Remember, if you're doing a video, we need to know what you're doing, why you're doing it, and how you're doing it.

I'm making a video presentation with Carly, Elizabeth, and Kim Armstrong (from Dr. Rice's class) about composition. We will be/have been interviewing professors from each of the four English departments, students in 1301, and C.I.'s and D.I.'s. We might also try to get other notable persons to comment. The questions we are posing are: What is the purpose of a composition class?; What makes up a good piece of composition?; What do you hope to get out of a comp. class/What do you hope your students will get out of a comp. class?; and How do you know if you are successful as a student/teacher? We would like to see what the common thread in people's opinions, despite their different leves of experience and specialty.

Blog Prompt: Using the "double entry" method, observe something and describe it (NOTE: try NOT to observe an academic experience; might be too political). Then, reflect on those observations. Communicate both in your blog--and we'll talk in class about how a reflective activity like this one might/might not be a good experience for students.

I'm describing an evening with my family (one of my brother's birthday dinner).
What I observed:
I watched him often. I smiled every time he even glanced in my direction. I tapped my foot often. I tried to get his attention anytime he was looking toward my dad. I repeatedly told him "happy birthday." This continued throughout the dinner.

SIgnificance:
I think I was trying so hard to make Michael's birthday good and happy. When my mom and dad have to coexist, it can get pretty un-fun, so I was watching him to see if he was noticing that. I was a bit preoccupied by the situation, so I think that's why I was tapping my foot. I was trying to make everything seem as natural as possible and really seem like I was having fun (because when others are having fun, it would be easier for him to have fun), but I felt like an actor, and I'm not very good at acting, so I think my foot-tapping was the result. I think my repeated "happy birthday's" were another form of distraction to try to keep him having fun...

I forgot to post last week...

I forgot to post last week, but as I read the prompt just a moment ago, I just couldn't let the topic fall by the wayside without blogging.

I think that voice that resonates does not have to compete with "academic voice" and can very well enhance it. The fact is, while it does not HAVE to compete with it, it often does. Because it's not something that can be imitated or easily manipulated, one cannot always write with resonance, which is especially true in academic writing.

It's hard to pinpoint how to write with resonance, but when it occurs, it's unmistakeable. So often I find myself reading articles that, despite being filled with complex information or theories and despite being written by someone obviously intelligent, leave no imprint in my mind (unless of course I know that talking about the article will be a necessity in class, in which case, I must force myself to truly comprehend what's being written in spite of myself). Part of why it's hard to teach writing with resonance is because it often stems from when people write about something they are passionate about. And how would one teach that?

Perhaps that's what makes Elbow so approachable in his writing. As Dr. Rickly admitted to us in class, he truly is as nice as he seems and truly cares about education not as a concept or theory but as it affects real people. Whether that can be said for every educational theorist, I'm not quite convinced.

Evolving Teaching Philosophy

I think a perfect teacher is one that challenges and encourages his/her students in a way that makes them want to learn and truly offer their best efforts. The perfect teacher mixes up the teaching style-- sometimes lecturing, other times doing a discussion-- to make sure that the students remain engaged. It is equally important to make one's expectations/requirements for assignments very clear. There is little more frustrating than receiving a bad grade (or even, for some students, a good grade) without explanation. A good teacher makes the criteria clear and helps his/her students practice meeting those aims prior to submitting assignments. I realize that this is much easier said than done, but it's possible. Even just reviewing good examples of the assignment would help some students in knowing what they should do. Despite all those things, I think what it all comes down to is having passion. I think if we all consider who our favorite teachers have been, what our best classroom experiences have been, each of the teachers we think of will have been teachers who wanted to be where they were, who loved what they were doing. It's not a question of "Do you have experience? Do you have knowledge?" (although both of those things are great qualities in teachers); the question is "Do you have passion?"

struggles

I'm still struggling with our current discussions about what the end of composition is and how we get there. As good as ttopic is at getting so many students through the compostion classes, I can't help but wonder how effective it is with so little class time and so little face-to-face interaction and feedback. Are we trading off effectiveness for efficiency?

As a grader and future instructor for the course, I'd really like to be in complete support of the course, but, what with having gone to Tech for undergrad. and having friends who have taken one or both of them and having worked at the Writing Center and had clients taking them, I've just heard so many complaints-- and logical and reasonable ones at that. I would like to believe that the courses teach students how to write to a universal audience, but do students actually learn those lessons? Or do they just do what they think each assignment is asking for and hope for the best, never knowing if they are, in fact, doing assignments correctly or satisfactorily enough to get the grade they're aiming for? From past discussions with friends and/or clients, from a student's perspective, it's like a game of chance.

