Mutnick/Amos Blog #12

I love the idea of "translanguaging pedagogies" because I have fallen in love with teaching young adults from all over the world & have grown accustomed to "translanguaging" in my own classroom. It's extremely fun to work with such willing (to learn) and acceptable (of other cultures) who honestly care about everyone's different beliefs. Doing this for the past 4 years has given me insight into more than the differences in student learning styles. It has opened my eyes to the "whys" of drastically different belief systems and hope for others (in politics) to be more open-minded.

Blog #9 Students Feedback

As the semester is coming to an end, so are my SIL workshops. I have had the privilege of being an SIL for a composition stretch course. I decided to end my last workshop with a reflective paper that allows students to think back to our semester workshops and answer four questions. One questioned asked them to describe what they learned in my workshops. The second asked them to reflect on a workshop that best stood out to them, and that I should keep for my future students. The third allowed them to criticize me, by suggesting what I can do to enhance my workshops. Lastly, I asked them to provide a piece of advice to my future summer bridge students (something they will want them to know, or be aware of). I was super amazed to see how much writing they turned in. Some students literally wrote two pages. I was very happy to hear from them the fact that they liked the lesson that involved Instagram, and the postcard project that let them use both text and image. The students wrote that they would love to have more lessons like those, for they feel comfortable working with social media. Another student mentioned that through these projects she was able to make friends in the class. I truly believe that bringing social media into the classroom creates a more motivated learning environment and a collaborative learning classroom, for students socialize more with peers and have a stronger communication with their instructor.

What happened to Cinco de Mayo?

Last year, prior to Trump's election as president, there was always an aura of celebration in the Latino community during Cinco de Mayo.  During Trump's campaign, he made it a point to alienate immigrants by calling them "rapists" and other outrageous terms that were totally unfounded.  However, this year Cinco de Mayo fell on a Friday making it quite easy for the Mexican community to be in a festive mood considering the end of the work week should culminate in celebration.  But nothing happened.  No flags, no food, no togetherness, no racial identity, no pride, no nothing.  In fact, the community I live in embraced Cinco de Mayo so much that I conditioned myself not to cook because my neighbors were happy to give away their food in recognition of their moment to honor their independence.  Again, nothing happened.  Why?  I was forced to realize that Trump's campaign of "Making America Great Again" means different things for different people.  Does it sound like I'm complaining?  In fact I am.  I am not sure if I am reading to far into this mysterious absence of celebration on behalf of the Latino community, but after pondering the situation, I felt, at least to a small degree, the aftershock of Jim Crow Laws.  And here's why.  The immediate suppression of expression, the scenery of silence, the suffocation of celebration appeared to be a momentary trip down memory lane of legal attitudes to quarantine people, much like Jim Crow did for blacks years ago.  By no means am I suggesting that the lack of the Latino community to celebrate Cinco de Mayo is anywhere near the grotesque, systematic repression of Jim Crow.  I just think these developments have a didactic assignment written all over it.  It just smells of something that may proliferate into something mildly resembling Jim Crow or El Novo Jim Crow.  However,  I think I could have students write a paper about what exactly does "Make America Great" actually mean.  Is it for everybody?  Who is left out?  Why are they left out?  What do you think?

Lindemann chapter 13 blog #11

Lindemann's chapter, "Developing Writing Assignments"  lists 6 criteria teachers must account for if we give students complete freedom developing elements of an assignment, which are, 1. Student interest/understanding; 2. Purpose/claim; 3. Audience; 4. Role for students with audience/subject (I have no idea how to even begin to explain this to NNS. In fact, I'm not sure I really know what Lindemann is getting at. Help? 5. Form of discourse; 6. Criteria for success
I definitely do not use all of this criteria! My students are aware of all but # 4. Besides we don't write long enough papers to be too worried about everything, but definitely 1 and 6.

Lindquist blog #10

Lindemann ch. 12 blog #9

Lindemann's suggestion about peer review workshopping is what I already do, to a certain extent. I put student's in pairs based on gender, race/nationality, age and level of writing, but what I use these pairs for is not "typical" workshopping in a composition classroom because I have to teach multiple skills in addition to writing. Because of this, I have student's read their partner's written work, ask questions and/or take notes to "report"  (tell the rest of us) about their partner's paper. These are NOT essays, but this type of exercise provides students with the opportunity to work on all skills (listening, reading, speaking and writing). I love my students and my job, but I am excited to teach composition as I read about so many good strategies/suggestions. Oh this week I'm using about 2 classes (3hours) for pairs to write e similarities and differences of an event in their prospective countries (table manners, weddings, etc).

Hello.

Teaching Literature

I want to teach composition using literature. One way if doing this is with specific types. An article I found talks about "Teaching American Literature from a Market Perspective" and it connects well with the article about barroom ethnography. Students benefit from reading material that enriches their understanding of how class issues affect their academic awareness and their personal lives. Not that I want to be a strict Marxist either. I find it important to incorporate literature while working with students who are learning both authentic and academic voice. My question to those with experience is, do you suggest the standard books, such as Dreiser, which I read in community college and loved, or go rogue?

Staying hands off

Both my sophomore and freshman classes are working on an essay. In both cases a fellow teacher and I wrote the prompts together. Typically, my coworker has a tendency to be much more structured than I am and gives her students specific instructions on how many paragraphs to include, topic sentences, context, 2 pieces of evidence per paragraph, analysis, concluding sentences etc. In all fairness, her guidelines align with those expressed by my department and often produce decent products. I on the other hand, prefer to give students a prompt and allow them to make decisions about how many pieces of evidence they think they need, how many paragraphs are appropriate, etc. My coworker decided to try it "my way" and is anxious about the lack of instruction (though also excited to try something new). Her anxiety unintentionally brought out mine. Should I be giving students more structure? I have read and learned that writing does not follow the rigid rules often taught in English classrooms, but how hands off should I be? 

          I always have students submit their thesis statements for approval so as to make sure that they are answering all parts of the prompt, and I often encourage students to see me during office hours or class time but I have started wondering if I am being too hands off. I think this may be a momentary stress, as usually I feel pretty confident in what I am doing, but for now I am struggling with how much guidance is too much vs. too little.

Blame The Teacher

In 2009, I attended a conference in Los Angeles Valley College. The discussion was featured students and teachers. My speech teacher, at the time, conducted the conference, and the audience was a combination of students and instructors of no more than thirty in attendance.


We discussed various problems from the point of view of the student and teacher alike. However, what I will never forget is one student's comment on a teacher's apathetic approach to lecturing. I'm paraphrasing his words: "I have this one math teacher who slurs his words and shows no enthusiasm in his lectures, and he expects the students to write down his notes. I cannot do that."


I mention this experience because while I enjoy the role of a student more than a teacher, I think it is worth noting that these teachers contribute to these students' grasp on the subject. In order for students to succeed, teachers must provide a quality education for them. It is a proven fact that there are countless factors that must be taken into consideration in the teacher-student relationship.


Having said that, I think that teachers must keep in mind that their students are sensitive, and they rely on the instructor's interest and knowledge in the field in order for them to fully grasp it. Simply put, teachers must be passionate in their field in order to contribute to their students' growth. Teachers need to remember that some of their students are already uninterested in their field, so the teachers' lack of interest worsens their plight.


It is easy to blame the students for their poor study habits and organizational skills. However, teachers are to equally blame for the poor academic performance.

Andersen Blog #10 - Self-Directed Learning

Self-Directed Learning

A relatively new wave in education is the concept of self-directed learning which proceeds from the idea that people learn best when they have a stake in their own placement. It is believed that they will learn better if they have control of what level and what direction their learning takes. I have not fully researched this concept, but I am challenged with accepting it. If students are unconsciously incompetent (don’t know what they don’t know) how can they successfully select where they should be placed? Students often overestimate their comprehension levels or underestimate the amount of help they truly need. For example, in my tutoring class I have a student who informed me that she did not need to be in the basic class because her credits from high school have all come in and it was determined that based on her credits, she does not need remediation. However, she has not received a passing grade on any of the assignments this semester and will undoubtedly fail the class. I find it hard to believe that the reason for her failure is because she did not place herself in that classroom but someone else made the selection for her.  Should I expect that when she goes to ENG 101 she will suddenly understand the concepts of complete sentences and paragraph structures? I worry that this innovation will leave students behind or pass them along when they have not truly mastered the concepts of writing.

