Reading through my fiction students’ end-of-semester reflections on their work; it’s one of my favorite aspects of teaching fiction writing, seeing them become more self-aware of what they’re actually doing well, and where they have things to work on.
I also added a new assignment this semester for the last day, to research a specific magazine or press to send a particular story or novel to. We then spent an hour or so going around the room and reviewing those together, and it turned out to be a great way for me to both comment on specific small and large magazines and presses, and to lead into a discussion of publishing generally: big press, smaller press, self-publishing, etc.
We also covered grad school pluses and minuses in that same final class (a 2.5 hr one), and it was just a great way to finish off the semester, I think. Will be trying to fit this in from now on.