Literary Letters

 Perhaps one of the best things that I liked about Linda Broadkey's  essay was her attempt to restore the lost art of letter writing, while at same time, forcing her students to write By writing letters, she hoped that her students would feel anxiety, and would feel more free to find their voices, and would give them "...an authentic reason to write" (128).

I thought Broadkey's approach to having her students write letters,  instead of a  traditional essay,  was a clever approach because it allowed them to consider other ways that they could be creative. I am not sure that the students realized that this is one of the reasons why this approach was being used, but it is clear that Broadkey certainly did. I think that perhaps one of the most difficult things in the classroom, is to get students to write, and not  to feel anxiety about it. The idea of writing letters to friends or family, on the surface, seems less threatening because after all, you are writing to people you already know. The expectation is that they will be receptive to you, and you can open up to them in ways that you might not have considered if you had been asked to write a five paragraph essay. The letters that the students wrote for the most part, seemed to convey a sense of freedom, and a voice that they may not have been able to portray in a traditional essay. I believe that the letter writing approach that they took in Broadkey's assignment can only help them on later assignments in their classroom.

I really liked Broadkey's reasoning about giving her students this assignment because as a teacher, it allowed her to consider other options for writing assignments that could help them in other areas of writing as well. The experience of having a writing assignment that was geared to make you feel less threatened by the process,  is an experience that hopefully can carry them to other areas of their  writing in the future.

Should there be a Standard English?

June Jordan seems to be arguing,  "Should there be a Standard English?"  How do we recognize the different types of English that students use?  I am not only referring to Black English, but other types of English as well, i.e., Spanglish, Konglish, etc. Is it proper to suggest that everyone must speak Standard English without the  consideration of someone's background or ethnicity, i.e., the Queen's English? This English is of course considered to be one that provides more opportunities to those that use it. Standard English is if course, privileged, while Black English is not. How does a teacher balance both languages in the classroom if he/she has students who use these languages? Should he/she privileged one form over the other, particularly if many of the students use Black English? How does the teacher even begin to address this issue?



I think that one of the things that the teacher could do to address this issue would be to explain that Standard English is in fact privileged in this country, and that using it can afford them better  opportunities in their lives.  It is the language that most people in this country accept as being the proper way to speak. Of course there are many who may disagree with this sentiment as well, and therein is the controversy.



One of the things that June Jordan brought up in her article was the notion of someone who speaks in Black English losing their power if they spoke or wrote in Standard English for the purpose of being understood by the majority, even if by so doing, you were allowing yourself to be understood by a greater number of people. I believe that to write in a language that the majority of the country use, does not give away your power. It deepens it. It makes it more powerful because it shows that even though you may speak, read, and write in Black English, that you can also do the same in Standard English. The person that June Jordan writes about in her essay,  Willie Jordan, would disagree. He would regard this as speaking in the language of the oppressor, even at the expense of being understood.



As I was reading Willie Jordan's thoughts on this issue, my mind went back to Frederick Douglass'  book. In his book, he did not resort to speaking in Black English, but instead used the language of his oppressors to get his point across on the indignities of slavery, so that he could reach a greater number of people who might be sympathetic to his plight. If he had in fact spoken in a language that was not considered to be in the majority, his arguments, as well as his observations with respect to slavery and its evils would not have been understood by the very people who he was trying to reach. By speaking in the language of the oppressor, he is able to make his argument even more powerful. Similarly, when Willie Jordan finally decided to use Standard English, his argument about what the police had done to his brother become more powerful.  And more to the point, his thoughts about this terrible injustice reached a greater number of people, than if he only written in Black English, who, one can hope, were able to feel sympathy for what he had gone thorough, and could lend their voices to his, to make make a difference. I believe that the ability to speak in the language of the dominant culture,  does not take give away power that you might have by not speaking in a language, that is not  considered acceptable by the majority of people. The ability to use language to reach a greater number of people shows a tremendous power, and should be applauded.

Effective Writing Assignments

Lindemann's chapter on effective writing assignments didn't exactly connect directly to my thesis prospectus, but the fact that she discussed making assignments geared towards the students falls somewhere along the lines of what I'm writing about. She gave an example of having students who just got into the university write about the effectiveness of the brochures they were given. Since I'm writing about whether it's the attitudes towards composition that make writers either single or multi-drafters, I did want to express in the prospectus that I think there is a correlation between a positive attitude about composition and being a multi-drafter. Maybe if educators presented writing topics that were more student-centered, then they would get the effort they so desire with multiple drafts.

