Old school

My English 204 students had a great session in the library this morning, complete with research tips and practice doing keyword searches.  It's been a long time since I taught the old-school "research paper" course, having in recent years opted for various thematic and service learning approaches.  For some reason, this term doesn't seem like a step backwards.  Teaching the research paper doesn't have to be limited/limiting.  Admittedly there are some bad ways to approach such a class (thesis statement, research as merely a way to support "a position," etc), but baby/bathwater/yadda yadda yadda.  Feels a bit like being back in grad school.  Cool to look over students' shoulders, literally and figuratively, and help direct them to deeper inquiry, critical reading, and open exploration of questions that interest them.