce Hertzoff
First a basic question, what does a facilitator do? How much do they bring to the class?
The facilitator is responsible for several things.
• Posting Welcome & Introduction post
• Post assignment each week along with any other required text, including feedback requirements
• Leaving feedback as required for everyone in the class
• Answering any questions, the group may have
• Posting any extra material or examples to help clarify
• Encourage all writers – especially new ones
• Monitoring class participation to ensure that students meet all requirements; this may include sending reminders by personal message.
• Post last day reminder
• Track attendance; ensure those who have completed the course have also left the required feedback.
• Report problems or ask questions or seek support via the “Faculty Room”
• At the end of the class, they are responsible for following up on any open items with the Staff Advisor or Administrator
So, you can see, being a facilitator comes with some responsibility and they bring a lot to the class in the way of feedback and making sure the class runs smoothly.
When did you start facilitating classes at WVU? Do you only facilitate MFA classes? Give us an estimate of the number of classes you’ve facilitated. Do you prefer to facilitate Literature or Core classes?
Oh, wow. I started facilitating in 2015. I facilitated the first round of MFA110, Syntax & Grammar. I wrote Bob to ask if it was a difficult grammar course because that was one of my worst subjects. He said, “there’s no better way to learn than to teach.” So that’s how I got started.
I was scared to death facilitating a class that I didn’t have a lot of knowledge in, but everyone was so supportive and kind. It was a wonderful experience and I learned so much!
Since then, I’ve mostly facilitated MFA classes. I did create some basic fiction courses and facilitated those for a time as well. I prefer the Core Courses. Mainly because there’s just so much to learn there and each time I facilitate them, I absorb more. I would say I’ve facilitated well over 200 classes.
What have you learned from facilitating? Would you recommend that others take the training class and facilitate classes?
The first thing is that it never hurts to repeat classes. I learn something new each time I take a class and there are some classes I’ve facilitated over a dozen times. There’s always more to learn.
One thing I think people forget is that we are constantly learning and growing as writers. I can look at something I wrote six months ago and see where it needs improvement. A lot of that has to do with how I’ve grown in that six-month period.
In each class we take, we absorb what we need at that moment. By the next time that class comes around, we’ve changed, grown, and that means we will absorb things that we might have skimmed over the last time. To me, this is one of the best things about facilitating.
I highly recommend that everyone take the facilitator's class. Even if they decide not to facilitate classes in the end, they’ll learn formatting, classroom etiquette, and a lot about how the classrooms work.
How much time do you generally spend on each class, including preparation time and research? What kinds of things do you search for to add to the class?
It depends. Some of the classes have been thoroughly researched and there’s little to add. So, I just go to the archives and copy/paste the assignments into the classroom. In those cases, it takes very little time to get things set up.
For others, the literature classes, for instance, I may look up the author to see if they’ve released anything new. In the case of the classic authors, I might spend a bit of time reading about them, read some of their other work to see if there are certain elements of craft that wind through all their stories or unusual facts most people aren’t aware of. Anything that might strike a chord with the students.
Occasionally, I’ll add an extra story or reading from the internet. Just to switch things up a bit for those who may be repeating the course. I try to keep things interesting.
One of the most important things when creating or setting up any class is to find discussion topics that are unique, meaning they can’t be readily found through a Google search. We’ve had very few problems with plagiarism in the WVU classes, but it happens. Having discussion points that are different than those found in the wiki or college-study websites is important. It relieves the student’s temptation to plagiarize or paraphrase in their assignments. And, of course, it encourages them to think outside the box.
How do you keep track of which students complete their assignment AND give sufficient feedback? What do you expect the feedback to include?
In the smaller classes, this is pretty simple. I try to read assignments and feedback as they come in. That also helps in case there needs to be a revision, it gives the student more time to complete. At the end of class, you can usually tally things up in your head or on a piece of scrap paper. My motto: KISS – Keep it simple, stupid!
For larger classes, I use a spreadsheet. (I think I uploaded a copy of it in the mentor’s Lounge. I’d be happy to share!) It is a simple, self-calculating spreadsheet. I just enter the names of the students at the beginning of class, then mark them completed as they finish their assignments and feedback.
It only takes a few minutes a day and by the end of class, you have everything you need to post a completion report.
As for what the feedback should include, that’s different for every class. In classes where the assignment is a response essay, the feedback would be different from one where the assignment concentrates on craft. But in general, feedback—just like the assignment posts— should display a good understanding of the principles covered in the course readings.
In literature classes, I like to see an open discussion. We learn more from that than we do from posting route facts and figures about the techniques being studied. It’s not always easy to get students to open up. Sometimes it might take prompting. I try to add questions or discussion topics that aren’t easily found on the internet.
Again, it helps students to avoid plagiarism as they are forced to think things through on their own. They can’t just Google an answer. This is especially important, I think, because we study the classics and there are dozens of study guides easily accessible on the internet.
You wear many hats at WVU. Which do you enjoy the most?
That’s a tough one. I enjoy most all my duties here at WVU. But I’d have to say facilitating the Subtext and Difficult Imagination courses. They are my favorites. Subtext is a very deep and difficult subject. No matter how many times I go through that course, I find new ways to interpret the information.
I also enjoy working as the editor in chief of the Village Square. We get to read so many wonderful submissions and knowing WVU has a voice in the world is very satisfying.
