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Week 10: Nov 3, 5

My Literacy Autobiography

To begin this story of literacy, I could recall my childhood experiences with reading: my parents reading me Robert Munch, the first time I read a story by myself, my love of the Little House on the Prairie series, my personal identification with the character Matilda, my teachers scolding me for reading too quickly in class, or my climb up the Accelerated Reader ladder.  But I will not.  For despite my early love of reading, I began to despise it as I entered junior high, my adolescence.  Suddenly the thing which brought me joy was a source of ridicule.  Junior high was not about doing well in school or defining myself as an individual; it was about fitting in and attempting to be someone I was not.  I would imagine most people have had a similar experience.  So I abandoned my love of reading; I told myself it was not who I really was, and I began looking for someone else.

High school offered me the opportunity to be myself again.  For some strange reason, being in band and in UIL Literary Criticism were socially acceptable.  Although I had some amazing experiences in Literary Criticism, the event which redefined my personal literacy and pushed me towards a future in English was my senior AP English class.  Mr. Reeves, my teacher, taught literature in a way my previous teachers had not.  On the first day of class, he walked in, and the first thing he said was, “I hate Moby Dick.”  He then proceeded, in the voice of a stuffy, older female English teacher, to demonstrate the plot chart of Moby Dick. He started at one end of the white board, drawing a straight line and saying, “whale blubber, whale blubber, whale blubber, whale blubber.”  Then drawing a large upward spike, “everybody dies,” and back down to the straight line, “whale blubber, whale blubber, whale blubber.”  I could not believe my teacher was criticizing a work like Moby Dick, but found myself excited to have a teacher who was willing to actually give us his opinions, especially an unfavorable opinion about such an important piece of literature.  (I must confess that I had not then, nor have I now read Moby Dick, so I do not know if Mr. Reeve’s plot chart was accurate.  But I have read Redburn and “Bartleby, the Scrivener” and very much enjoyed those works.)  Over the course of the year, Mr. Reeves never presented a work as “great” or “important;” he simply wanted us to read and decide for ourselves.  Additionally, Mr. Reeves was the first teacher I had that strayed outside the cannon and allowed us to read works that challenged both our personal and academic maturity.  The works I can recall from that year were: The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, Frankenstein, Chang and Eng, The World According to Garp, Paradise Lost, To His Coy Mistress, Hamlet, The End of the Affair, The Collector, and Tess of the d’Urbervilles. Additionally, Mr. Reeves gave us an introduction to literary theory.  We read To His Coy Mistress over and over again, applying a different reading each time and examining the different results.  While it was a very basic introduction, it gave me a strong footing for starting college level work.

Some of these works certainly challenged my basic reading skills; I remember sitting in a coffee shop during my free period, reading Milton line by line.  I could not believe Mr. Reeves was putting us through such torture.  But I felt such a sense of accomplishment after reading and understanding even just a paragraph.  Three years later, reading Milton in college, I was not only more prepared to read Paradise Lost, but was genuinely excited about it.  Most importantly, Mr. Reeves taught me to read differently.  Before his class, I seemed required only to determine if a work was “good” or “bad,” if I liked it or disliked it.  However, two works in particular from his class taught me that things were not so simple.  I felt a strong connection to Graham Greene’s The End of the Affair. Not only did I love the style and the story, but I personally identified with the book’s struggle with Catholicism.  The ending of the novel, however, is quite weak.  I wanted to overlook this and just say it was a fantastic book, but Mr. Reeves would not allow it.  He said I had to acknowledge the effect of the ending of the rest of the novel, despite how much I liked it.  He taught me to identify and acknowledge the weaknesses in a novel, to question the authority of the author, and to admit that I could find value in a novel despite its weakness.  Similarly, I have to admit that I despised Tess of the d’Urbervilles while I was reading it.  When it came time to take the AP test that year, I thought I could easily avoid writing about it with Hamlet and Milton in my repertoire.  But alas, the prompt pointed to Tess, and I had no choice but to write about it.  I was forced to acknowledge the value and the effectiveness of a book I loathed.  I began to understand that my personal feelings about a book did not necessarily reflect its value.  It was a difficult, but necessary and valuable lesson.