Bar Room Criticism

I had a conversation in the bar this weekend with a barber/salon coworker about the need for us to be critical of the work that leaves our shop regardless of who the stylist is.  We talked about the critical eye and criticism as a mode to protect our product image and improve the work of each of the artist/ stylist in our shop.  I tried to relate to her some aspects of Berthoff's essay "A Curious Triangle and the Double-Entry Notebook; or, How Theory Can Help Us Teach Reading and Writing".  Of course there was some disconnect in the relationship between the discourse of hair and discourse of writing.  However, as Berthoff suggest, "becoming critical, developing a method, is the best way, I think for teachers and students to learn from one another."  As, we talked about the struggle some stylist have when others are critical of their work and how to best engage that dialogue effectively, I related it to the possibilities in the classroom setting.  As Berthoff suggest, "the meaning of meaning most useful to us is that it is a means: speaking and writing, listening and reading all engage us in the making of meaning by means of language..."  As teachers and students must do in the classroom by developing or expanding a discourse for reading, writing and critical responses to student writing, we must develop a professional discourse in a workplace like a salon that enables coworkers to be empowered in the same way teachers must empower students.

EnJaMbEd Success!

I'd like to take this blog to say thank you and Congratulations to the staff and everyone involved in the publication of this years Enjambed and the event that they put on Thursday afternoon.  The guest speaker was thematically appropriate and inspiring!  The food was awesome.  The crowd was energetically engaged!  The event and the publication surpassed any expectations that I may have had and I am honored that my work was selected.  The quality of this publication is a testament to the importance of student centered classrooms and learning opportunities.  It was more than a chance to showcase student work. It is an emblematic example of the students ability expand the learning experience for the entire academic community.  Once again, thank you and congratulations!

Bazerman's Conversational Model

I have to admit that I have never heard of writing along the lines of a conversation.  Bazerman's perspective is interesting in that he suggests that this conversational model actually translates into developing skills we take for granted in the writing process.  For example, his model suggests absorbing, reformulating, and commenting on what was read.  I think we take that idea for granted because it is done so much but linking it to a conversational model is, well, different.  Many of the things he suggests that are better conducted in the conversational model is actually, in my estimation, responsible writing in the first place.  Things like evaluating what is read and significant commitment to reading attentively should already be located somewhere in our writer's toolbox.  However, if Bazerman suggests that conversational models point students into the direction of reading effectively, developing responses, and questioning the material we read to inform the ideas we want to write about, then I am certainly willing to adopt this idea.  As it stands right now, in my experience in teaching so far, ANYTHING that can be done to get students to embrace reading and writing has my vote for didactic effectiveness to the second power.

Pierce blog #8

Although Pierce's article, "Online Strategies for Teaching ThinkIng" is about using the Internet, I have often engaged my, EFL, students in "dialogical" thinking through discussing cultural values & beliefs when learning about controversial issues (in America). Pierce defines dialectal thinking as a way to generate interest in a reading. The fore mentioned unit I cover covers issues that carry a lot of emotion with them, especially samesex marriage and abortion. I wasn't surprised at the shock of Asian, or Saudi Arabian students, but what did surprise me was the most liberal Russian student's complete and utter intolerance of same sex marriage, yet my quiet Saudi student was completely fine with the idea. Other Asian & South American students could not comprehend a woman having the right to choose whether or not she would keep her baby in North America. I am happy to say my students listen to one another and at the end of the discussion not only did their vocabulary increase, but tolerance for others did as well.
I am aware that my students are more apt to listen because they are still trying to comprehend words they don't know in context and I firmly believe by not being completely fluent helps students keep their emotions in check.
Another advantage of emotional discussions in my class was their learning an idiom in context, Let's just agree to disagree

Lindemann Ch. 8, blog #7

I really liked what Lindemann said about the 5-paragragh essay being irrelevant because "real" writers don't write that way. I encounter students from countries, especially Asian and Arabic, who come to the U.S. to go to graduate school and I feel an obligation to teach 5-paragraph essays! These students are going to take the IELTS or the TOEFL before even getting accepted to a school, and in order to pass, one must know how to write a 5 paragraph essay! Now, those going into grad school must also pass the Gre. And the students going to a JC or university must pass a placement test after the TOEFL or IELTS!! I feel trapped. There's no way around teaching the 5-paragraph essay. When I have students whose work, or company, sent them here to learn English, they need a whole other type of writing! I don't mind this al all because my classes consist of 6 - 9 students and they all have goals and want to learn. Small classes afford me the opportunity to work closely with students and really get to know their goals, strengths, weaknesses and personalities to better assist them with their goals.

Mathison-Fife blog #6

I love how Fife used Facebook to teach rhetorical analysis. When I was a student teacher at Banning about 8 or 9 years ago, I had to teach a unit on Persuasion. I wanted to use MySpace at the time, but most students didn't have computers yet and the master teacher said to I use adds I from the Internet. It worked ok, but I wasn't satisfied. Now that I teach EFL to young adults, I did use Instagram by having students evaluate each other's postings and decide what their "silent" or "hidden" messages were. Unfortunately, Has I didn't feel comfortable explaining more than what was in their books, "persuasion". The one drawback of teaching EFL is having to be cognasant of how much information you give at once because some students are trying to learn most of the vocabulary so I just have to work with those at are ready for more in small groups (after setting up the oth re with an activity).

Lindquist blog #5

The article, "Class Ethos and the Polirics of Inquiry" brought up happy memories for me. I remember  having conversations with Dad about being "book smart" or "street smart", which is precisely the question Lindquist posed to one of her 'subjects' she used from the bar research. She asked what it meant to be learned from an institution (book smart through a university) versus through one's experience (street smarts). This made me laugh because when I went back to school, Dad remarked that I will now have a well rounded education. I was confused and said, "I never lived on the street". He just laughed and said I had lived in enough lower income neighborhoods in a variety of states around the US. Another quote that was typical of my blue collar (business owner) dad was the one about forgetting about what you learned in school because now you've got to live in the real world. He concluded saying he never worried about me because I was always aware of the people and things around me and I could take care of myself.

Andersen Blog #9 - Teaching and Judging Voice

Teaching and Then Judging Voice

In primary education students are encouraged to write like everyone else and follow the pattern that the teacher has laid out. After students have learned, and eventually mastered, the formulaic essay writing processes, they enter university and are told that they have no voice in their writing. As Jeffery asks in her essay, “is it even possible to teach voice” (117)? How do we assist our students in not only finding their voice but making that voice apparent in their essays? This is a challenging prospect that even the experts have not yet overcome.  Jeffery says that more research is needed in this field while at the same time conceding that the need for voice in student essays are a part of the rubrics used to assess students entrance to college and other important aspects of their future. This research needs to be completed posthaste if we are to fairly judge the students and their attempts at including their voice in the essays that we assign. And we need to create some judging criteria that does not negatively impact the students we teach while we investigate these issues.

Blog #8 Freewriting: Teaching Philosophy

I grew up tormented by negative people who assumed that I would not be able to succeed in life. My own teachers’ judged me based on my ethnic background and anticipated a fail in their classes. Luckily, I was born into a family who never gives up on me and cares about my future. I am passionate, caring, responsible, organized, and very social. Thanks to my institution I have been able to take many courses that have helped me grow and improve my teaching skills. I believe that the purpose of education is to understand society and to find our own place in it, and for that reason I am determined to find my place as a teacher. As a future teacher, I know that I should always aim to inspire and improve learning for students. I understand that teaching will not always be easy, but I have learned to enjoy any challenge!

Lindquist's Class Ethos piece

Julie Lindquist argues that there isn't much difference between classrooms and barrooms, when it comes to rhetorical principles.  Using several examples of barroom discussions, Lindquist shows the significance of rhetorical "performances," in particular in a barroom where the bulk of the population is working class people.  She warns of a disconnect between middle class people and working class people that is so profound it greatly intervened in the leverage she tries to muster in an argument: she was an "outsider."  And although she admits some of the views expressed by the "regulars" at the bar were easily anticipated, Lindquist claims her flawed ethos, despite being amongst the "regulars," was problematic.  The barroom provided for her a way to peek into the thinking of working class people and take the temperature of their views.  Her classrooms, then, were able to include writing assignments that people and children of working class people could relate to.  I want to take her discussion of the barroom and its "rhetorical practices" to the barber shop or the nail shop.  What about the rhetorical practices in these facilities that serve the community without the attraction of alcohol?  These places have "regulars" and many if not the same topics can just as easily dominate discussions in the barber shop or the nail shop just as it does in the barroom.  Can the conversations that take place in these institutions be transcribed, thus giving teachers in these communities a means to connect with the rhetorical practices routinely displayed in the barber shop or the nail shop?  I think so  The rhetorical practices in barber shops can be just as stimulating as those in the barroom.  And they can provide compelling insight into their rhetorical practices and this information can inform the writing assignments for teachers in these areas.  I guess a better question is who would investigate this further?  I would. 

