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?

#3 Lindemann chapter 7

I read this at the Ct time. Lindemann' chapter 7 (Heuristics) is about the different ways to teach writing and has a variety of scaffolding, short (or long) starters for writing. I was going to use art to have a starter for students who, "can't think of ing to write". I was excited to see the variety of help to supply students with for them to begin to write.
Does anyone have any tips/ideas for teaching writing to intermediate, young, adult EFL students. I want to keep it fun (before they go to school in the US).
I appreciate any feedback

#2 Lindeman, n, chapter 2

We began reading Lindemann's text at the right time for me. Presently, I don't teach writing for any extended period. But this week I will try one of techniques Lindemann has provided. I especially like what she wrote about "mechanics" because I have been struggling with how I was taught to teach writing. Finally a new way to teach to my EFL students. Although it's not often, when Ido teach  writing, I get the types of papers Lindemann writes about. I get, "brilliant discussions that ignore the reader's expectations about conventional punctuation." (18)). I struggled with correcting the way  "conventional" teachers teach and correct. I am now learning to encourage students to write the brilliantly clever and funny papers I have been getting. I wasn't sure if I was doing students a disservice by appreciating papers that ignored the traditional essay format and instead went against every standardized test essay they could. Mixed feelings, 'oh they're going to need all this conventional practice for when they begin university' to, 'let them have fun before they are immersed into university/college life.'
Am I right to em a break now, or should they continue to write conventionally?
Or am I just selfish because I learn so much (culturally) when students write?

Post 1 Flynn

Flynn' article highlights gender differences in the ways males and females think, react, and write. I thought, "No shit, tell me something I don't know." How quick I was to jump to conclusions! As I reached the end, Flynn articulated her point so well that my eyes were opened to the deeper issue, especially when I read that "women often read as men", which is something that sounds so obvious yet I never  gave a second thought, much less first. Readers often put themselves in characters' shoes, which means that just as women read as men, men read as women. I refer to it as active reading but never gave the gender issue a thought.

This Writing Process

Reading the struggles of people who have established their voices in academia, especially Richard Rodriquez and Barbara Mellix, is a step in the right direction when trying to figure out how to teach a writing process. These two have gone through cultural and personal conflicts that students may or may not relate with, but the overall idea is conveyed that each individual must find their voice. Language is a huge part of that voice, along with knowledge. A voice without knowledge is not saying much. Knowledge without a voice is pretty boring.The collaborative efforts of learning, language, opinion, experience, failures, successes, these things lead us to be better writers. Being a current grad student, I find myself thinking about my own writing as I read these articles, for the main reason that I believe we should always work to improve our skills. The day I think "I have arrived" is the day my faults will show the most. Being someone who wants to teach literature and composition, I read these articles and log them into a register of experience. These writers' experiences are now available for me to share with others. Take for example Joy Santee, who did not know what to tell her student, a single-mother with two dependents to take care of, when it came to finding a writing process. Reading her story means as a professor I will encounter walks of life I have never experienced, it also means I will collect experiences along the way and source from them. Now to define my own writing process. 

Andersen Blog #1

"Composing as a Woman" is Misleading

Flynn’s “Composing as a Woman” starts promising with the quote from Adrienne Rich, however, she under-delivers in her discussion of composing as a woman by using broad strokes generalizations about women being more interested in building community and men being more interested in conquering. She argues that “we have not examined our research methods or research samples to see if they are androcentric. Nor have we attempted to determine just what if meant to compose as a woman” (425), and unfortunately, contrary to her article title, neither does she. I was hoping to get real insights into the process for women as writers yet she focuses her attention on a small sample study to prove her pre-determined hypothesis that women write about community and men write about victories. My own writing, for example, does not include community, unless required to do so specifically by the assignment itself. With my own personal journaling, community is rarely, if ever mentioned. Recognizing that I, too, am a small sample, I was disappointed in the conclusions this article makes.

