Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Channeling My Inner Mike Rosian
Hey everyone!
We are finally at the home stretch of our class and now is the time to kick it into gear to really work hard on our final projects. How has it been going for me you may ask? Well, I have been working on my teaching philosophy for the class and it has been an interesting experience. I wrote my first draft as a very structured academic essay with a centered thesis and supporting arguments using the texts we've read in class; however, I am considering doing a more personal approach to the project by writing a personal response about my experiences with writing in and out of classes. I think this might help me hone in on my inner-Mike-Rosian to create a styled and personal narrative that will help bring my thoughts to surface. By creating a personal response, I think I'll be more centered within my topic and be able to understand the journey I took through literacy.
As for the content of my paper, I am drawing inspiration from Peter Elbow and his use of bringing out the voice of his students. I really liked his example of publishing his students' work into their own class book so that they felt they had the same authority as the authors they were studying. That just sounds so awesome and it would really help with establishing confidence amongst the students if they were a published writer (much like how this blog helps me feel like a published writer!). I think the use of free writing would lead to a lot of great ideas, much like how the free writing we did in class spurred some interesting personal reflections.
Let's all keep working hard and charge forth!
We are finally at the home stretch of our class and now is the time to kick it into gear to really work hard on our final projects. How has it been going for me you may ask? Well, I have been working on my teaching philosophy for the class and it has been an interesting experience. I wrote my first draft as a very structured academic essay with a centered thesis and supporting arguments using the texts we've read in class; however, I am considering doing a more personal approach to the project by writing a personal response about my experiences with writing in and out of classes. I think this might help me hone in on my inner-Mike-Rosian to create a styled and personal narrative that will help bring my thoughts to surface. By creating a personal response, I think I'll be more centered within my topic and be able to understand the journey I took through literacy.
As for the content of my paper, I am drawing inspiration from Peter Elbow and his use of bringing out the voice of his students. I really liked his example of publishing his students' work into their own class book so that they felt they had the same authority as the authors they were studying. That just sounds so awesome and it would really help with establishing confidence amongst the students if they were a published writer (much like how this blog helps me feel like a published writer!). I think the use of free writing would lead to a lot of great ideas, much like how the free writing we did in class spurred some interesting personal reflections.
Let's all keep working hard and charge forth!
A Practically Paraphrased Post on Philosophy
Well. The title was alliterative..
I decided to do the teaching philosophy final assignment as I thought it would be most practical (which is just ironic, because I discuss how much I love creative writing projects in my paper...). I begin with talking about myself, and critically think about why it is I chose to become an English major. I came to the conclusion that much of my choice had to do with escapism. The worlds found in books are often more fun and entertaining than like, real life.
From there, I go into some teaching theory. I haven't really concluded where I am on the spectrum between Elbow and Bartholomae, whose name I will never know how to spell properly. I would like to think I am more Elbowian, but I have always craved structure, and why not give students all the tools they need? Despite my unknowingness, I have concluded that I am open to creativity. But who isn't? I wish I had done more creative writing throughout my schooling, and I believe it is a wonderful entrance into the world of academic writing.
I don't really know where my paper will take me now, but hey. Here's to finals.
I decided to do the teaching philosophy final assignment as I thought it would be most practical (which is just ironic, because I discuss how much I love creative writing projects in my paper...). I begin with talking about myself, and critically think about why it is I chose to become an English major. I came to the conclusion that much of my choice had to do with escapism. The worlds found in books are often more fun and entertaining than like, real life.
From there, I go into some teaching theory. I haven't really concluded where I am on the spectrum between Elbow and Bartholomae, whose name I will never know how to spell properly. I would like to think I am more Elbowian, but I have always craved structure, and why not give students all the tools they need? Despite my unknowingness, I have concluded that I am open to creativity. But who isn't? I wish I had done more creative writing throughout my schooling, and I believe it is a wonderful entrance into the world of academic writing.
I don't really know where my paper will take me now, but hey. Here's to finals.
I'm working on positioning myself in the theories we've discussed this semester that resonate with me as a defining component of my teaching philosophy. Leaning heavily into the rhetorical view, I have found myself reiterating the importance of creating a classroom that endeavors on the exploration of language as a necessary tool capable of carving your path to succeed any goal.
Last Week of Term
Hello Class (and wider world). Well, here we are in the last week of term. I am not sure why I was so caught off guard by how quickly the term ended. There's been a swamp of work for me lately, plus the family and I are going out of town this weekend for my niece's wedding. Plus my 53rd birthday is tomorrow, and how that happened I haven't the faintest idea. Like, 53 is over the hill and into the pasture. Which would be fine if I didn't still have to dig lots of trenches and build lots of fences and herd a lot of (if you'll pardon the expression) livestock.