Lindsey Valbuena: Writing Genres

I have attended numerous trainings on teaching writing and new programs geared toward writing instruction. In all of these trainings there seems to be a lack of consensus as to what genres of writing there are, which should be taught in each grade, which should be prioritized, etc. The list of genres I have been introduced to most recently is: information, persuasive, interpretive, narrative, and personal. Many of the programs I have read seem to suggest that narrative, for example, is taught K-8 and eventually trickles out by high school. The literary essay is not really covered until 7-8 grade. These rules are of course not set in stone during these trainings, but seem to beg the question: What genres of writing are there? Which ones should be covered in which grades? Are there genres that should be prioritized over others?

Andersen Blog #8 - Developing Writing Assignments

Developing Writing Assignments

“If we want students to produce meaningful writing, we must design meaningful assignments, tasks that encourage students to use writing to act” (Lindemann 219).

It is up to us as composition instructors to provide creative, assignments that students will be interested in writing. Unfortunately, what students get are the same tired prompts that have been passed down for what seems like generations. Lindemann encourages us to ask ourselves, “What do I want the students to do?” This seems an easy enough task for the teacher; however, looking at the follow-up questions, it becomes a more daunting task that we must set for ourselves. Especially true is her question, “Does it appeal to the interest and experiences of my students?” It is up to us to generate that interest and make our assignments something they are interested in completing, so that they are not completing the assignment the night before it is due, but are willing to actually put in the work to improve their writing. 

Ideas for writing assignments

Last week Dr. Cauthen asked a very interesting question: "Why does the marketing industry seek to profit off "cool" elements in society in poor neighborhoods?  Several students offered compelling insight as to why this happens.  I see, or at least I think I see, a perfect prompt that is in direct alignment with Lindemann's chapters regarding developing writing assignments.  And here's why.  Lindemann suggests that effective writing assignments must and should be grounded in rhetorical components, even if the assignment never says that is what it is doing.  With a question or a prompt similar to Cauthen's, the writing assignment would involve rhetorical principles: purpose, audience, and a discussion or engagement with material clearly extending beyond the classroom.  In other words, this assignment would enable students to weigh in on events in our world, thus exercising critical thinking skills.  As an instructor, here's what I'm thinking.  To give the assignment some context, the prompt would begin with the exact portion of the poem Melvianne recited during our discussion and allow students to look at the documentary, or segments of it, as Leonard suggested.  I think Leonard said it was titled "Cool Hunting."  With those two forms of context for the essay, find a story, book, poem or article catering to the idea or question Dr. Cauthen asked.  From there, the assignment would look something like this:  For this final essay, students will write a well developed essay considering portions of the poem (the one Melvianne recited in class) and the documentary "Cool Hunting" (Leonard's recommendation).  You are free to use as many external sources needed to support your ideas.  You can either disagree or agree that marketing in poor neighborhoods is not a problem.  Consider your neighborhood and the consuming trends of your friends and family friends to further support why you agree or disagree with marketing strategies in a specific region or area.  You also may want to define the term "cool," "rad," "awesome," or "turned up" to  connect this attitude to generations using these terms.  Of course this is just a rough draft of the prompt.  What do you think?  Is it too much?  By the way, I'm thinking a word count of 1,250 words, due in two weeks, the level would be intermediate composition courses, and at least five sources, MLA, work cited page.  

Stir em Up!

Wayne Booth discusses what he calls "the perversions of rhetorical stance" in his essay The Rhetorical Stance.  Of the list of "perversions" the second one that he discusses is the "advertiser's stance" which suggests the "undervaluing of the subject and the overvaluing pure effect."  Unfortunately, it is far too easy to uncover examples of this sensationalizing the argument with the "controversial of argumentative" assertions instead of exploring or promoting positions based upon information.  The irony is that just as the audience is engaged in the subject from a pseudo-intellectual emotional position, they are obliviously acknowledging and empowering limiting marginalizing tropes that they think they are fighting against.  Take for example, the panel type discussions often found on television shows and news shows.  There is a mediator between two opposing views who is usually from some marginalized group, women, LGBT, or etc.  The opposing views are often highlighted by stark symbolic divisions presented in either visual cues like gender, race, or political positions.  As, the debate ensues (pure entertainment) the audience is tricked into thinking that each side is offering information.  However, what the audience experiences is an emotional affirmation of their subconscious and conscious positions.  If there is to be a positive in teaching rhetoric, a goal or purpose, it should be to empower young writer's and audiences with the ability to uncover perversions like this so that real discussions, arguments and debates point towards the exposition of information that will empower people to make choices that lead to innovative change.

Blog #7 Spanish Speaking Parents

Today, I encountered a very common, yet disturbing situation. A 7th grade teacher called me over to translate her comments over to a student, who only speaks Spanish and was not completing his assignments. I feel that the teacher did not allow the student to respond to her comments. The student mentioned he was not completing the assignments because he had trouble understanding them, and because he was afraid they would be wrong. I mentioned that to the teacher and she just ignored my translation, and I was then told to call home and let the parents know that the student was not turning in work and would be transferred over to "special classroom," because they will help him more there. I spoke to the mother of this student and mentioned that I was not the teacher, yet I was told to translate on behalf of her child's teacher. The mother, who is also only a Spanish speaker, mentioned that she would try to talk to her son, and agreed to the teachers request of moving the student to a special ed. class, then the conversation ended. Once the student left, the teacher mentioned that the child was struggling because the parents are not involved in the education of their children. I did not respond, but now that I think about it, I do not think that it is correct to blame the parents. Spanish speaking parents often avoid confrontation with school staff and officials, and are open to anything they (the school staff) recommend because they believe the teachers know what is best for their child. Spanish speaking parents are not likely to go against the teacher; sadly, the teacher is not always correct in suggesting that a student who only speaks Spanish is "not average" and will probably do better in lower class levels. It is just disturbing to see that a student who is simply struggling with the language will be placed in special classes, because there are no ESL classes available or any support from staff or school officials.

Publication

I have been curious lately about the publishing process. Dr. Cauthen has mentioned on more than one occasion that it is valuable to publish our work in various publications. Having never considered this option, I am curious what this process looks like. Also, it leads me to think of the various articles we have read on audience. Do we revise our pieces based on the audience of the publication we are submitting to? Should we be encouraging our own students to make publication a goal? What is the payoff of publication from a student perspective?

The process of accepting responsibilty

Lad Tobin's Reading Students, Reading Ourselves: Revising the Teacher's Role in the Writing Class is a honest thought provoking process essay that examines his role and the role of writing teachers in influencing the outcome of the students writing as part or the writing, reading and revision process. He says, "my discomfort grew as I began to see how much her whole argument echoed my own ideas."  Of course, Nickki, the student did well in his class as a writer even though she struggle in other classes.  Lad's self reflection is important as he suggest the need to develop reader theory that accounts for the teacher unavoidable influence on the writers outcome.  His honesty went even further as he acknowledged his biased reading of student work that he didn't find appealing.  Moreover, the admission of the impact of unconscious gender bias is profound.  In the end, I think teachers would do well to read and reflect on the process on a regular basis as a refresher that may help sharpen our eyes and our awareness of our bias so that we might get closer to that realm of objective readers and limit the strong influence we have on a writer's work.

Andersen Blog #7 - Teaching Through Technology

Teaching through Technology

As technology becomes such an integral part of society, we must learn to also make it an integral part of the classroom, especially writing classes. 60 Minutes came to the CSUDH campus recently to discuss how apps and their content are designed to be addictive. According to Tristan Harris, a former Google product manager, smartphones are like slot machines, making the student increasingly curious about the number of likes or comments they receive on a post or picture. It becomes a constant desire that is reinforced by the immediate response from followers that app users are able to generate.  Collaborative writing assignments are an excellent way to incorporate writing and apps in the classroom. We can begin an essay, short story, or novel and have the students continue writing from there. It offers them the opportunity to write in a low stakes collaborative manner, but engages their fixation (addiction) to social media. It can also incorporate various levels of discourse and become a writing of the students' choosing and liking. Once they like what they are writing about, they will put more effort into the task, ensuring that they like what they write, which is the first step toward “good” writing. 

Chose your words...