           Lindemann,   Designing Writing Courses



"Students learn to write by writing. Guidance in the writing process and discussion of the students own work should be the central means of instruction... Students should also be encouraged to develop the critical ability to evaluate their own work, so that they can become effective, independent writers  beyond school."

As I was thinking about this quote more fully, the purpose of writing became more relevant. On the surface this seems like such an easy thing to say. Of course, students learn by writing, but these words are so much more powerful than that. Students must not only write so that they can become better writers, but they should write every day so that they can become more experienced writers and thinkers. They should not write only material of an academic nature, but other should engage in other types of writing as well that include letters and journal writing, to name just a few.

I like the idea that Lindemann believes that the purpose of writing is to both guide the students and discuss their work with them. Discuss, as opposed to criticize their work. Her analysis about the writing process appears to be more collaborative so that the student is more involved in the process, and has a vested interest in the outcome. I believe that collaboration is very important as it pertains to students in the writing class. It is also a good way to help them learn about the writing process in general, and about how to evaluate their work in particular. Too often this practice has done by the instructor exclusively. This collaboration process demonstrates that the instructor and the student are each sharing their knowledge with each other, and learning from each other in the process, which I believe is an ideal situation.

Jennifer Seibel Trainor,  "The Emotioned Power of Racism: An Ethnographic Portrait of an All White High School."



As I was reading this article, I kept asking myself this simple, yet naive question,  "Why does racism have a place in literary studies, and how can teachers keep it out of the classroom?"  The answer to the first question is perhaps an easier one to answer. Obviously, we each bring our own views, conceptions, and misconceptions any number of racial groups. If someone was not fortunate to attend schools that were diverse, or learned to be tolerant of  other people, and accepting of someone that was different from you, then racist views can emerge. I really believe, however, that racism begins in the home, and then it unfortunately extends outside of the home to include schools, and other social gatherings. It then spills over into academia, and in this instance, in literary studies.

If someone grows up in a racist environment, then, what steps can a teacher take to steer the student away from racist views? What can the teacher do to help the student to identify with the person that he or she deems as  "the other?" How can the teacher help to not only facilitate compassion, but also to help them see parts of themselves in the person? What can the teacher do to prevent students from saying that an author is racist against white people, instead of saying, 'I can understand why the character in To Kill a Mockingbird feels this way.... It is because of ... and if I were in that situation I might feel that way as well. Or this may not be my truth-- but it is  the truth of the person in the novel. Let me try to see it from this perspective."

I suppose one of the things that a teacher can do to facilitate compassion in her or his students,  is to gear writing assignments  toward helping students to identify with characters, and by extension, people, who they believe are different from them. I don't have this completely worked out in my head, but I am thinking that a writing assignment would give details to how the students view various characters in the novel, and how they see themselves in situations that the characters have gone through.

Excerpt II from twelve readers reading

I’m a student that would rather receive a vase amount of feedback from an instructor as opposed to minimal words, or not at all. The class discussion on whether the feedback was too extensive, harsh, or unnecessary had its pros and cons. I agree with on colleague that stated some of the words used to were inappropriate and harsh. To that extent I agree, although the feedback might have been helpful and necessary, as instructors we must be sure not to crush or student’s while they are already down and use descriptive words that will not be considered offensive. Now the length of the feedback is generally up to how you read into your students. Some would look at a typed page and a half response and immediately be discouraged, unreceptive or sensitive. It’s up to the instructor to know what type of feedback would best suit the needs of their students. Me personally like another colleague stated would have appreciated such extensive notes. I have been on the other receiving side when I had not received any feedback at all and was lost on what needed improvement or where I lacked in my writing or even what my strong suits were. I am open to feedback that is detailed and specific because I feel it will only help to improve my skills. Nevertheless there is a dual responsibility instructors have, properly wording feedback and giving adequate lengths of comments/notes.

