Williams: Chapter 2

I am not a teacher and I recognize I have much to learn. I've been challenged to consider several new ideas this semester, most of which I've found extremely valuable in my pursuit of shape and form as a prospective educator, and many of the readings have equipped me with sensible exercises for the classroom. Chapter 2 was cool because it gave me an opportunity to reflect on my own attitudes toward writing and early malformed beliefs on how it should be taught. I notice a Romantic flair that developed, perhaps, as a reaction against the Bottom Up Methodology I encountered as a child. But it likely emerged from the mystery that clouded writing in my mind for years as well. I never fully understood where writing came from, what made it different from speaking, why my K-12 teachers seemed to think I was "good" at it -- writing had a magic element which I guessed sprung forth from a genius well, genetics, or some kind, floaty god. I only barely understood what worked for me at the time and wrongly projected that onto the rest of the world. Just talk, express yourself, let it flow, I'd think. Why is it so hard for some people? Write what you know. Then I'd hit mental blocks in my assignments and I'd curse the floaty god. I had limited tools to adjust and writing became stressful. I was always (un)lucky enough to get by without having to understand what I was doing. As an undergraduate, when I was at my most rebellious and subversive, my attitude was at turns Postmodern. Anything goes, The ways we learn to communicate are arbitrary, Communication is arbitrary, or There's a problem with society and academia from which we must be freed. My thoughts were those of a young boy isolated in school, study, ideology. It's fun and even a little embarrassing to think about where I've come from.

This chapter helped me understand the struggle between approaches, that none is entirely perfect in itself. I also better recognized the difference of attitudes between K-12 instructors and college professors and was able to empathize with the K-12 side more than ever.