Letter to Future Hybrid Students

Hello fellow student!

If you are reading this then you are going to be taking Michael Shannon’s English 214 hybrid class. That being said, you’re in for a treat. This class is one of the most enjoyable classes at SF state. While there’s a decent amount of work you need to do for this class, it isn’t more than any other 214 class. Though the workload mimics a normal English 214 class, Michael is a good guy who has great classes. I have heard so many negative stories from all my other friend’s 214 classes, while I couldn’t even come up with one.

I took this class over the summer so it was somewhat accelerated but it wasn’t to overwhelming. The way Michael Shannon’s class is set up, is where all the writing is done as homework and in class we did exercises. The homework is manageable if you spread out your assignments throughout the week. In the beginning you might start to think you can wait till the day before to do the assignment but I do not recommend that. In the beginning there’s not that that much work so you might feel like you can relax but it starts to pick up quick out of nowhere. One week you will have no assignments then all of a sudden you have 3 blog post due in a week. Just be prepared so you can space out the assignments. There’s a good amount of writing but you should expect that from any English 214 class.

I wouldn’t consider class time as a lecture but more of an open conversation amongst Michael and the rest of the class. He has a way to make everyone feel welcome in the conversation making class fly by. Not only are you encouraged to participate his lectures, they are set up in an engaging way. Michael put us in a group in the beginning of the semester and had us constantly consult with them throughout this class. I liked this teaching format because when a professor just talks the whole time I can’t stay focused throughout the whole class. In my previous English class, we just talked amongst our groups so I would often forget what my peers had told me. The activities during Michael’s class are also broken up into small task that we post in our groups forum so we can get instant feedback that we can refer back to. Not only did we do group activities we had activities where the whole class is involved like debate classes are actually enjoyable and I didn’t actually dread going to class.

If you take anything out of my letter, it should be that Michael Shannon’s class is better than any other English 214 classes. Although there’s a considerable amount of writing it should be expected out of any other 214 class. With a chill learning environment and the way his class is structured it makes for maximum learning.