Lindemann Chapter 15

Lindemann’s “Designing Writing Courses” is exactly what I needed to help articulate what my teaching philosophy attempts to accomplish.  Lindemann said so many things that had me thinking his audience was me and me alone.  His second stance in the chapter had me vigorously nodding my head in agreement because without fail, I get off schedule from what the syllabus states.  That’s why on the 1^st day of the course and also written on the syllabus is that this schedule is subject to change.  My philosophy of how and what I teach is definitely shaped by who and what my community of students represent.  For example, I’m definitely a social-justice themed instructor, but I cannot recall ever thinking about a course subject matter.  I would like to think that my philosophy is the “how-centered” approach with a little “what-centered” sprinkled in.  I am a person who doesn’t want it to come to binaries in terms of course models.  Instead of being a “and/or” binary, I am inclined to include both.  I would question as to why can’t the process have both the old and the more recent process-centered teaching blended together.  As an instructor, I want the “Authentic voices, truth telling, and honest language” (259), and the collaboration, community, and responsibility to be on display in student writing.  In terms of the logistics of syllabi and lesson plans, I do one really well and the other not so much.  My course syllabus pretty much out outlined in step with Lindemann, but I imagine this is the Standard Operating Procedure for most educational institutions. Now the lesson plan….well I keep mine in my head, because after teaching for the last 3 years, be it officially or unofficially, these types of classes the content and structure (objectives) have not changed.  However, I will attempt to duplicate Lindemann’s week one lesson plan into my own class.  When it’s broken down as Lindemann explicates, it seems almost too precise to work.  The rigidness is what worries me…I would hate to be having engaging discussions about something, and then have to table ideas, thoughts, and voices because of a time restriction that is self-imposed. 

Ain't nothin wrong with BE

I have decided to take a shot at answering the questions at the end the article. I have noticed in my travels to the south that BE has it’s own regional dialects. Some of the samples of BE in the article seems a little foreign to me. Growing up in southern California I have heard some slight variations to that of the students in the article. But the way Jordan do it is real good. She be bringin together people and the stuff they be learnin in books. What she doing is more than just putting together people she studyin. She givin the way black people be talkin a life and a face. And if she told the stories different it aint gonna come out the same. It gotta be the same place and time for it to mean somethin to people. Don’t nobody care about who this cat Wiilie is or his brother. They just two black boys from the hood and don’t nobody care if one got killed. But if you put it all together with what’s bein learned in the class and how what they learnin can be used it make a difference. Her sudents need to know they gotta voice even if it’s in BE. That is my ultimate goal in the class as I write my teaching philosophy.

I'm Guilty

The chapter titled, “Developing Writing Assignments” really inspired me to look at the kinds of writing assignments I ask students to complete.  In the past and up until this moment, I have been guilty on a few occasions of assigning faulty topics that have weakened students’ chances at responding successfully.  The one that stands out occurred during my 1^st semester as an instructor.  I asked the students to describe what love looks and feels like to them.  As a Non-Credit instructor, I am tasked with teaching a G.E.D. writing prep for students for the most part left school in the 8^th and 9^th grades, and had been assessed as having language skills in the 6^th grade range, and many had not been to school in 10+ years.  The assignment followed our unit on writing descriptive paragraphs.  I was hoping to evoke sensory-imaging writing, but most students missed the mark.  Now, I tailor this assignment and others like it with a specific audience, form, aim, and mode in mind.  That assignments failure changed an aspect of my teaching philosophy in terms of how I structure essay prompts.  I no longer teach using model paragraphs or that paragraphs can be written as some sort of canned recipe or formula.  I now teach them and develop questions that address the rhetorical modes that will hopefully strengthen student responses.

An Ode to June

Loved loved loved June Jordan's article. I think this relates nicely to our discussion last week about how involved you should get in a student's personal life. Here I feel Jordan did something super noble as a human being and yet was also able to use the context of Willie's struggles as a guide for her class. I want to be able to emulate that same "smartness" when I am a teacher. I have dreams that I embody that "on your feet" thinking when it comes to teaching philosophies and strategies and I only hope that one day (or today) I can make my awakened life a physical embodiment of my dream life.

As for my prospectus - this article was also wonderfully relevant and opened my eyes to a new sort of class discussion/interaction/collaboration model. I think I will incorporate the idea of having the class work together to come up with rules/guidelines/suggestions for the class and for the class content. Perhaps it will be a blog or Google doc they have to add to so that I'm incorporating digital tools as well. Still need to think about that one but...

