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.   

5 Key Terms

These are a could words I am not sure I understand the meaning of in the context of this class:
1.  Feminism

2.  Errors and expectations

3.  Knowledge

4. Making of Knowledge

5. Discipline

Composition assignment that includes technology

Generally, I really like thinking of lesson plans.  However, I had a very difficult time thinking of something for this week’s blog. Most of my ideas are class activities or group work.  I was having a hard time thinking of a good assignment that included technology. I am very open to suggestions on how to improve this idea!  I got the idea from an undergraduate education class I took.  In that class we talked a lot about different learning strategies; this is an important concept that everyone recognizes as necessary for early childhood education, but for some reason, starting in high school, we all decide that students suddenly learn best through lecture and note taking.  With a class like composition that is a requirement, and a very large and abstract topic, I think approaching it from many different angles and many different modes is not only important, it is necessary. 

Towards the end of the semester, I would like to have to students make a video.  The subject of the video would be their thoughts on composition and the composition course: what did they learn, how did their thoughts about composition change, what did they like about the course, what did they not, etc.  The video would need to be 6-10 minutes—I realize this is not long for a video, but I want them to focus on concision and making choices about what to include.  I would like them to post this video to a website, like YouTube, this will help them think about a real audience outside of the class and besides the teacher.

I firmly believe that the students need to have choices within assignments, so they could bring me alternative topics they wanted to do a video about as well as the points they will cover.  There are many different ways that they could make a video, they could do a voice over with relevant pictures and notes, they could do a more casual video discussion, there is even potential for them to be creative with their video.  There is lots video software out there that can appeal to different learners.  I hate the sound of my recorded voice, so when I did a similar project in my education class I used a website called animoto.  It allowed me to put pictures and text in a video and have a song playing in the background.  After doing this project I use animoto several different times for different projects.  We want to expose students to different ways of thinking about composition, but if we can do that and help them find materials they can use to be successful in other classes, all the better!

Reflection Over Class Discussion

I was really struck by a number of things we talked about in class last Friday, particularly Yancey’s article “Made Not Only in Words: Composition in a New Key.” Although I could clearly see the shift from physical to digital reading material, the notion that it is equivalent to the invention of the printing press was astounding to me.  When people gained access to books written in their own language, the entire world changed. Now we are in the midst of a similar change, but, given out understanding of history, we could be prepared for effects and take advantage of this opportunity. I was really fantasied by the need for teacher to use what is natural to the students.  This, I think, is one of the most important ideas in education.  Teachers are often so wedded to the things they learned, and they way they were taught that they have a hard time adapting.  It’s almost like hazing: every year the insanity escalates because the previous generation recalls all the nonsense they had to do deal with, and they will not let the new generation off easy.  I know that many people are aghast that spelling tests are multiple choice, but I think that is a reasonable adjustment with the times. Spelling is an important skill, and if students cannot spell simple words without help, then they will struggle, but they will almost never be in a position to handwrite important documents that require complete precision.  And if they do, they can look up how to spell a word.  Traditional spelling tests are just one example of clinging to outdated learning tools that waste time.  Teachers, like any other profession, need to work with the most effective tools at their disposal. If  learners are changing, so must the teachers.

I think it is exciting that there is less of a need for memorization in schools.  This opens up the time for critical thinking skills.  The students are dealing with an endless network of information, and part of composition needs to become teaching them how to deal with all that information.  Good readers are good writers, so, as writing teachers, we need to help our students improve their skills as readers.  Part of composition is going to shift to become more like research methods: how to recognize credible sources and how to identify weak sources.  We already focus on rhetorical choices, now those choices are going to be broadened to include the variety of ways we communicate and the variety of ways students will receive information. I think this explosion of technology is really fascinating and presents the potential  to have a well informed general public, but it is up to teachers to help students sift through all that is available to them, and to think critically about it.

Nadhi's Teaching Composition Philosophy!

http://www.faculty.english.ttu.edu/rice/5060/nidhi-extended.docx

There were several points in Nidhi’s paper that I loved! Her teaching philosophy shows serious thought, reflection, and a desire to provide her students with a fruitful learning environment.  I’ve read in her blog before that reading is for the mind what exercise is for the body; again, I must point out how heartily I agree with that! There is a lot of really dry material that students are forced to interact with. starting in high school students are told very sternly what to read, and very often the reading is uninteresting to them—personally, I know that I did not completely read a single book that was assigned to me.  This does not foster a healthy relationship with reading, and often students experience no Free Voluntary Reading.  I think this is a very important thing that Nidhi has pointed out—we need to find ways to encourage students to increase their FVR time, so their minds get as much of a workout as their bodies.

I thought it was very interesting that Nidhi pointed out that a good teacher does not tell students what to do—they tell students what not to do.  When I was taking education class, for early childhood so there are some fundamental differences, my professors told me to always speak in positives: do not  say to the children, “Don’t run,” because there is that one petulant student that will begin to skip. Instead, you should say, “walk.” I know they taught us this as a safety measure (you always want to be clear with children so know exactly what to do).  However, I always felt like congratulating the petulant child that found a creative solution and a way to express themselves.  By telling a child “don’t run,” you are giving them the choice to move any other way.  This idea is applicable to teaching adults.  You can tell them a few things they cannot do, and open up a wider range of things they can do. Nidhi made a very astute observation here, that changed one of the ways I approach teaching.

Nidhi’s ideas about teaching writing in a university were really interesting.  First she thought that writing should not be graded.  I agree and disagree at the same time.  I believe that grading is a bit arbitrary, it can wreck a student’s confidence, and should not be a student’s motivation for writing.  However, I think that they do deserve a comprehensive analysis of their progress.  I do not think grades are important, but they are how students have always evaluate themselves, and suddenly stopping that may be a difficult transition for them. If we were to do away with grading, there needs to be a replacement system that shows students where they thrive and where they need to practice.  I do not have alternative solution to grading, and it is my dearest hope that one day students will be intrinsically motivated.  Nidhi also mentioned that we should stop teaching  writing.  I am inclined to agree with this.  Writing is an important skill, but it comes along with becoming a clear thinker.  If we teach students to think about problems and carefully research topics, then their writing skills will improve.  One thing I loved about my undergraduate college was that writing was a part of every class. I achieved my writing requirement in a political science course.  Every teacher was a good writer, and expected good writing from their students—it was like four years of composition classes.  I think if writing was more integrated in the subjects the student were interested it, they would gain a deeper respect for writing as well as a understanding of its importance.  Nadhi’s teaching philosophy is bold and interesting.  If you haven’t yet, I highly recommend reading it! Thank you Nadhi!