Resistance

I know I've only been teaching for a week so far this semester, but one element of my experience has stood out so far. I sense a lot more resistance from the students in my classes, especially my second class. Some of it is subtle (and I may be misconstruing it). Body language has seemed much more intimidating. Students have been reluctant to enter discussion; therefore, the awkward silences I have experienced after asking both simple questions and open-ended questions have been unusually long. Also, when I asked them at the beginning of the class to write about their past writing experiences and what they want out of the class, many were very open about how much they hate writing and anything related to writing.

More obviously, when I have asked easy get-to-know-you questions, more than a few of my students did not give in to any pressure to have something to say. They have just said "I don't know," making me feel awkward for asking the question.

Finally, a couple of my students have acted visibly frustrated in class. One of them actually came up to me in the front of class while everyone else was writing and said, "This is too hard. I have no idea what I'm doing." And another student, when I gave a prompt, made sounds of frustration, didn't write during the time, and told me after class that I totally lost her at multiple points during the class.

So . . . my questions:
I guess I'm concerned enough about my teaching, and these events are not helping my confidence. Am I really explaining things less effectively than I do in my other class or I did last semester? Am I not communicating well enough for this particular class? Is this class somehow set on not understanding me or interacting with me?

But in some ways, I suppose I'm a little bit impressed. If I didn't understand a professor, I would probably assume it was my fault rather than hers. Maybe these few are more confident than I am and have the self-assurance to react to rather than sit passively while I teach.