Wheels are spinning, brain is working, (or as my mother would have said "Thought I smelled rubber burning).

Literature vs. Composition

Part of the in-class discussion was about literature teachers/professor and those who teach composition. Each subject is imperative with literature courses focusing on decoding text as opposed to composition which the primary focus is on creating them. Literature professors, make more money and have a higher esteem within educational institutions, but not knocking the work or literature as a whole, it seems though composition should also be held in high regard. Instructors have the responsibility of setting the foundation for writing which in return aids in the students understanding literature how to intelligently read, and consume the words on paper. As Lindemann states it requires strategic planning and execution. Composition entails more work in teaching in planning and without completely understanding how to write, one may not be able to understand what is written once in a literature course. Composition instructors have more pressure and weight placed on them, nevertheless each course have a common goal to produce students that can effectively write and decode work, with that being said both are to be held in high respects.

Lindemann Chapter 13

Lindemann’s writing assignment expectations resonates the student learning outcomes (SLOs) as well as in my teaching philosophy. The SLOs address the expectations of students on a much boarder basis, but I must say, after reading the chapter, I am compelled to revisit my teacher philosophy to add precision to what I am attempting to achieve. It makes perfect sense to inform the students of what is expected of them, not only in the academic institution, the classroom, but also the specific assignments. My practice has always been to inform the students of the learning goals. I firmly believe that if a student is clear on what is expected of them and what they are learning, the purpose of the assignment not only becomes clear, but the student can recognize if there is a need for improvement. Lindemann forces me to put more thought into the development of the assignment. Yes, there is more thought and time put into creating the assignment, but in the end, the only thing may need to do is some fine tuning of the initial assignment.

4/21/2014 Response - Effective Writing

While reading Brian’s assignment, I couldn’t help but think of the literacy biographies that we did for Dr. Cauthen. I say this because we used a narrative to articulate some form of our literary evolution, and as Brian argued, when doing the assignment, I felt like I was being more “self-conscious of my education”. As I mentioned to Dr. Cauthen during his office hours, while planning for this assignment, I looked at several of my old writings to see if I could find something that resonated with me, and that I could use as the basis for my paper. Needless to say, I found a lot of options. –I’ve kept a lot of creative writing, and essay on an external hard drive, so I had a lot to choose from. More importantly than finding a jumping off point for my paper for Dr. Cuathen, I notice that with each paper that I wrote (from one year to the next), I noticed an evolution in my style of writing, in the jargon I use, and the methods of argument I employed. I found it extremely interesting that I grew/changed from year to year, but that change was unconscious, and that it wasn’t until I started looking back, that my growth became apparent. How does this relate to my prospectus? I think I’ve been pretty vocal about how I feel that the implementation of social media in the classroom has/will have a negative impact on the students. One thing that Brian/Cauthen’s assignment unearthed for me, was a before a before discovered sense of self-consciousness. In my case, I was lucky that I had some of my old papers to make me aware of the growth I’ve experienced…. Now that I think of it, if students tapped into their social media sites, and looked at their growth through their “social media streams”, and if think of it as representation of their unfettered subconscious, I think there is a wealth of information that can be drawn from it. Just think about it, often times when writing, we build characters and stories based on faded memories. What if there was a record of those memories? Would the writer be able to tell a more vivid account? Or say the student wanted to capture a sentiment, couldn’t the sentiment be expressed more honestly if you they had something that can bring them back to that moment? –I’m thinking Viet Nam. If political protestors had facebook in those days, can you image if today, they looked back at their facebook stream, how vivid and raw their feelings would be, and well they would be able to write about those moments?

Feedback on "Creating Effective Writing Assignments"

Brian's Assignment

I like this assignment and would totally use it. Linda and Margo seem like they are not up for challenging students, or encouraging them to rise above what they think they are capable of. Most likely because of their own expectations and worry that students won't meet that. As a teacher I will inevitably have expectations but will be flexible for students to break them and not see it as a bad thing. I do however think this prompt could be streamlined a bit to be less confusing. Maybe take out the Freire quote because it seems to convolute things a bit. Or at least explain more how it relates to the topic.

Margo's Assignment

It's a fine assignment, it's just so typical. I think students may need a little more direction too - as Linda pointed out. As a teacher I will try to spell things out as clearly as possible, give students creative freedom, but also under certain guidelines so they don't get confused.