Blog 2: On The Writing Process

I spent last half of 2011 and the first half of 2012 studying abroad at Kings College London in England. While there, I took a creative writing course designed by the professor in part to help students in composition. One of the pieces of advice he gave us was to make a habit out of carrying a notebook and a pen with us everywhere we went. He encouraged us to free-write whenever we had a spare moment. When the pages were full, he recommended we quickly flip back through the pages and reflect on the writing. If it felt wrong for us to read our journals and reflect, it was crucial to keep the journal regardless. In time, we would find the courage to go back and do the reflecting. Or, we would go back, read, and find inspiration for some composition we wanted to complete. In any case, I took his advice and for years I've been maintaining journals. At first, I wrote in notebooks. There is something special about actually using a pen and paper. However, in the interest of making life a little easier and my backpack lighter, I resorted to writing journal entries on my laptop. Currently, I have entries from 2011 to present. I've also taken his advice and done some reflecting on the writing. It's been an interesting experience. Over the years, I have progressively let my guard down while journaling so I certainly feel the writing is extremely raw. I can definitely see how my voice and style has grown at certain points. At other moments, it feels like I went through some sort of academic atrophy. Overall, my experience with journaling and free-writing has led me to recommend it in turn; it's a worthwhile endeavor.

Blog 1: "Going Home Again" by Richard Rodriguez

In his piece "Going Home Again," Richard Rodriguez writes about his experience with bilingualism and biculturalism as an academic. He basically encourages bilingual students to set aside any language other than English if they wish to succeed and achieve their full potential academically. I'd have to disagree right from the beginning on the necessity of this approach. It is true that there is some alienation from (extended) family and even displacement, but bilingualism actually expands the mind in ways that many other disciplines cannot. Language can be a barrier or a bridge between people, depending on how you approach or see it. When you embrace bilingualism, you realize your ability to build and maintain bridges multiplies exponentially. It's a communication gift. It allows you to see the nuances within human societies and experiences. So, I would say I fundamentally disagree with Mr. Rodriguez approach to this issue in particular. The bilingual question of many students is a complicated one, therefore it requires a complicated solution. The U.S. education system should not simply resort to excluding any/all languages other than English; it's too narrow minded.

Composing as a Woman and Practical Application

One article that was particularly intriguing to me was that written by Elizabeth Flynn. Based on the title, I was excited to read about the compositional differences that can be seen between men and women's writing. It seemed reasonable to me that there may be innate differences between stylistic preferences and content in each gender. However, upon reading the article, I could not relate even a bit to the observations made by Flynn. I don't know if this has anything to do with the time at which this piece was written, but from my point of view, this article seemed to imply that women wrote about themselves in relation to others while men tend to write about themselves more independently. I am not sure that this is accurate, as it has not been my experience, nor have I seen it overwhelmingly in the writing of my students. It appears to me that many of the conclusions brought by Flynn are gross over generalizations. I would be curious to hear if others were similarly taken aback by the article.

Also, in regards to what I would like to discuss in class, I am interested in the practical application of some of these articles. Though I find many of these narratives interesting, and the struggles of these authors as they navigate their literacy development, I struggle to see how these issues can be realistically addressed in the classroom. I feel like these articles give me many more things to be aware of in my potential students, but not strategies to address those potential issues or alleviate these stressors for students as they appear. I would love to spitball ideas off of my peers.

Write about It, Don't Talk about it

One of the best ways to improve one's writing is restricting all forms of expressions to writing. This means that the writer does not talk about his problems, type his frustrations, or channel his emotions in anything other than writing.

This approach may sound overly strict on the surface, but writing is a difficult task, which results in a way of expressing one's thought without the thought of offending or boring anyone. Sharing one's issues poses a series of problems for the writer. For instance, not all people grasp gestures and countenances very well, so the writer remains unsure if the listener is pretending to listen or does not listen at all. Furthermore, those who lack the necessary listening skills may be unaware of the writer's emotions during their time of expressing themselves, which exacerbates the writer's means of expressing their thoughts without judgement. Rest assured, there is a solution in the form of a writing utensil and lined paper.

Based on personal experience, I realize that analytical and persuasive essays are the written means of logos whereas a journal entry has no requirements. I write grammatically incorrect sentences, which best express my feelings at the moment. One of the best benefits are that I can be selfish and write whatever thoughts I feel worth mentioning without the consideration of others.

It might be argued that people need to find a confidant; I disagree. Expressing one's thoughts verbally presents the person's concern of possibly disclosing this information among other people. Again, people improve their writing skills by writing. The greatest benefit writing has to offer is that it provides a means of expression incomparable to other means of expression.

Again, this may seem like a severe, disciplinary method, but the rewards and benefits overshadow the risks involved.