Finally, Mr. Reeves unintentionally pushed me into becoming an English major.  Not only did he write my college recommendation letter, but he found an English department scholarship at Tech which was only awarded to students from my high school.  I applied and received the scholarship.  At the time, I was still unsure about what I should major in, but decided that a department who would give me a scholarship as a freshman seemed like as good of a department as any.  I had been leaning towards English, but the scholarship made the decision for me.  Despite its practical beginning, it became obvious by the end of my first semester that English was the right place for me.  I changed minors several times, but always knew that I was in the right major, in the right field.  Although I am unsure of my eventual career path, I still feel that I am in the right place.  So thank you Mr. Reeves, for showing me that place.                  

Week 9: Oct 27, 29

Blog Prompt:  How can we learn from what we do/teach?  How can we continue to better ourselves as teachers?  What are some ways we can become “reflective practitioners”?

Well, the obvious answer here is to reflect on our teaching.  However, that can be done in a variety of ways.   The FYC program encourages its teachers to write short reflections after each class, particularly to note what worked well in class that day and what didn’t.  Then when the same lesson rolls around the next semester/year, you will have a record of what you did, how it worked, and how it can be improved.  Instead of using a reflection, similar notes could also be made on lesson plans.

We can better ourselves as teachers by contanstly challenging our teaching practices.  This includes having more experienced teachers observe our teaching and give commentary, video taping ourselves teaching a class (no matter how painful), and by asking for student input.  Student input should be sought early to mid-semester in order to  improve and help the students you are currently teaching.  While end-of-semester evaluations can help future students, informal student imput may be more helpful to current students.  We can also better our teaching by attending conferences, workshops, learning how to use new technology, and by watching others teach.

Week 8: Oct 20, 22

Blog Prompt:  What should a FYC teacher come to class knowing?  What should a FYC student come to class knowing?  How can we prepare for “Plan B” when they don’t?

An FYC teacher should come to class knowing his/her plan for the day.  This includes how to open the class, what material will be covered, whether that material will be presented in a lecture form or in some other manner, any activities students will complete, how to transition from one portion of the class to another, what assignments are due or upcoming, etc.  In addition to simply the events that will take place, the teacher also needs to have materials ready before he or she enteres the classroom.  This includes any powerpoints, overheads, oother presentation materials (including chalk!).  If the students will be doing an activity, the teacher needs to have materials for that prepared as well.  This could be a prompt sheet, a sheet to guide discussion, an in-class writing, a quiz, etc.  The instructor should have all these materials ready to go in the order in which they will be used.

An FYC student should come to class having read the material for the day and having completed any assignments.  He or she should have a good understanding of the reading in order to be able to discuss it in class.  The student should also know the timeline of the class, that is, at what point they are at in the semester.  The student should know whether that day’s class is geared toward the first couple assignments, towards writing their draft, or towards the revising process.  Unfortunantly, many students do not come to class this prepared.

When this happens, it is necessary for the teacher to have a “plan b.”  This means having an alternative activity if the students, say, have not done the reading and therefore cannot participate in a class discussion.  A good alternative for this would be to have them read a section of the reading silently in class and then discuss just that section.  It is also a good idea to have activities planned which do not depend entirely on the students having completed their homework.  In-class activities, discussions of other texts, and group work can work well.  However, the teacher should not provide so many opportunities that students think they can get away with not doing the readings.  There should be consequences for not being prepared.  On the other hand, it is silly to waste a whole class period because the students did not do the reading.  The teacher should have an alternative route that can teach the students similar skills as the homework for that day.  The class period, above all, should be focused on learning, even if that learning has to happen without reading for that day.

Week 7: Oct 15

Blog Prompt:   Why do you grade the way you do?  How does that focus/practice help you understand your “philosophy” of composition?

I grade to teach because if a student does not learn anything from his or her grade, then that grade is meaningless.  At the most basic level, the students should learn whether or not their work is acceptable/appropriate/satisfactory.  “A” very satisfactory, “F” “totally unsatisfactory.  But that is only the beginning of teaching through grading.  I think commentary should focus on how a student can improve and not on what the student did wrong.  Again, telling a student they did something wrong will not help them learn.  In my commentary, I not only tell students what to do, but I try to tell them how to do it.   It is not fair to the student for me to demand a stronger thesis statement without telling them how to write one (at least not in lower level classes).  While I do beleive in students taking responsibility in their education and learning how to learn, we are still the teachers.  In order for them to learn to teach themselves, we have to give them the building blocks.  If I teach a students in my commentary how to write a stronger thesis instead of simply demanding one, that students (assumming the read and understand the comments) now can write a strong thesis for any paper thereafter.