Thomas E. Recchio juxtaposes  Robert Scholes saying, "Different, even conflicting assumptions may preside over any reading of a single text by a single person..." and M.M. Bakhtin saying "the arena of almost any utterance an intense interaction and struggle between ones' own and another's word is being waged..."  As his essay continues, he uses a Bakhtin view to analyze the competing views that are found in the students essay.   In doing so, he identifies four competing discourse express the writer's knowledge and their perspective on the issue while at the same time challenging the cohesiveness of the writing.  At this point Toby Fulwiler's essay The Role of Audiences comes to mind as he suggests, "when we write about anything we learn it better."  The students "draft" is a good example of that very point.  I think Recchio's reading and analysis of the draft would be very helpful for Graduate level or maybe Undergraduate students.  However, I think it would need to be greatly simplified for High School level students.  At that level, it would be very help for the student to have a reading of their draft that highlighted the existence of the different discourse found in their draft. Moreover, to avoid the tendency of teacher centered in judgment, I would suggest that the writer choices the discourse that they feel most passionate about and expound upon it. Also, it would be helpful here to suggest how the other discourses might be more effective for other audiences.  In the end, This type of reading and revision requires the time and patience of both the writer and the teacher/audience with a common goal of refining writing and learning at its highest level.

We need more rhetoric

Jennifer brought up a very powerful point in regards to the duplicitous nature of rhetoric.  In other words, there are two sides to rhetoric: a dimension of negativity and a dimension to contribute to the stability of humanity.  Furthermore, when Recchio asks, "What do students need to know about rhetoric, it is important that students know the ideas but not necessarily the theoretical foundation.  When a student writes a well-written paper, one of the reasons it is considered well written is because it contains at least the fundamentals of rhetoric: clarity, evidence and purpose of the writing.  Does the student need to know how much Plato, Cicero, Aristotle, and Quintilian contributed to the art of rhetoric?  It will be nice to know, but it will be even better that students are using the power of rhetoric as evidenced by the effectiveness of their paper.  So we as teachers are actually contributing to our students' understanding of rhetoric by the mastery of writing that students show.  In other words, as long as our didactic principles are founded in meaningful instruction to convey ideas, the students are already rhetoricians, they are just not all the way sure how they are.

The word "rhetoric"

This word comes up in news in connection with Trump. The phrase "Trump rhetoric" is being used to describe the questionable things he says about people, women, policy, and everything else. Recently, my neighbor brought the subject up to me in a conversation about the English language. This neighbor thinks that rhetoric has a negative connotation; in the same way, the word propaganda has become a misunderstood and/or misused word that carries a negative connotation. I.e. anything you don't like is propaganda. I defended the word rhetoric because  it has a general application to any type of speech or argument and is not negative.

Timed Writing

Because so much of our conversation seems to center around the writing of process pieces, I thought it might be interesting to explore the teaching of timed writings. I sometimes wonder what the purpose and benefit is of using timed writings as assessment. Is a timed writing an accurate assessment of a student's writing capabilities? So much of the standardized writing students do is based off of their ability to compose an essay in 1 hour. How much of our time should be dedicated to teaching this skill? Is there a way to teach timed writing that is not formulaic? Or is the formula a necessity for students to fall back on? What do you assess in a timed writing in comparison to a processed piece?

Blog #6 Technology in the classroom

After conducting some research on the use of technology in the classroom, I was surprised to read that there has been little research done on the benefits of technology and writing. There was a handful of sources on technology and math, but very few on writing. If any were available they were very old, and I believe that many teachers have created and discovered many possible ways to integrate technology into their writing lessons (other than the use of powerpoint). I have noted that when I incorporate social media (Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook) into my classrooms, and use e-journals (through google docs), the interest level of my students rise and their writing enhances. Students use technological devices all the time, they send text messages, emails, and share posts that have writing in them. Students are writing constantly throughout their day, they may not be writing academically, but to me it is like free writing. I believe that technology can be integrated into the classroom effectively, but many teachers will argue the contrary. There are teachers that do not allow students to use their phones, laptops, and other technological devices because they fear that it will distract students from learning. What do you think? Do you use technology in your classrooms, if so what devices/programs do you recommend?

Andersen Blog #6 - Discontinuation of Developmental Classes

Discontinuation of Developmental Classes

I am trying to come to terms with the new pedagogy which removes developmental writing classes from the community and state colleges. It has already started at Southwest, a community college in South Los Angeles where I tutor. These students are typically older adults who have come back to school after years of separation and need a refresher course. They are extremely anxious coming back to school. With the students’ initial introduction to college/university being a composition class that is above their reading and writing level, I feel it will be discouraging. I have had students tell me that the class was over their heads and they had no idea what was happening in the classroom. They have become disheartened with their return to school feeling like a failure. Some have told me they were considering dropping out because they are not doing well in the class. I try to encourage them, but as a writing lab tutor, I am only able to help with an assignment they have written and not the skills that are needed to be successful in the classroom. I have learned recently that CSUDH is moving in that direction as well, and I am concerned that the freshmen coming into the program will become just as disheartened and the retention level will drop drastically. The students I work with currently are at a pass rate of about 50%. I’m scared to think what the pass rate will be once developmental classes are no longer available to them.

Writing interesting Prompts

One thing I have been considering as a method to help students find their voice in their writing, is having students create their own writing prompts. I find that when students are able to choose something of interest to them, they are much more willing, and able to create interesting pieces. Typically, I try to give students 5 prompt options on their essays, encouraging choice, but all revolving around theme. (It seems theme is king in our department). However, I feel like this isn't enough. I mean, how often will students have to write theme essays in their real lives? However, how do you teach students to write strong prompts for themselves? I can already imagine telling students they can write their own prompts, and getting blank stares and panicked confusion. Is this something appropriate for high school students? If so, what is the best method for teaching what an interesting writing prompt looks like?

Consider the Notes

Oftentimes, students are discouraged when they notice their graded essay full of marks. In fact, some students presume that the instructor might mark such notes of spite. However, how often do students actually review and consider the marks on their paper? Based on personal experience, I find myself in agreement with the teacher's marks. In particular, I remember how I was upset when I received a "C" grade on my paper. Upon closer examination, I noticed the accuracy in her words: "This is a summery not an analysis." Since that time, I realize that not only was she right, but I have a tendency to unconsciously summarize more than analyze.


To all students who dismiss or hate marks on their paper, I encourage you review the notes made by the instructor because there might be some truth to it. Furthermore, the numerous marks illustrate the instructor's involvement and interest in improving the student's writing. I am aware that superfluous comments have a negative impact on the student's process, but the student must remember to evaluate the comments and confront the instructor for further clarification. This may mean finding the courage to approach the professor, but it also means a chance to improve their grade.


In sum, students need to consider the comments and suggestions noted by the instructor because they might be true. Also, the instructor must have invested a considerable amount of time having to carefully examine the writing.

Response to Scenario 1

For the reading for Scenario I, there were very interesting situations where teachers responded to students who were either problematic, or the material they covered proved to be a point of conflict.  However, the teacher who had an issue with the student writing about abortion rights, I think she wore her emotions on her sleeve far too easily, thus permitting this confrontational student to get a rise out of her.  I think this situation was more problematic than others because it evolved into something that could not be "handled in house" if you will.  Her job was compromised.  This is not to suggest that other situations --anytime students seek to write as a means to create episodes of seduction has problems written all over it -- were not troublesome.  But her response to the student's prospectus did not contain any didactic leverage, so it came off as personally motivated as opposed to being anchored in the spirit of instruction.  She should have known that people would have exactly the same emotional energy against freedom of choice as she has for freedom of choice.  And that includes the ridiculous notion that her student argued for: abortion is okay because it deals with promiscuous women and their lifestyle.  To the teacher's credit, we need more people adamant about serious issues that concern humanity.  But when it comes to responding to student's writing, even those we are uncomfortable with, it is important that we stay in tune with duties of instruction and keep that idea afloat to minimize unnecessary didactic setbacks.

Blog 7: Commentary on "Why Literature Is the Answer to Fundamentalism"

I find it hard to talk about the readings sometimes in these blogs, so I’ve decided to bring in some random material that I come across. I just read this article on Google News called “Why Literature Is the Answer to Fundamentalism” by Tabish Khair. The writer clarifies that Fundamentalism tends to “reduce texts, including sacred ones, to a singular message” and blames “the technocratic nature of today’s society.” Essentially, society is over-simplifying everything. In terms of this class, the same could be said about the writing process. Many educators try to over-simplify the writing process by forcing students into strict writing modes that have little-to-no flexibility - like a production line for writers. Yet, in the long run, educators are limiting the creativity of their students. The same could be applied to the Fundamentalist influence on society - different societal groups become stuck in inflexible modes of thought. The loop is infinite. The writer of this article, Khair, suggests that “the antidote to this trend is not to offer other messages but to learn again how to read - and hence think - with complexity.” I’ve applied this to the writing process and reworded it: “the antidote to stale writing is to learn how to compose freely - an hence write - with complexity.” Meaning, as an educator, be open to all types of ‘methods’ so that students can stretch their creativity, and thus the writing becomes infused with varying layers and degrees of pathos, ethos, logos. 