Linda's Assignment

I hate this assignment. I feel like it would overwhelm the fuck out of incoming freshman students. There are way too many guidelines for this paper, which is supposed to give the students creative freedom. As a teacher I will try to be consistent as well as practice what I preach (like I wrote about last week). If I am going to give the students creative freedom on topic then I want to give them very rough guidelines on sources, page length, etc. Also, maybe teach them about different processes of writing but not insist they write their paper one way or another. Or give them different assignments where the process is different so they can experiment and find their liking.

Todd's Assignment

Did Todd ask the class if they had any questions after he gave them the assignment? I think it's beneficial to give students an assignment one class meeting, have them think about it and write down any questions they may to discuss the next class meeting and then have them write the essay or draft after that.

Ignorance of the Fourth Discourse is Criminal

I am in complete agreement with Michelle’s sentiments about the ignoring of the fourth mode of discourse as being insane (my words)…I am always telling students that their experiences from lives matter and use those experiences to guide your writing and be heard.  This is also a part of my philosophy, which is that student voices are just as and is equally important in terms of making arguments they care about.  To ignore the fourth mode of discourse is to get away from my wish to have my students write about real-world issues that impact their lives.  This experiential writing is another discourse that my students will be writing in.  I know that this type of writing is not widely accepted in academia, but I feel that this is the type that gets students to buy in and show investment about what they are composing.  My philosophy will incorporate both the traditional discourse and the experiential.  I don’t feel the need to choose between one or the either as Bartholomae and Elbow would have one do.  I believe that all forms of discourses, both traditional and most alternative forms of composing should be instructed, exampled, and attempted in order to make student writing achieve the desired rhetorical effect. 

This researcher was dead wrong in his choosing to ignore the problem that not only he, but other scholars pointed out as occurring in the problem.  What I have learned from this is that if I expect my students to truly let their voices and experiences be heard, I have to be prepared to address whatever situations arise from said writing.      

Mike Rose

What Mike Rose and those similar minded like him advocated for 29 years ago is now a reality in the community college district I teach for.  This article details many similarities that I would define as components of my teaching philosophy.  To begin, many students are overly concerned with spelling and minor grammatical errors and believe those are the sole reasons many believe they can’t write academically.  I’ve experienced this on multiple occasions, so now I try to disarm students by letting them know that because writing is a project and always ongoing there will be time enough to catch those errors without “the grade” being affected.  In this way, the students feel more at ease at just trying to compose without the anxiety, knowing revision is possible.  One thing that I question is Mike’s problem with trying to diagnose what some common errors of your particular students are.  I give a diagnostic writing prompt the first day of class and I explain to the students that I’m looking for both what and how you say things as well as identify so-called “problem areas” that are unique to their particular class.  The other snippets Mike lists also have a spot in my philosophy. 

I would rather talk about what I find the most significant idea that became a reality is the removal of the term remedial in course titles and language used within the discipline.  But it’s not the term’s removal in itself, it is the pedagogy that surrounds these classes that has changed.  The replacement term “Basic Skills” is not any better in its literal definition and it is still implicit with many stigmas (most negative) as well.  As an instructor of these basic skills classes, my objective is not to teach basic skills, but to teach composition as a non-credit course where students are able to become familiar or re-acquaint themselves with the traditional academic discourse.  Basic skill courses no longer are grammar intensive and focused on mechanics like days of old.  Basic skills classes of today are focused on students thinking, reading, and writing critically like the freshman comp courses they will soon embark upon.  Mike being my personal friend has indirectly influenced my philosophy through our many conversations without my noticing it until now. 

4/16/2014- Response to Carter -

THE FLYING SPAGHETTI MONSTER!!! I actually didn’t find out about the flying spaghetti monster until last semester, but I felt it was representative of the irony behind the reasoning for teaching “intelligent design” in the classroom: the bible thumpers complain that intelligent design should be taught in the classrooms for the sake of providing a balanced education, an education that does not promote secularism (assuming evolution is secular). With the Flying Spaghetti Monster, it uses the same argument as the bible thumpers, but it makes the case, that if we are going to teach intelligent design (which is Christian based) for the sake of being balanced and inclusive, then we should teach students about the flying spaghetti monster. Needless to say that didn’t jive well with the bible thumpers J

The other thing this article made me think of is the historical contrast between knowledge and faith. A literary archetype that exists is that the more educated/knowledgeable/conscious you are, the less faith you have…. I’ve always found that interesting. 

