Response to Brooke's "Underlife and Writing Instruction"

Brooke’s article “Underlife and Writing Instruction” brings up some really interesting ideas about classroom management and forming relationships in the classroom.  First, he describes the student’s underlife and anything that takes the students out of the classroom, distracts them from participating, or even causes misbehavior. Then he explains that in general, writing teachers attempt to use aspects of underlife to help the students see themselves as writers.  Brooke gives many interesting ideas, but it all comes down to respect.  In undergraduate education classes, I was told that everyone has a story, and it is the teacher’s job to learn it.  I do not recommend that composition classes turn into come-to-Jesus meetings, but there has to be room for the student’s personal identity and expression.   More so than any other subject, writing not only reveals a student’s underlife, it relies on it.  It was clear from the first assignment that I graded for 1301 that students were desperate to set themselves apart and share their story.  That urge has been systematically beaten out of them every time we tell them there is no room for their opinion in this genre.  Writing is not only a tool for communication, it is a vehicle for self-expression.  There are so many different ways to communicate now, and if we continue to remove self-expression from writing there will be very few left who willingly do it. I cannot think of many students who would choose to write an essay if there was any other option. 

It seems that the best solution is to include underlife in classroom management in order for the students to remain engaged and bring a certain level of respect into the relationship.  College students are old enough to understand mutual respect—I believe that having an open discussion about aspects of underlife that can distract from classroom participations can be helpful.  Ask them why they are on their phones, when do they stop listening and start doodling? Do they distract themselves because they are uninterested, tired, or for some other reason? I think that including them in the conversation about how a class operates and what can be done to keep the course work interesting can be a very valuable opportunity to learn more about their identity. I am not saying that it is a teacher’s job to make sure that the students are constantly entertained, but it is important to know in general which teaching strategies appeal to your students and which cause them to tune you out.  Students will bring their underlife to class no matter how often you tell them to “leave it at the door.” It is about teaching them to balance their classroom identity and underlife identify and showing respect for both.    

Course Objective that Connects to an Objective of Future Job: Make Stylistic Choices Appropriate for a Given Rhetorical Situation.

One of the more earth shattering things I learned about composition this semester was the idea of the mode being the message.  My schooling has had a staunch devotion to the almighty essay.  While now I am thrilled to be able to write a decent essay, they were for many years the bane of my existence.  I was never a strong writer, and I am still a wretched speller.  Essays were extremely difficult for me.  For most of my school career I assumed that because I could not write an essay, then I must not understand the information.  Now I realize that essays did not jive with my personal learning strategy.  One of my missions as an educator is to provide learning opportunities that appeal to a wide variety of learners. Of course, I will continue to teach the basics that men in suits expect from their employees, but fortunately that idea is quickly broadening due to an explosion of multi-modal communication.

I admit, I may have overdone the notion of self-expression in my syllabus, but that is because I was so taken with the idea of allowing students to make choices about how they present information and reflecting on the success of that choice.  This is a really exciting time to study communication because it has never been so varied.  With the proliferation of technology, classes will have to include different ways for students to present information, and, by extension, will appeal to a larger range of learners.  Students will not only have to make choices about what they present, but how they present it; what is the right choice for the right audience and topic.  This notion pairs so well with composition is like the entire field has been waiting for this shift.  It is clear to me from grading that there are students who still struggle with the idea of making choices in writing.  It a fair thing to struggle with; it is abstract and they have had very little experience intentionally practicing it.  However, the idea of choices will be easier to demonstrate if you ask them whether or not this information should be presented in a video or podcast.  Without realizing it, they will be discussing rhetoric, and it will be easier for them to recognize similar choices in pieces of writing. 

When composition shifts to focus as much on the medium as much as the content, there will be a number of struggles. Adding new complications will be difficult for some, others may not appreciate the differences in the mediums, and a hundred more issues that no one can prepare for.  However, this is a massive shift in composition, and when the topic expands to more than just writing, it can appeal to and interest a number of different learners.  After all, learning is about making choices, considering the results, and adjusting your actions.  As with every lesson, the process becomes more complicated. However, the advances we talk towards expansion and inclusion can only lead to an overwhelming number of good things.  

Which assignment from my syllabus will students struggle with?

Due to where it falls in the schedule and the kind of paper it is, I believe that the assignment students would struggle the most with in my syllabus is the iSearch paper.  First of all, I chose to have the big research paper due after only 4 weeks in the semester.  I did this because it is a form that they understand: the essay. The other assignments in my syllabus are not essay based, so by having them write an essay first, they can use it to examine the other assignments and have something recent to compare them to. Also, it calls for them to evaluate different resources, consider their credibility, and make choices about which sources to trust and include.  But the main reason I decided to put the research paper first is because I do not think they will do well.  I want them to make mistakes so we can identify their weakness early and work on them while there is still time in the semester.  Part of my syllabus includes a portfolio with revisions and a reflection on the revision process; the hope is that the students will realize their weaknesses, learn about them and how to correct them throughout the class, and have a chance to revise thoughtfully.

 I realize that students will struggle with a number of things regarding this assignment.  They will most likely have a difficult time accumulating credible resources this early. Differentiating between the information that they are bombarded with every day will be very difficult—some advanced students struggle with this idea.  Therefore, I believe it is important to begin that conversation as early as possible. The second aspect they will struggle with is keeping this paper focused on what they know rather than on what they think.  Because this paper is called an iSearch and relies on the writer’s reflection over the research process, it may be difficult for students to separate the information they find and their own opinions—it is important to convey that this is a paper about discussing what they want to learn and how they will learn it, rather than a platform on which to preach. Finally, having something this early in the semester that relies on clear writing will be problematic for students.  The hope is that in high school they learned how to articulate their thoughts, but that is not always the case.  This may be the first time that they realize something they wrote down only makes sense to them.  I think this is an important thing to realize early so they adjust throughout the semester. 

One teachable moment that comes with this assignment is the gentle realization that to struggle and to fail is not the end, it is a chance to examine and explore mistakes in order to fix them.  This assignment will hopefully show them the difference between papers based on opinion and papers supported by credible resources.  I also hope to show them that revisions are as important as the paper itself.