Blog 6: Experiences with Student Attitude

It is my second semester working at the Writing Lab at Los Angeles Southwest College. One thing I’ve learned is that the days are unpredictable. Some days you get a flow of students that are just on-point about learning and education; that is to say, they realize that the learning process is largely proactive labor on their part. Other days, it is the complete and utter opposite. Students come into the learning environment expecting the education to just land on their lap miraculously. It does not work this way! As educators, how do we get them to understand this truth without coming off as too aggressive or uncaring? My personal philosophy has always been “You treat people the way you want them to treat you.” When students approach me in a negative manner, I always find it a challenge to deal with them. (Sometimes I even feel bipolar trying to match their vibe.) I suppose this blog is just to open a discussion on the types of attitudes an educator must deal with from students of all ages and grade levels, and how to rise above it without going insane. 

Stepping out of writing comfort zones

I read this in an article by Kim Haines Korn, "it is important to find strategies that encourage us to step out of our writing comfort zones" and it makes me want to shout "yesssss!!!".  I can safely assume that if I feel stifled by trying to avoid uncertainty, then less experienced writers do too. We want to write one time and be done. We want to keep moving forward in undisturbed inertia. Well as fun as that is, always moving forward creates a writing comfort zone that buffers against undeveloped ideas. New strategies can help us, collective writers, develop our good ideas into better ideas by embracing uncertainty.

Blog 5: "The Emotional Power of Racism" By Trainor

She says that she "argues against prevailing views of student racism as arising from a need or desire to protect or gain white privilege, or as rooted in ignorance of systematic oppression or lack of exposure to difference" and "the most important human encounters are those that cause anxiety and even anger" (83, 85). I completely disagree. My point is this: it starts at home. Family life and parental influence has a huge impact on the mentality and world-view of the students. It might not seem like it, but that is where the 'systematic' part of racism begins. The sense of privilege and ignorance that certain families promote through generations is what results in discrimination of all forms, not just racism. No amount of racial literature is going to make a person racist unless they were already influenced by it at home. It makes no sense how non-white characters in literature expressing their feelings and experiences could possibly cause a student so much anxiety and anger that it leads them to be racist, unless that student is already so self-absorbed in their own existence that they cannot find it within themselves to empathize with the life experience of someone different. Hence, the privileged existence taught at home portion of my argument, and the root of racism. As a final thought, I understand that many people say racist phrases, and it does not mean they are racist as Trainor points out at a certain point. People say things like "that so retarded" or "asians are bad drivers," etc. Yet, it would not hurt to actively try to curve that language as well instead of excusing it as I feel that Trainor is basically doing in her writing.

Lindsey Valbuena #5 Group work

I liked the articles assigned in regards to writing workshops and having students work in groups, however my struggle is typically in level of depth in student feedback. I often find that students give fairly superficial feedback in general. This is not necessarily intentional, but I struggle with how to help students provide more meaningful feedback on peer essays. Some of this comes through training and practice I'm sure, but in the average school year, students may not receive the amount of practice necessary to really provide ideal level of feedback. I typically have students work in partners or small groups of 3-4. I'm wondering if it would be better to do a whole class workshop where I can model the type of feedback I expect of them.

Reading

Whenever I hear anyone speaking ill of reading or writing, I am reminded of me when I was their age. I started reading avidly when I was eighteen. Prior to that, I was primarily struggling with math classes and playing drums with friends. I always told myself, "For every one reason you could think of why books shouldn't be read, I can think of ten." At the time, I was unaware of the hyperbole. I constantly asked myself, "what's the big deal?" I frequently heard adults and teachers quoting authors and philosophers from renown books, and I noticed that 1984 was a common read among high school students. Once I leisurely read Orwell, I realized the strength and significance of classic literature. As my interest intensified, I couldn't help but wonder why many students loathed reading.


A friend of mine sent me a hyperlink to a website called cracked.com where users post the most random topics online. This one, in particular, read "4 Ways High School Makes You Hate Reading." Although I agree with most her points, I disagree with one selection in particular:  The Catcher in the Rye. 


This is one of my favorite, recommended books because of the coming-of-age story is composed in a witty, semi-absurd, and whimsical fashion. In essence, I think that teachers ought to assign books of their liking as opposed to Common Core. I agree that Shakespeare shouldn't be taught in school. The argument that students need to familiarize themselves with one of the most iconic playwrights of all time is absurd. Most high school students ought to read texts, which pertain to their interest and are socially relevant.


In sum, one of the ways I suggest for teachers to spark an interest in students' reading is to choose a novel they read for fun and not for an  assignment. I understand that the struggle remains in the possibility that the selected books might not be of interest to the student, it is worth a try.

Lindsey Valbuena #4

Based on the conversations we have been having about feedback, I have tried to be really conscious of the feedback I provide students on their work. I limited myself on the most recent set of essays, to only 4-5 comments. I also made sure that they were specific, rather than general statements. I found that I felt much more confident in my grading and as though it was the most fair grading I've ever done. I still had one or two students who felt they deserved higher, but it seemed a much smaller number of complaints than usual.

Now that I feel I have my comments under control, I plan to start revisiting my rubrics to have them reflect the new awareness I have seen in my comments. I am still wondering what the final product will look like, but it seems once these two elements are solidified, the grading process will hopefully become a much smoother one.

An Open Brodkey

Given the discussions that we had around Bordkey last week, I took the time to reread the essay for clarification and insight.  I think the early quote of Foucault "I want nothing to do with it insofar as it is decisive and final; I would like to feel it all around me, calm and transparent, profound, infinitely open with others responding to my expectations, and truth emerging, one by one..."  I think the essay highlights the struggle for teachers of composition as they are at the gates of discourse and must be the ones that are "open" and help generate the emerging "truth(s)" that are found in emerging discourse.  I use the term emerging discourse to suggest that "Discourse" is incomplete and thus always expanding as humans continue to communicate and widen the expression of the human discourse.  However, as it is with academic discourse, we have treated discourses with specific boundaries and purposes.  Thus, by nature each struggles to promote those ideals more than engage "open" interaction with the whole of emerging discourse.  The conflict resides in the need of standards.  I think the avenue or role of the teacher then is to open academic discourse up to the emerging discourses of the student and encourage the student to view their participation within that dialogue as an opportunity to expand their personal discourse and expand academic discourse and expand human discourse.  For example, we (academic discourse within our class experience) have
been exponentially expanded by Rick's sharing of his student's essay.  Ultimately then, as Brodkey says in the conclusion, "to teach is to authorize the subjects of educational discourse..."  and "...To say yes to those alternative subjectivities..." is to open human discourse for all that are willing to engage.

Is there an even larger problem with Trainor's assertions?

In the article "The Emotioned Power of Racism: An Ethnographic Portrait of an All-White High School," Trainor argues that issues of racism in certain demographics, in particular all-white classrooms, seemingly develop in the benevolence of instruction.  She suggests a presence of "emotional dimensions" of racist ideas that do not have a basis in what we have traditionally deemed as the crux of a racist agenda: oppression and repression to put it mildly.  Trainor goes on to explain that it is this emotioned response, a certain devotion to principles, evoking or at least reducing the literary exploits of Maya Angelou as "whiny."  And since one of the overarching themes in this particular school is to remain "positive" at all times and to not waste energy on unfortunate but unavoidable situations like racism, it certainly makes sense that many white high school students dismissed Angelou's critique of the viciousness of racism.  Trainor points out these didactic approaches at the all-white high school quite effectively despite the small sample size.  But I see a larger problem.  If it is plausible that these students are permitted to harbor these racist ideas in the name of academic excellence, what is the likelihood of these didactic principles being adjusted?  For example, Trainor does well to identify that for the most part Laura Canyons is not only situated in a well to do community, but the students, for the most part, are going to college at "above average rates."  Who would have the audacity to tell white parents that they will be changing these "emotional dimensions" because of their link to racist attitudes?  I say no one.  And thus the problem would be identified but continue to exist, thus making identification of this problem nearly pointless.  Furthermore, the larger problem could be, in my estimation, an incubation of racist ideas just waiting for the appropriate racial conflict to balloon into a situation forever making the racist ideation a standard of racism to eternally adhere to.  It cannot be overlooked that the one high school student claiming "he doesn't even see Black people," speaks to not only the distance from people of color from a proximal standpoint but the distance also speaks to social, and cultural separation as well.  I think these two areas are even larger areas of concern in addition to the "emotioned response" Trainor contends is a function of academic ideas nourishing decreased sensitivity to racism.