I think the program has made progress by dividing C.I.'s and D.I.'s into small grading groups, but, as Elizabeth and I have verbalized in class, even those small groups don't negate the misinterpretations or micommunications among group members.

So, while I'm very appreciative of my position as a D.I., I still feel ill at ease with the program as a whole.

"End of Composition"

What is the "End of Composition"? How do we get there? What are the principles of good writing instruction that will get us there?

I believe the end goal of composition courses should be that the students of the courses should know how to communicate well. Effective communication encompasses several aspects of writing: one must know how to think critically, make logical arguments, and phrase their thoughts in such a way that is convincing to their audience or, at the very least, write in such a way that is clearly understood. I think a lot of what is going on in 1301 is gearing students toward meeting that end. For example, the summary and paraphrase assignments required that students read and comprehend complex material, and though students might not realize it, this practice helps them to communicate better as they are not only seeing examples of articles with good writing (for the most part), but they are also imitating it through their assignments. While not every student will give their assignments the attention they deserve or require, I think the ones who do will benefit and will become better communicators upon finishing their course. And despite the fact that I sometimes have mixed feelings toward the system of ttopic, I've realized that having multiple online graders better enables students to write across disciplines, which seems to be a big purpose of having all Tech students take 1301. Just as students will have to write for several different subject areas throughout their college career, having several different graders will help students to learn how to communicate in a way that satisfies any reader, despite what nuances each person has. That is ideally what the students should be able to gain from a composition course.

teaching philosophy

A philosophy of composition or a philosopy of teaching is the combination of ideas about writing and learning and methods of helping students learn that guide teachers' decisions in the classroom. For example, as we've been talking about in class, some writing instructors believe that grammar should be taught in classes while others don't. Teaching philosophies definitely vary from instructor to instructor, evident in the different types of activities and assignments in classes. In my own teaching philosophy, I believe that I will want to incorporate more of a discussion-based classroom than lecture. I'm not sure how well I will be able to pull this off at first, but I'm certainly going to try. And while I believe grammar is terribly important, I'm hoping that I won't beat it into my students' heads but that I will instead make it something that is interesting and enlightening. As to everything else that goes into teaching, I'm not quite sure yet. I know that I want my classroom to be fun and a place where students aren't afraid to talk about their thoughts and ideas, but don't all teachers? I'm sure I'll discover other areas of my teaching philosophy as I get closer to actually getting into a classroom of my own.

facilitators

I'm a bit confused by this question. It seems that the obvious answer is that the teachers in ICON are facilitators of learning. Perhaps they are similar to the UWC in that when a student/client goes to the UWC, the tutors help the client in an "I'm on your side and want to help you do well" kind of way. Similarly, the teachers of ICON can play the good-guy card in they are not the primary graders and can phrase lessons in such a way that it really makes the students feel like the teacher is on their side to help them beat the graders. :) little do they know that it's all a big conspiracy...

composition concepts

It is a bit difficult for me to choose the most important concepts to my teaching styles as I have never formally taught a class. I can surely forsee what would matter most to me, though. If we are to choose from the four concepts listed in the article "Philosophies of Composition," then I would have to choose all but mimetic.

Most important to me is the expressive. When one writes in expressively, then the content matters much to the writer, making it more enjoyable for any who read it. It is nearly impossible, I have found, to write about something that truly matters to oneself without having that sincerity come through the writing.

Rhetorical is next in importance; when one considers his or her audience and what the audience is anticipating to read, then the writing will be more relevant to the assignment given. This comes second to the expressive philosophy, but a very close second. A truly well-written work would be equally shared between the expressive and rhetorical theories.

Lastly, the formalist theory must come into play in concepts of importance to me simply because I love grammar and punctuation and the way they make our language clear. While a work without correct grammar might still be readable, the presence of grammatical correctness adds much to any writing. At times, one might not even notice when all is well grammatically speaking; however, when a work is plagued with errors, the ideas within the writing often become difficult to discern. It seems to me that a truly well-done piece (grammatically) is one where the punctuation and grammar are not even noticed. The role of grammar and punctuation is to make clear the communication being done, so when grammar and punctuation serve the writing appropriately, they should go unnoticed; the ideas within the writing will, therefore, be the main focus.

Although I listed the formalist theory last in level of importance, it would seem by the length which I spent on it that it is first. Perhaps it is, though I surely hope it isn't.