Response to 4/14 - Cauthen's Paper - Heirarchy

While reading Cauthen’s paper, the section about “male as a second language”,  I thought of a new aspect to my research paper that I hadn’t thought of before: I hypothesized that with the emergence of social media (i.e. facebook, twitter, etc…) that the rhetorical strategies of the students would change, but I didn’t consider how the change would affect them within a professional framework.  Similar to what Cauthen’s paper points out about the legal field, there is a hierarchy that exists within the business world and it is influenced by the way the old business world communicates and transacts; this would be in contrast to the emerging class. – I would say that the old business model/culture is very pointed, and that the culture being driven by social media is lax and indirect ( this is a big claim I know!)

From my personal experience, I’ve noticed a slight conflict between “old world” business, and emerging professionals. One example is when I went to a client meeting and of the insurance brokers (not from my agency) showed up the meeting a five o’clock shadow, a non-traditional “business suit”, and spoke in a very “causal” way. When the client meeting was over, and I was on the elevator with the client  (without the other broker in sight), the client made a snarky comment  to the effect of “did that kid know he was going to a business meeting?” Although a very brief statement, it meant a lot: by calling the other broker a “kid”, he is calling out the other broker’s lack of maturity,  by asking the kid if the kid knew he was going to a business meeting, it shows that the client felt he was ill prepared.

Another quick example I can think of is when Mark Zuckerberg was going to make Facebook’s stock public, we he was met with a lot of resistance and opposition, and it was reported that many investors he met with felt disrespected because he showed up to the meetings with jeans and a hooded sweatshirt….. 

Emotioned Education Infrastructures Cause Racism???

Are You Serious??

The Trainor article was a really interesting and very different approach at getting to the origins of recent generations ideas about race and stereotypes.  However, this article does not fit within the discourse that my thesis prospectus will hope to address.  I am investigating correlations between minority community college students who have the ability to rap and how that ability informs their writing in the academic setting.  I wasn’t particularly convinced that she answered her question.  Everyone or most educated people understand and acknowledge that there is institutional racism in education.  The author didn’t convince me that the student’s racist responses were the fault of the school.  As a black man reading the student responses and interviews, I was pissed that they constantly said why is the author whining about race.  The student’s attitudes and stereotypes were not a surprise to me though.  I firmly believe that being black or darker skinned is often equated unjustly, unfairly, and absolutely wrong to not being able “to understand the connection between hard work and a good attitude, and a hopeful, successful future” (Trainor 97).  These students only added more confirmation that these ideas and beliefs about blacks are still rampant in society today.  The idea that they are more oppressed or have suffered the same as blacks was the moment where I had to put it down and take a break from the comedy I was reading.  Overall, there is nothing that is written that would get me to see that racism is emotioned and stems from infrastructure within the school system.  What I found useful is the researchers data collection methods.  I would imitate the researcher’s method of using interviews as well as student writing projects to come up with the data to answer my question.   Similar to the author, I would record the sessions with the students and then have transcripts made.  The transcriptions are important because that will allow me to come back to students and probe their previous responses to get to the core of the issue or problem.  Other than that, I found this article lacking in anything substantive to be used for my own future prospectus. 

A problem well put is half solved...-John Dewey

“If we want students to provide meaningful writing, we must design meaningful assignments, tasks that encourage students to use writing to act.” That statement by Lindemann couldn’t be truer but it’s more so wishful thinking when it comes to teachers, especially those within the elementary-middle school categories. Most teachers have learned that in order to be successful in their field of work they must teach to the test. Standardized testing is a big issue with many pros and cons; it not only measures the students’ progress but also the teachers’ ability to teach. My teaching prospectus focuses on the teachers view on the standardized test, and how within their classroom they address this requirement or don’t and the pressure they face of their students performing proficiently on these tests to prove that they are good teachers. Often times students are presented with vague props such as Group 1, or 3 (pg. 214) leaving the students with little to go on. So while it would be nice to be able to teach and create writing assignments that stimulate students minds and provide them with a valuable skill, exercises like those are limited due to the fact testing takes precedence over everything. Now the state is implementing common core standardized as if to resolve the testing issue, but there are certain benchmarks students must reach in order to be considered basic or above. So instead of teachers teaching to the test they are teaching to bench marks which still evaluates their ability to teach. This is our educational system for you, either love it or homeschool your child or you could come out of pocket and pay for private.