When it comes to letter grades, I have no problem giving A’s.  In fact, I’m a little worried that the FYC people may be mad at me for giving too many A’s on a recent assignment.  But when students follow instructions, fulfill the assignment, and write well, I think they deserve an A.  However, I am very strict about following instructions and do start giving out F’s when major portions of the assignments are missing.  Although the FYC program does not really allow for this on brief assignments, I think it is much more beneficial to the students to base their grades on personal improvement rather than some elusory standard.  A student whose writing greatly improves over the course of a semester, even though it might not be up to the standard of what we all imagine to be an “A” paper, still might deserve an A.  I think it’s essential that we compare students’ writing against their own previous work in addition to, and perhaps instead of, against each other.  So I suppose my philosophy of composition is focused on personal improvement and giving the students the tools to write well so that they can use them independently in the future.

Week 6: Oct 6, 8

Blog Prompt:  Given what you’ve read for this week (or even from previous weeks), what puzzles you?  What are you wrestling with?  What questions do you have that others might be able to answer/help you wrestle with?

Whenever I get into the classroom, either in FYC or in a high school setting, I’m concerned about quieting talented student writers by pushing them to conform to academic writing standards.  Don’t misunderstand, I’m a stickler for most of the rules and I think it’s really important that people learn how to write appropriately for academics.  However, especially for high schoolers, this can really suppress some wonderful writing talent and deprive them of any pleasure in writing.  My husband, for example, is a wonderful creative writer, but he was never allowed to explore this talent in school.  He started to hate writing simply because he had to write the way his teachers wanted him to.  How do we encourage students to write expressively and explore their own talents while still teaching them how to be good academic writers?

Week 5: Sept 29, Oct 1

Blog Prompt:  Respond to the Take 20 video.  What was most surprising?  What were some “themes” you saw emerging?  What was most inspiring?

There is certainly a trend away from ultra-traditional teaching methods.  These teachers are not marking grammatical errors until their students’ papers bleed; they are not confining “composition” to the normal context of writing a paper for an English class; and they do not believe that as they teacher they are the end and the beginning in the classroom.  These teachers learn from their students, they encourage their students to take risks and then reward them for doing so, they acknowledge the changing technological and cultural atmosphere of the classroom and change with it, and they want their students to become successful writers, not students who know what to say to please the professor.

The items the teachers said they wished they had learned in grad school were quite surprising.  We do need to be learning the pragmatic elements of running a classroom, writing a syllabus, the kinds of professional writing that occur outside the classroom, etc.  Having some education classes, I can say that some of these items are addressed in those classes, but certainly not all.  I only had one teacher instruct us on how to open a class, transition from activity to activity, and how to close a class.  The rest was theoretical.  And while it is important that we understand teaching and learning theories in order to create our own pedagogy, it is imperative that we know how to run a classroom on the first day of school.

Finally, I found it inspiring to hear that these writing teachers still love teaching writing, some after 20 years.  They adjust with the changing field, they look forward to reading their students’ work, they love to learn from their students, and they have fun.  This is real job satisfaction.

Kathleen

Week 4: Sept 22,24

Blog Prompt:  Describe YOUR process:  How do you write?  Can you think of things that might make the process more successful?  How do you think we should value “process” in our classes?

Though my process varies depending on the type of paper I am writing, it typically goes through the same steps.  After reading through the primary material and thinking about a general subject, I’ll start doing some research.  As I read secondary sources, I mark in the text or type into my computer quotes that might support my idea.  After I’ve finished the research and compiled my quotes, I come up with a thesis.  Then I make a detailed outline containing my thesis and topics and subtopics.  Then I copy/paste appropriate quotes into each section.  This way they are already in my text.  From here I start writing.  I used to just start with a thesis and write my introduction last, but lately I have been writing my introduction first, building up to the thesis I’ve already written.  Although I often go back and change the introduction later, writing it has been helping me to determine where I want the paper to go.  After I’ve finished the first draft, I wait at least 12-24 hours before I edit.  Usually I’ll print out the paper, read it outline, and mark it as I read.  This way when I go back to editing on my computer, I already know what needs to be fixed or changed.  I usually leave a good bit of time between each of these steps, especially between writing the thesis, the outline, writing, and revising.  I have to let things settle for a little while; it usually helps me to come up with better ideas.