Andersen Blog #5

The Essay Prompt

This morning I opened an essay prompt for a Developmental (Basic) English class. Even I was overwhelmed with the amount of preliminary information that the professor provided. It was a single spaced full page of information that the students are supposed to write a two- to three-page essay about. The prompt itself was almost the acceptable length of a student essay. Is this normal for a Basic class? Does the preliminary information help the students compose or does it send them in a tailspin? At what point is information too much? It seemed so daunting that I fear most students won’t read it. What is the appropriate length of an essay prompt? I reviewed the prompt, and I could see the relevance of the information provided, but I think that the students will not because it is very dense information. I hope I’m wrong, but I fear I’m not. 

On Revision Strategies

"Lexical changes are the major revision activities of the students because economy is their goal (381)".
"The experienced writers do the opposite: they seek to discover (to create) meaning in the engagement with their writing, in revision (386)".

As an undergraduate student, I related to the first quote; as a graduate student I get closer and closer to the second quote. Right now I am not teaching, but plan to teach in the future, so it seems useful to relate to students in order to help them become better writers. Anyone find that useful? Knowing that students are reluctant to rewrite and that they spare no time to do so can help when lesson planning. However, I realize teaching can seem easier than it actually is. Some students might not care about improving their writing, those students will perhaps accept a lower grade? The students who want to improve and learn are the ones who will benefit from knowing that they have the potential to seek to discover meaning in the engagement with their writing through revision.

Good experienced writers vs Student writers

Okay, I promise this is not a purge, criticism, or sympathetic rouse.  It is a response to Sommers study of what what expereienced professional writers do vs what student writers do.  I thought that she was on point in her discussion of revision strategies for both the experienced writer and the student writer.  Moreover, I took the time to use the essay in a reflective manner and critique my own writing struggles.  What I found is that I often practice the poor habits of student writers who "scratch out and do over," "redoing," and "slashing and throwing out."  As suggested, these are poor habits that I often turn to as a result of last minute or deadline work.  I found, in Sommers details of experienced writers, some positive things that often do when I use time properly.  I have become very humble as a writer and I "don't fall in love" with something that I wrote in a draft.  I often do two or more drafts. And, I am more reflective about what I am trying to say and who I am saying it to.
In that vain, as we are or will be teachers, let's continue to struggle as writers ourselves and find ways to communicate with student writers the collective struggle and reward of good writing.

Peer Review

In response to "Two Cheers for Peer Response," I argue that peer review can be effective so long as all peers are at the similar progress in their writing. Naturally, this is a tricky situation because students in an upper-division course may have advanced to their current class, but they are received different grades. This means that the odds of a peer having their work reviewed by a fellow peer whose grades are minimally acceptable to attend that class is 50/50. In other words, simply because students are in the same class does not mean that they are at the same level as the student whose work is under review.


Based on personal experience, I never received constructive criticism from any of my peers. It is not that I disagree with their views, or I was nervous during the session. For example, in 2015, I was told to exchange papers with a classmate. He suggested that I furthered my mention of one of the main points I had in my essay. It turns out that his review did not benefit me as I thought. When I received my graded paper, it turns out that I was so vague with my discussion on online videos that the instructor suggested I narrow my topic. In sum, my problem was not the furthering of my mention, but the problem was that I was too vague. Nonetheless, I believe that peer review benefits students who are of similar status in terms of their education and grasp.


In essence, teachers should assign students to peer review selected students. For example, a student who scored highly on his first essay ought to review the peer who scored significantly low on his. According to the aforementioned article, there are many problems in peer review: lack of a leader, discomfort of criticism, nervousness among peers, to name a few. However, students must, ultimately, value the review of the instructor higher than his peers because the instructor specifies the prompt. Nevertheless, peer review is beneficial because it expands a student's grasp on the subject.

Andersen Blog #4

Content vs. Grammar

“At what point should the focus shift from grammar to content and critical thinking?” I asked a professor that I worked with. His reply was  that the first 2 essays in a basic English class should have marks that focus solely on grammar so that students will know what is expected grammatically of them in college. My problem with this strategy is that half the semester is gone before the first 2 essays are assigned, drafted, revised and the grade back from the final version. Once students receive their first essay back and notice what the instructor focuses on, that is what they will focus on also. Midway through the semester seems late to begin discussion of critical thinking and content in an essay. What is the most effective way to combine both without overwhelming the student with data overload? How do you introduce critical thinking along with grammar issues without making one seem superior to the other, while at the same time letting students know that content is indeed king?

Blog #5 Possible Rewriting Technique

In class Melvianne mentioned that students often think rewriting is done by simply correcting the red markings that are on their essay. I believe that one way that students can gradually push away from that particular habit, is to make students add another body paragraph to their rewrite. By adding another paragraph, students have to gather a new idea/topic that relates to the essay and may feel the need to change the entire essay to make that new body paragraph fit in. Im not sure if this would work, but its worth trying. What do you guys think?

Valbuena Blog 3

When looking at the course list for next semester at the school I currently work at, I noticed there were 3 sections of journalism (2 of which attached to the school paper). I have come to realize that at no point in my undergraduate or graduate level work was I asked to take a journalism course. I have a very basic knowledge of this style of writing, and mostly from a reader's perspective. This left me wondering: What are the major differences between teaching journalism in comparison to other genres? Are the concepts we are discussing in class currently, applicable to this type of writing? It seems unlikely that the same process is applied to such a deadline heavy genre. Is there still a place for voice in this setting? Is there a reason it is not often emphasized in English or brought into the standard English classroom?

Thanks for listening and offering perspective

Our last class session started with a very painfully disturbing essay from a student.  And I would to take this opportunity for thanking everyone for giving me much welcomed insight on dealing with the essay.  All of the responses were either exactly or close to the ideas I had in regards to grading the paper.  It is not important to revisit the testimony placed in the essay, but it is important to consider all of the ideas given that day.  Thank you very much for your time.  Moreover, the insights prepared myself as well as other students to have some perspective on handling essays from students that may contain intense information.

The Necessity of Separation

So far, Rodriguez's "Going Home Again," is my favorite. In particular, I resonate with the line, "As a student, he must, literally and figuratively, separate himself from his family, and find a quiet place to be alone with his thoughts" (78). Based on personal experience, I realize that my family does not share my interest in anything, especially literature. Oftentimes, they would say, "I heard of it, but I never read it" or "I haven't read that book in a long time." Like Rodriguez, I felt that their presence was intellectually suppressive and harmful to my development.

In fact, my fondness for school increased as a result of spending too much time with my family. I always thought to myself, "I would rather attend school than spend time with them." Similarly, Rodriguez reflects my experience: "the scholarship boy substitutes enthusiasm with school." In other words, I needed not my family but school.

I regret none of my actions because dedication to school provided me immense joy previously unknown to me. The irony is that my parents forced to go to school, and I rejected it. Now, they claim that I spend less time with as a result of their stubborn insistence.

Simply put, the isolation between the student and family is necessary for anyone who notices the improvement of their skills related to their major. Furthermore, the happiness achieved from my education is unparalleled, and I hope to continue this method.

Blog 4: Chapter 12

Lindemann states in Chapter 12 that "Simply reading the paper aloud to a partner, who then might describe briefly one meritorious detail, would be an important first step" (196). Here he is talking about revising drafts of papers. The act of reading the paper aloud helps 'hear' the mistakes written. As we were discussing in class on Monday, going word for word exposes areas that need improvement. At Los Angeles Southwest College, the tutors of the Writing Lab require students to read their essays out loud. Often times, they find their own mistakes and mark their own edits. I find that the students who become 'regulars' at the Writing Lab and participate in one-on-one tutoring sessions with these expectations do a little better every single time. More importantly, having someone hear their words and give suggestions with an open disposition gives students the courage to keep returning. Their self-esteem is given a boost.