Multi-modal composition. I agree with those of you who say the question is not whether but how. I like the model in the article we read (Costello's "The Art of Revision") in that it allows for a fertile hybridity of all the elements of genre: voice, audience, form, focus, purpose, context, register. I also like that it makes real something that incoming students often have trouble believing: that there's nothing studied here in the Ivory Tower that is not important or relevant for the wider civic space. The boundaries are far more porous than many students believe, and I think it's pretty awesome to invite students to develop some expertise on a subject and then to bring that expertise to bear on challenges in the "real world." Indeed, I like this more and more as I think about it. Doesn't this model absolutely capture one element of strong liberal-arts education?--the element of becoming a learned and engaged public intellectual. And it affirms a central point about responsible civic engagement: that we should be careful to weigh in on public debates from a stance of knowing. There is so much awful rhetoric in America today. So much. And huge damage has been done to our civic space by people who cherish their right to opinionize before they know anything truly.
So yes, DO use multi-modal assignments and methods. Do make use of all the "affordances" (hate that word) that they offer. DO use them however you can to avoid rock-chewing, fake genres, fake voices, absent creativity. DO.
Multi-modal composition. I agree with those of you who say the question is not whether but how. I like the model in the article we read (Costello's "The Art of Revision") in that it allows for a fertile hybridity of all the elements of genre: voice, audience, form, focus, purpose, context, register. I also like that it makes real something that incoming students often have trouble believing: that there's nothing studied here in the Ivory Tower that is not important or relevant for the wider civic space. The boundaries are far more porous than many students believe, and I think it's pretty awesome to invite students to develop some expertise on a subject and then to bring that expertise to bear on challenges in the "real world." Indeed, I like this more and more as I think about it. Doesn't this model absolutely capture one element of strong liberal-arts education?--the element of becoming a learned and engaged public intellectual. And it affirms a central point about responsible civic engagement: that we should be careful to weigh in on public debates from a stance of knowing. There is so much awful rhetoric in America today. So much. And huge damage has been done to our civic space by people who cherish their right to opinionize before they know anything truly.
So yes, DO use multi-modal assignments and methods. Do make use of all the "affordances" (hate that word) that they offer. DO use them however you can to avoid rock-chewing, fake genres, fake voices, absent creativity. DO.
Hey all, hope your day is going well. Hang in there - things are a little crazy right now, what with individual life concerns and upcoming finals, but I absolutely believe in you. You can do it!
I am assembling a personal teaching credo chock full of ideas and theories that our English 587 course has presented all semester.
A few of my policies will include:
+ Refusing to publicly shame students for poor work or behavior
+ Providing encouraging and constructive commentary
+ Viewing students as budding intellectuals, not just "kids"
These will branch from personal experiences and will be supported by the works of such writers as Peter Elbow and Mike Rose, as well as the collective minds from Cross-Talk in Composition. My credo may turn out to be a touch idealistic (I admit that I have dreams of the "perfect" classroom that may not work well in application). However "rainbow-and-butterfly-esque" it may be, I find the opportunity to really mull over what sort of classroom I would run to be incredibly helpful. There have been a multitude of opinions on how to teach thrown at me since I was as upper-division undergrad, so taking this chance to tromp through the veritable swamp of theories in order to fish out what I find could be applicable is invaluable - now I can worry about application rather than just soaking up and retaining new ideas!
Well, that is what I will be writing about. Thank you for reading, and best of luck to you!
I am assembling a personal teaching credo chock full of ideas and theories that our English 587 course has presented all semester.
A few of my policies will include:
+ Refusing to publicly shame students for poor work or behavior
+ Providing encouraging and constructive commentary
+ Viewing students as budding intellectuals, not just "kids"
These will branch from personal experiences and will be supported by the works of such writers as Peter Elbow and Mike Rose, as well as the collective minds from Cross-Talk in Composition. My credo may turn out to be a touch idealistic (I admit that I have dreams of the "perfect" classroom that may not work well in application). However "rainbow-and-butterfly-esque" it may be, I find the opportunity to really mull over what sort of classroom I would run to be incredibly helpful. There have been a multitude of opinions on how to teach thrown at me since I was as upper-division undergrad, so taking this chance to tromp through the veritable swamp of theories in order to fish out what I find could be applicable is invaluable - now I can worry about application rather than just soaking up and retaining new ideas!
Well, that is what I will be writing about. Thank you for reading, and best of luck to you!
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