It is very important that we teach students that writing is a process and how to create a process of their own.  To do so, it’s important that we give them time to work through this process and not demand papers too quickly.  I’m struggling a bit right now because I’m writing a paper within one week.  This used to not be such an issue for me, but once I became much more thoughtful about my writing I found that the process took much more time.  Since we want out students to be thoughtful writers as well, it’s important that we give them the time they need.

Kathleen

Week 3: Sept 15, 17

Blog Prompt: Does “voice” that resonates compete with or enhance “academic voice”?  How can we write successfully as “academics” and still have voice? Or, you can talk about how important you think voice is in teaching/grading:  how do you teach “voice”?  How do you assess it?

There seems to be a paradox concerning voice in academic writing.  There is the assumption that “academic voice” is practically an oxymoron, but the other hand, the only academic essays that make an impact have an undeniably definitive voice.  When I find myself reading an academic essay that lacks voice entirely, I usually put it down no matter how great the author’s point might have been.  Perhaps this lack of voice stems from a set of invisible style standards for academics; perhaps it has been passed down from professors to students as the standard; or perhaps it is simply a fear of being too honest, too open.  A piece with voice in inherently vulnerable, as Elbow points out in his essay.  Whether or not the subject is of a personal nature, voice adds personality – good or bad.  Are academics not supposed to have personality?

It also seems that adding voice takes a great deal of confidence in one’s writing.  It takes practice, skill, and assurance.  As a student, it took several years before a strong voice emerged in my essays.  Part of this emergence came when a professor told me I could use the first person in my essays (dead high school teachers rolled in their graves…).  The more scholarship I read, the more I saw this technique being used effectively.  A strong “I argue for…” gives an essay an incredible force.  Once I started using it, “I” transformed my essays.

Finally, I agree with Elbow that free writing can help to form voice.  I often free write when I am brainstorming ideas for essays.  I simply have to get it down on the page: punctuation mistakes, crazy ideas and all.  Once it is no longer swirling around in my head and making me anxious, I can work my way through the material and put it into an appropriate voice for the audience.  Additionally, writing different types of essays that require students to change their voice is excellent practice.  Much to my disdain, I once had to write an essay in the voice of an author I whom I wholeheartedly disliked (okay, despise).  Even though I complained about it from beginning to end, it allowed me to abandon my academically accepted voice and experiment with something new.  Not only that, but I was able to write about a subject that would have been considered a completely legitimate topic for this author, but that normally would have been absurd in an academic paper.  It totally freed me, and I was able to produce a paper of value that challenged my writing and my voice.

Kathleen

P.S.  I guess I have to reveal the author and the subject I wrote on.  It was Greil Marcus, and I wrote about Billy Joel. 

Week 2: Sept 8, 10

Blog Prompt:  Why do we teach First Year Writing?  What should we be teaching in this course?  Why?

First and foremost, the skills learned in First Year Writing are essential to a student’s success in college.  Students of any discipline need to be able to write well and be able to express their ideas in a clear manner.  Additionally, FYW makes up for many of the lessons that students may have missed in high school.  Whether students were in regular or AP classes, there are some writing skills they have not yet acquired that they will need in their college classes.  Finally, the course acclimates students to the level of writing that will be expected of them in college.

In regards to our 5060 course, it should, on the most basic level, teach us what students need to learn in FYW and how to teach it.  However, it is important that we understand why students need to learn certain skills, hence the theoretical and historical aspects.  But this not where our learning in this class should stop.  All of these items are on the teaching side of the class; it is important that we learn how to reach the students as well.  Students want to know how what they are learning is relevant to them and why it is important to learn it.  We need to be able to answer these questions as well as be able to make FYW interesting and important to students.  We cannot spend all our time buried in theories and never reach across the desk to the student sitting in front of us.

Kathleen