Behind the Chair

I had a personal experience this weekend that expanded my learning personally as an English Graduate student.  First, there was Derry's 7am haircut appointment.  He is inconsistent but I keep his spot because I enjoy a change of pace compared to normal barbershop conversation.  Saturday's discussion started around an article on Cal Berkeley and the low percentage of African-American students.  Derry is black and a Cal graduate and thus offered personal insight.  However, his discussion of how he excelled in his writing courses is exemplary of many of the theoretical discussions that I have encountered in the last two semesters.  In short, Derry says that he often scored poorly on the first assignments of many professors.  But, once he learned to engage the professor either verbally or by a pay close attention to comments on graded papers, he drastically improved his grades.  He concluded that he never really cared to learn how to write.  He just learned to comprehend what the professor wanted and thus reproduce that.  It begs the question then how many variables really exist in the grading of academic work and what truly is the measure of what one learns about writing in academic discourse or any other discourse for that matter.  I must admit, I still find myself want to know first and foremost, “what does the teacher want?”  The sooner I know that, the easier it is for me to produce the written document…

The essence of the sentence

I thoroughly enjoyed the article concerning the importance of the sentence.  Interestingly, when I begin a discussion about the sentence, I ask the class what do they think of when they hear the word "relationship."  Of course, I get the traditional response regarding "friendship," "companionship," "family," and "love."  Whatever response I receive regarding the students' understanding of the word "relationship," I try to weave their interpretation into a discussion of the sentence.  I respond by suggesting that the same lofty principles that we have towards a solid and beneficial relationship, it must translate into the same energy needed to write solid sentences.  In other words, I craft the lecture to make the point that sentences need a loving, friendly, family type setting in order for the sentence to be effective: just like a traditional relationship as they offered in class.  It certainly hints at being comical, but I think the point comes off quite clearly.  When we write sentences that are not doing so well, we need look no further than the relationship of the words embedded in the sentence to not only diagnose the problem but to instill habits to not let this relationship with the sentence fail.  And the theoretical emphasis in the article regarding sentences gave me a theoretical foundation that I knew nothing about but was implementing without knowing it.  Also, as a didactic moment regarding the sentence, I challenge students to find a book, any book, be it academic or not, and locate the ratio of the information to not be in sentence form.  And since I know the answer to this suggestion, it gives me the leverage to make the point that regardless of the extraordinary personalities that have written material, anywhere from 95 to 98 percent of the information given is in sentence form.  I go on to say that if they master the sentence, they can create and criticize anything from a simple phrase to sentences, to paragraphs, to essays, to longer essays, to short stories, to novels, and to dissertations.  After all, they are just sentences stacked on top of each other. 

Blog 3: Love of Words, Reading, and Writing

As a child, I felt as if I existed at the margins of two cultures - American and Mexican. I belonged to both, and was excluded from both. The blessings and limitations of both cultures were equal burdens. The result was that I felt inadequate and lonely - despite having two younger sisters. The three of us are very different, and they never shared the same nerdy interests that I did. They still don't. To be honest, I don't remember the first 'novel' I read. However, I remember loving browsing through the National Geographic journals my dad sometimes bought. I loved the idea that words could provide so much information about the world; it made the world feel smaller and more accessible. Eventually I got hooked on books like the "Harry Potter" series and other sci-fi books. Looking back, it felt like my entire life was spent on an upward latter toward some unknown goal. The reading led to writing. The more information I absorbed through books, the more my mind felt full of chaos. The writing proved to be a good tool for clearing away, organizing, and navigating that chaos. 

Andersen Blog #3

Andersen Blog Post #3

Students need to be encouraged in their writing even when they get it wrong. “We are not correctness cops” (Valbuena). This statement came out in our class about how teachers should work with students’ grammar issues. Should we constantly pick at their deficiencies? A student I tutor came to me with a paper he received from his composition professor. It was heavily marked with each error. The student was embarrassed, devastated and confused. He was unsure why there were so many marks and struggled with deciphering the markings. I asked him to bring me a clean copy of his essay so that we could look at it together without the instructor’s comments. In reviewing the paper, I recognized that he had three primary errors. I had him make a list of those errors and try to find those within the essay. Once he knew what to look for in his work, he was able to find almost all of his errors. I think that sometimes instructors focus so much on the errors, they miss the content of the work. This student loves writing and is in the process of writing a book, which he talked about in his essay. Hopefully, the work we did will encourage him to continue with his writing and not turn him off from it.

Post 5 Lindemann ch. 11

This chapter has the most relevance to my current classes. She's talking/writing about native speakers' problem with the English language as they begin to write and it is refreshing to know that foreign English students have the same troubles. I'm sure my students make a lot more errors than native speakers do, but I think letting them know could increase their self-confidence.
Lindemann also talked about students not feeling free to let their linguistic resources take over while drafting the first, or second, time. My students who don't have the confidence to freely write are actually capable from what I've seen. Whereas, other students who are flooded with self confidence actually write horribly! I am trying to find the balance but am at a standstill. I am certain they can help each other but I've got one side too shy (thinking the others know more than they do) and the self-confident, outspoken students that need to listen and realize they don't know everything.
Additionally, I am going through to use Lindemann's nonce verb exercise with this class by  putting students in pairs of 1 outspoken student and 1 shy student to complete the exercise so that maybe students can gently be put in their places.

Blog #4 Chapter 9

In chapter nine, Lindemann suggest that teachers often find it easier to TEACH students to isolate each paragraph, instead of allowing the students to DO paragraphs (151). As teachers we often inform our students to isolate each paragraph and stay on one topic, but Lindemann suggest that we shouldn't do that and instead teach our students to discover relationships among ideas, words, and sentences. She states that we need to teach our students to think relational, but how do we teach the student to discover relationships and express them in writing? Well, Lindemann provides one way of doing this, and that is through speech. We can help our students analyze their conversation and link words that express coordinate and subordinate relationships, because if the student understands how a conversation proceeds then they can put it in writing. I love this idea, but my main concern is for a class of 25-30 students, because how can we hold a conversation with them ALL and teach them to analyze their speech?

Valbuena Post #3: Reflecting on Grading Practice

As I read more and more about the teaching of writing and the various elements to be aware of, I can't help but reflect on my grading practices. As I sit in front of a stack of 100 essays that need grading, I am suddenly wondering, am I grading fairly? Am I commenting on usage or grammar? Am I being narcissistic and grading on whether their writing appeals to me as their reader? Is it fair to take points off for poor grammar or lack of topic sentences and/or evidence choice? I am still unsure, and I know that grading will always be the worst part of the teaching process. What are the things that teachers should be looking for in student writing? I have rubrics, but sometimes find them to be stifling. At times I will see students making an error not present on the rubric that I feel needs to be addressed but is not reflected in their grade because I did not foresee it when creating the rubric. Sometimes my rubrics feel too specific. Should the rubric be vague so that I have wiggle room? Or should it be specific so students know what they are being assessed on specifically? If it's too specific will that make their writing formulaic?

I don't expect that there is a specific answer to this, and I realize that my grading will continue to evolve through years of experience, but I can't help but wonder if I am assessing on the correct writing skills.

Yvette post #4 Lindemann ch. 8

I've had mixed feelings about chapter 8. I don't teach a typical English writing class but I'm still required to teach writing in a "communicative" style, which means I have to incorporate reading, writing, grammar, listening, writing and speaking in my leaasons every week. I've figured out how to do it, but it means I cannot focus on writing too much. I also encounter languages that "beat around the bush" when they write. I remember Peter Elbow (?) saying that different cultures fell it is impolite to get right to the point. Well, my Asian students are always "too polite" when it comes to writing. They won't just "spit it out"! As a result, I've reverted to a 3 paragraph personal writing assignment every few weeks with a weekly 5 sentence (minimum) paragraph every week.
Any suggestions?

Responding to Writer's block

In our last class meeting (2-16-17) we encountered a list of issues people were having regarding the literacy autobiography.  What I found to be helpful during our discussion was the many real problems faced in writing assignments in general.  After looking at the questions posed on the list, it became clear to me that these questions can be answered by re-directing students to the process.  For example, some of the questions regarding length, approach, and the practical nature of the assignment (many students admitted that they had no clue, if any, when and where their literacy even began, for instance) could be resolved via the process.  In other words, the many new aspects of teaching composition that we have learned so far, in particular the didactic concentration on the various effective tactics in the writing process, are keys to eliminating anxiety for writers.  I thought that the discussion we had helped me greatly in regards to developing the teaching foundation needed for teaching composition.

Lindemann chap. 5 Post #4

In the introduction to chapter 5, Lindemann talks about how native speakers' language comes to us intuitively, or subconsciously. As writing teachers we have a professional responsibility to know much more about language that our experience provides us. In other words, we must develop a conscious understanding of linguistic principles. This subject is quite profound to me (I know it seems obvious).one of my first classes at CSUDH, as an undergrad, was "syntax" with Wenzell, and she kept asking me why I chose such & such verb an form, etc. I could not come up with anything other than "it sounds right". A few years later I got a TESOL certificate and I realized just how much I didn't know about my own language. Well, now I definitely know more, but My students ask good questions ( they're in their 20's) and sometimes I have to give varying examples before learning the simplest way to explain an answer.