Blog #1: My Writing Space :)

After reading Santee's text, I realized that I too need a private and quite place to write. I usually write in my room with the door locked, and I ask all my family members and friends to avoid interrupting me. Not to mention, I must have music playing in the background because it blocks out any noise outside my room. I have tried working in other environments, but I do not feel like I accomplish much because I get easily distracted. Santee mentions that today she still writes "in a warm house with a desk, relatively quite, and good coffee, BUT WRITING IS STILL HARD." This particular quote reminded me that writing is a process that can be difficult (if practiced in the wrong environment) and it should always be done in a positive setting. Finding the perfect place to complete writing assignments can be a difficult task, but students should feel comfortable in the classroom and outside the classroom in order to produce work they feel confident with. Writing is a process and like any process it can get stopped, interrupted, and misguided. Therefore, we need to provide our students with a positive and comfortable classroom, and should teach our students that they need to find a"spot" or "writing space" that makes them feel safe and helps them complete their tasks without any interruptions or distractions.

The Female Voice

After reading Shen and Rodriguez (and to a certain extent, Rose) it is clear as to where they stand in the discovery of their voice and where they stand within the academic discourse. However, what are women saying about finding their written voice in academic circles, universities, and even in high school? Flynn had barely skimmed the surface with a feminist approach to the theory of composition. Yes, we had samples of male and female writing that more or less supported her theory of rational male thinkers and emotional female nurturers. Mellix does have a good compromise between the language she learned at home and the language she used at school from a very young age. It seems like she has to flip back and forth depending on who she is speaking with, her environment, or her mood. But she concludes that she is continually finding new aspects of herself and that enables her to grow. But what of inner-city girls that discovered a love of literature, or disillusioned college students who switched to an English major, simply more academic journal accounts of women who recount their efforts of negotiating between what is real to them versus what has been taught/ingrained into them by (male) composition.

Better yet, what is a student’s take on how they write? We have been discussing how the academics feel about the push and pull of academic vs. authentic voice. But how has the student, male or female, found what they feel is the most authentic form of writing to them?

First Post/ Coming to terms with the power of discourse

As, I considered what I would write about for this first entry, the events of my work week found some connection with the reading of Mellix that I left hanging in class because I did not articulate my thoughts.
Mellix discussed the father's telling of his tales as a way of communicate the power of language and discourse and language. She says, "I did not realize then-nor, I think, did my father-that he was teaching us, among other things, standard English and the relationship between language and power."
I found myself considering this in reflection as I recalled a discussion that I had with a trans-sexual male who came into my shop for a haircut last week.  First, as I asked him how he heard about my shop, he responded, "I just walked down the street and I figured I would run into a barbershop somewhere along here.  My response was, "that could be dangerous."  Immediately, he took a defensively questioning posture as if I were suggesting that he was unsafe because of his stature, race (white guy walking into black barbershop) or obvious nature of his identity.  However, after backpedaling my statement so he might understand that I was only saying, It was dangerous because he could end up with a jacked up haircut, we settled into a good conversation during the service.
The discussion centered around communication and understanding the significance of identity and how it is expressed.  We found ourselves at a crossroads when I asked rhetorically, "if I accept your maleness and accept you as a man, what then is a man?"
The connection with teaching composition is significant here because people are empowered when they are able to understand, define and freely express themselves in any form of discourse.  He and I found a comfortable, free, and open conversation as a platform to expand understanding and, in a simple way, empowered ourselves against fear and hate even though our conversation reached a point that neither of us had a clear response.
If this had been an environment, say English class, where the subject matter caused either audience or speaker (writer) to limit there expression, nothing would be gained.
Taking this reality into consideration, as writing teachers, it is imperative that we create and stimulate writing experiences that are as open and simple and free as a dialogue before we add the pressure of some academic or social mesurements.
As Rob and I exchanged service for money and dialogue for knowledge of human experience, our humanity was exponentially expanded.

Product vs Process

The didactic concept of emphasizing the process is intriguing to me.  I would argue that if we are seeing poor essays, this may be a function of the student's ability to grasp the writing process.  The problem, however, is rewarding the process with enough motivation to be concerned with the process, and instilling the fact that the process is needed for a polished product.  When was the last time we had a due date for brainstorming, clustering, and other process oriented assignments.  I do believe in escalated attention on embracing the process of writing.  My question, then, is when, how, and to what degree do we as teachers champion the process when only the product is evaluated.