Lindemann ch. 13

This chapter on developing writing assignments left me with mixed reviews. On one hand I agree that vague unspecific assignments have the potential to set up students for failure. But then also on the other hand I feel as if the teacher created the assignment they know what they are looking for in responses and they will be specific or leave it as open ended prompts. And if all else fails students ask questions to clarify assignments, I guess I felt that the chapter/parts of it was assuming that students weren’t clever enough to gain further clarification on writing assignments. She includes a section (pg. 215) that’s states “before writers can respond to an assignment, they must define themselves a rhetorical problem.”  Well duh, and in that defining stage they could or rather they should be addressing some questions to the teachers to provide specific definitions. Nevertheless, I understand where she is coming from in that it is vital that teachers do provide adequate information for their students in order for them to successfully complete the writing assignments.

The Language of Exclusion

Mike rose points out how important writing is, but that it is also in disarray in the universities. The gap between secondary school writing and college writing is a topic I have often deliberated over. There are students that have difficulties writing at a high school level that go on to college without hesitation, so it leaves me wondering what does happen when these students tackle their first writing assignments as well as their last, the GRE.  Writing is a skill and a tool that is necessary in the cognitive process of gaining and mastering a subject. My teaching philosophy is and has always been to make sure my students have the skills necessary to succeed in the work environment and or excel in achieving a higher education.  Taking the courses for this certificate has enriched my teaching and shown me new techniques to “engage young writers in rich, natural use.” Students’ cognitive experiences should be experiences they can relate to and can grasp because they are familiar to them. Their individual experience should be relevant and given a voice.  It is my intention to bridge the gap as best possible by building skills in a learning environment that is comfortable and natural to students, thus building confidence and enthusiasm.

Delayed: Recchio

Is the fourth mode of discourse not the most important though? Narrative or Confessional Discourse is what we ask our students to do in all of their work. "Try and relate to the subject matter," "Imagine if you were in the character's shoes," "Use personal experience as evidence for the arguments you are making in your paper," "Even if you don't relate make it up."

Yet Recchio says, "Since the fourth mode of discourse presents special problems, I will confine my analysis to the first three."

WHAT?!

Aren't we supposed to face the issues? To tackle them head on? Yes, please make notes on the structure, the grammar, the theme, the process but ignore that personal narrative, the ever glaring truth and you become a person that watches an elderly person struggle to walk across the street and does nothing about it.

When it comes to my teaching philosophy, I cannot and I will not avoid the "special problems" that are presented to me from my students. If I ask my students to submit work that is inevitably personal, then I will not grade their work as if it's an objective story or a fictional piece of work written by someone in the distant past. This all goes back to practicing what you preach. And so many...I repeat SO MANY teachers fail at this. They ask students to write subjectively but won't grade subjectively, they ask students to show up for class on time but they don't show up to class on time, they ask students to try their hardest but they don't try their hardest. I will grade subjectively, I will show up for class on time, I will try my hardest, I WILL NOT IGNORE A STUDENTS WRITING WHEN IT'S CLEAR THEY HAVE BEEN SEXUALLY ABUSED.

I know there is a fine line. I'm good at fine lines. It's about presenting the subject matter without interrogation. Shall I get specific? Students will be required to meet with me at least 2 times a semester they do not need to make an appointment or have something specific to say they can just come shoot the shit but they must come to my office hours at least twice during the semester to meet with me one on one if they want 5% of their grade and in this case I would ask the student if they could expand on the experience they had written about where did they get the motivation to write about this subject and I believe no I know that the conversation would only snowball from there and it would not need to turn into a crying ranting sesh but if thats what the student needs then fine but also I would turn it into lets brainstorm what you can do with this experience in this class how can you take what you learned from this experience and write more thoughtful pieces throughout the class and throughout your academic career.

And I believe, no again... I KNOW... that this will help the student to grow mentally, professionally, academically. Isn't that the goal of teaching? To help our students grow in more ways than one?