Competency, Proficiency and Growth

The reading for Lindemann for Chapter 5 and Chapter 10 reminded me of the question Al Franken posed to Betsy DeVos at her Confirmation Hearing for Education Secretary on proficiency versus growth. In the book, Lindemann brings up the concept of competency versus proficiency for students attempting to improve their literacy. He states, competency is "the innate ability to make grammatical judgements" and proficiency is the "application of grammar rules' respectively" (80). The parallels between these two debates within education struck me as important, especially because the competency, proficiency and growth seem to overlap quite a lot. Although many educators attempt to remain apolitical, it's clear that these debates need to happen, both in and outside the classrooms. What are we shooting for: proficiency, growth, competency? How do the three find their place in the classroom in a happy mix?

More on Form Consciousness

"Form consciousness, like everything else in language, is the product of social interaction with others (131)." Form is not a bad thing. It sometimes sounds hindering, limiting, or deterring from allowing students/people to do whatever they prefer...but forms are inherent to social interactions. I need to work with students on consolidating the permanence of forms with their preference for free-form. They can manage both well if they figure out how to manipulate language. I really like how Lindemann contextualizes the concept of form and empahsizes form consciousness rather than simply learning form.

An Addendum to Lindeman First Chapter

In Autumn of 2011, I was a community college student enrolled in English 101. My pretentious but reasonable English professor mostly criticized contemporary's youth lack of reading. My favorite comment is: "You guys only read the instructions on the bag of popcorn."


Upon reading Lindeman's first chapter, I resonated with the section "Writing As Social Necessity," because it demonstrates the extent to which inconsistent writers write. Indeed, we write thoughts, reminders, lists, notes, among others. Therefore, when I read that section, I was reminded of my English 101 professor.


I accept the fact that most people's reading skills are minimal. In fact, I think that, nowadays, people gain just enough literacy for websites like google to fill in their thoughts. In essence, people need to increase their awareness of the significance of writing.


As an aspiring educator, I expect to encounter many apathetic students who are that writing is not too important for their majors or lives. With that in mind, I hope to cross paths with more skeptical students regarding their writing.


Writing requires the use of both motor skills, which strengthens the writer's comprehension of the subject. We remember more when we write our lists instead of typing reminders on our phones. We are demonstrating what we learned from a lecture by paraphrasing notes in our notebook. We write the problem when we cannot explain it verbally. These are just three examples of the everyday use of writing outside the classroom.


Simply put, writing is a practical skill which results in writers becoming more enriched and knowledgeable based on their subject. Teachers and students alike must uphold the necessity of writing in an increasingly stupefied time where writing is becoming scare.

Andersen Blog #2

Continuous Pre-Writing

Both Lindemann and Hodges discuss sequencing of pre-writing techniques to make the task seem less daunting to our students. If the assignments given stack one upon the other, students will have created something they can use to write their first draft with.  By stacking the pre-writing assignments and pre-writing during the course of the writing process, the final product is a more thoroughly interrogated essay. What teachers should do is discuss the purpose of the mini-assignments or pre-writes so that the students will appreciate the benefit of the work and link the assignments together rather than simply throwing the assignment together to fulfill a requirement and get the ‘C’. We must convince them that what we teach and the ways in which we teach them have value and their failure to fully participate has consequences. I have found that in my own writing, sequenced, or stacked assignments, have been extremely beneficial and the final product reflected the additional work of the multiple pre-writes.

Post 2: Fitting it all in

I love collecting writing tools that are directly applicable to the classroom. Seeing so many gathering techniques over the past few days is truly interesting and makes me want to turn around and put them to use immediately. However, one thing I am not sure we have discussed is how to fit all of this information into a unit. Are these strategies given with a composition class in mind? or a standard English class? What I mean by this is, in my experience teachers allot a certain amount of weeks to a given unit to read a text and have students create some kind of writing. While I would like to have students try multiple prewriting strategies, compose multiple drafts, go through multiple revision phases and peer edits, I would find myself adding significant time to already crammed units. I am wondering how much time can reasonably be given to a piece of writing before it is time to move on to the next unit.

Similarly, I am finding that a lot of discussion is being given to narrative writing, however this is probably the least emphasized style in upper grades. Is it problematic that this is the case? Is there a reason most conversation seems to revolve around narrative writing and journaling?

#3 Talk It Out!

Wednesdays class was very interesting and I enjoyed having the two speakers share their teaching strategies and believes. One of my favorite prewriting techniques discussed in Hodges reading was the section titled "Talk It Out" on page 65. This particular section stood out because that same day, a coworker of mine, who is getting their masters in Organizational Leadership decided tot talk to me about two topics he had considered for his essay. He mentioned that he really wanted to talk about social and economic populations (since he works in a field related to that already), but then he started to talk to me about how he found interest in another subject. Without knowing, he had verbally created an outline of the second topic. Then he jumped off of his seat and said "I know what I want to write about" and he left my office.

I think it is important for us as future and even current instructors to pay closer attention to some of the ideas presented in class.  Several students articulated that at times they were treated as pariahs in their own environment for seeking academic success. This does speak to a larger, perhaps even systematic, issues.  Why is it that people in poverty stricken neighborhoods equate education and mastery of English, or any subject for that matter, as being snotty?  One would think that people have grown beyond that perspective.  But apparently it hasn't.  I think that I will be challenged, as a future instructor, to develop discussions and assignments to assist students to dissolve the putrid idea that academic success means disconnection from one's culture.  Actually, it should be the opposite.

Second post: Dreamscape

The invention of this weeks post is just an old fashion dream.  Usually, I quickly forget my dreams.   Oh well...let me tell the dream before I forget.

For some reason,  I was in some type of bicycle race or competition with a group of other males.  Most appeared to be white but it didn't seem important.  My bike seemed new but it was inadequate due to construction or due to my inexperience operating it.  I recall that the handle bars continued to switch position as I struggled to go faster.

As I reflect, I'm not sure it was a race.  But, the struggle of all the riders to get to the location was complicated by the conditions and the terrain.  It was a rainy day in a region that had seen plenty of recent rain as the roads were muddy and soil soaked hillsides.  The terrain appeared to be mostly up hill so the struggle was continuous.

Now, five days later, my memory in continuous failure...I will try and complete the blog:

As I approached the hill where some shelter sat atop and all the riders approached and climbed, I too made my attempt up the muddy slope.  In recalling the dream, I don't know that I paid much attention to the others but I did realize that I was the last one on the muddy slope.  As I gained ground by continuous effort, I continued to slide.  Nothing overly strenuous, it was just a sense of frustration.  As I neared the shelter, I recall wanting help from those that were inside but I was muddy and they were all clean and dared not assist me.  I got over the ledge. However, I don't recall changing or anyone reacting to my entrance.  But, I was present.

The vague strangeness of the dream and the academic course that I am taking at the Graduate level lead me to reflect on the meaning of the dream and this blog writing assignment.
For me, the muddy hill is the unrehearsed, uncharted experience that I have had to accomplish the academic accomplishments thus far in my life as the first person in my family to leave the Borough of Woodbine New Jersey and graduate from college.  It has not always been pretty.  The shelter and those in changed clothes are those that have also accomplished this academic pursuit but persist as ones who rather not dwell in the journey but relish in the accomplishment.  I am just not sure where I fit. Thus, I have either failed to change my clothes or don't want to change.  Which begs the question:  Why then am I here? And, what attire do I want to fashion?  In this program and hopefully with experience of this class and others, I will fashion my voice...

Blog #2: Communication Triangle

     I agree with Lindemann in that students often ignore the fact that each written work has a particular audience, and they assume that their only reader will always be their instructor. Therefore, today in my SIL workshop I decided to introduce the "communication triangle" and put it to work. The students were to tackle three different audiences/readers, but have the same subject/topic. The directions for the workshop went something like this:

 Students are angry that Trump is our president and they have decided to have a walkout. Hundreds of students are going to protest and you will be one of them.

1. (Friends) Post a picture and write a caption of the protest/walkout informing your friends to join you.
2. (Grandmother/Aunt)

Your grandmother/Aunt just called because she saw that your school is walking out. In a dialogue, you must explain to your family member the motives behind such actions.

3. (The Dean)

Write a letter to the dean of CSUDH explaining why it is important that he/she allows students and staff to participate in the protest against our president elect.  

Nevertheless, this workshop did not go as plan! I was supposed to hit all three audiences and there was not enough time. I did not realize how long it would take them to target the first audience. The students took too long getting creative with their posts. However, it was very fun!!!! I was surprised to see that the students first did a sketch/outline and prewrite about what they were going to draw and write on the poster. The students wrote informal captions when speaking to their friends, and next week we will change the audience to a family member, so that they become a little more formal as we transition to the final audience member (the dean). Now that I think about the workshop, I can't help but wonder if I was using the communication triangle correctly, how would I know?