Teaching Composition @ FSU

Being a Student/Teacher

emanij — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 04:27:10 +0000

One of my biggest challenges this summer was coming to terms with both my pedagogical interests and my teaching. We’ve discussed a number of times about how we have to deal with these two different aspects of our lives. I’m very interested in how we can make the two intersect. Dr. Yancey’s article showed us that our roles in the classroom transcend the simply teaching of skills. There’s no reason that our roles as students can’t do the same. We have to remember that we’re not just learning for the sake of learning anymore than we’re teaching writing for the sake of writing. There’s plenty of ways to integrate the two. On my teaching portfolio, I tried to show a few of my interests can intersect with my teaching so that I’m applying what I learn in my discipline while I’m learning. Take a look:

http://emanijcomp.weebly.com/academic-interests.html

What are some of the ways you’re going to try to integrate the two?

Political Slants

emanij — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 03:56:22 +0000

I already mentioned this in Dr. Teague’s class, but I wanted to raise an issue to our class about political slants in our work. I had a student who was an aggressive “conservative” with his t-shirt stating “I’m a Republican, Deal With It”. He was never directly disrespectful in class, but he made it clear from time to time that he felt there was a slant in our lessons that was against his political affiliations. When he made these feelings clear in his papers in journals, I really started to wonder: was I unconsciously placing my political ideologies into my lessons?

One of my activities on visual rhetoric really displeased him. I seemed to only use images like anti-war, pro-life, or women’s rights in the lesson. I simply thought these were images that brought about specific arguments and it was easier to teach the lesson using images that evoked such specific feelings. But when I think about it, perhaps I wasn’t being completely sensitive to the other arguments. Have I erred in that department? Is many of our teaching techniques liberally minded?

Writing about Writing and the Novice-to-Expert Transition

julieedow — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 05:43:44 +0000

As I read Wardle’s article this week, I got increasingly angrier and more frustrated. There she was, on the page, telling me the job I’d have for the next two years would be essentially pointless. Telling me that transfer hardly ever happened, that our efforts, in all different directions, would have the same result–students would think they had gotten in touch with their sensitive side but learned nothing about how to articulate their own ideas. She was saying that everything is a genre, and we in FYW had made up some of our own that taught generic “ball-handling” but again, nothing to take with them. I thought I was losing my mind for the first two-thirds of the article.

She finally saved me with the idea that we throw the genre prep out the window. I love the idea of Writing about Writing; it’s a class I would gladly take, over and over. My fear, though, and the fear Dr. Neal expressed, is how we make a convincing argument for its relevance in the general education requirements. I don’t mean to say that it’s not relevant–I absolutely think it is, just that I’m not sure, even after all our talk, what all the meta-writing would look like, and how Nancy Sommers’ big Harvard surveys would turn out. Would the students think they were becoming experts? Or would the theory and the ideals make them recoil into their novice roles?

I’m just not sure.

Multimodal

srlapinsky — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 03:30:48 +0000

The transition from paper technology to digital technology seems convenient to most people of either middle or upper class, but poses a problem for those in the downward spiral of the lower. For the impoverished, access to computers, schools that improperly function, and the modernization of local institutions are deteriorating factors, which threaten to isolate communities and increase illiteracy. Since the world has moved into a multimodal era, those without electronic support have been left—literally—in the dark. A struggling government’s intervention cannot keep up with critical mass. In many states, schools are shutting down or being converted into college prep schools. This consolidation, along with the rise of AP school programs, threatens to destroy junior and community colleges, liquidating teaching jobs. Not only could this lead to a conflict between academic mobility and the students’ socialization, but also a polarization of the classes. Welch’s idea of mixing old technologies with new ones is appealing, but it won’t help PBS. However, according to Mathieu and George “it is within and despite this oversaturated corporate media environment that the alternative press seeks to find an audience in its efforts to play even a limited role in helping circulate and keep alive important public, human concerns” (133). The constant bombardment of advertisements is making the population ethically dyslexic. Although Weisser tends to generalize his opinions of writing teachers, he may be correct in saying no one is able to “go it alone” (131). In fact, as teachers of language, we must pick an audience (or two) carefully, taking a rhetorical stance on both fronts.

My Teaching Portfolio Experience

katiesummerlin — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 20:51:15 +0000

The Anson article was very informative on both the motivations behind and the composition of portfolios. My own experience was creating a website using Wix (www.wix.com). The website has all my reflections on teaching, my internship, article responses, and all the other documents that display the markers of my teaching preparation. However, the website building experience—the exercise of multimedia creativity, is where I enjoyed myself the most.

Natalie was very kind and walked me through any problem I encountered in creating my portfolio. The finished product closely resembles the truth of my personality; it looks as if a clown threw up. And that’s okay.

The demonstration of growth, the expansion in diversity and quantity of documents uploaded to the e-portfolios encourages my support of portfolio development. Though I am not currently comfortable mastering the teaching and evaluation of both student papers and portfolios, I do think I will make the switch in future semesters. Perhaps when my own portfolio demonstrates the achievement level that I would feel comfortable sharing with students.

I think technology like Wix has a great deal to offer to academics. maybe a taunt will work—You don’t want to look stupid by not using the resources that are readily available!

Return to Babble?

kimifig — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 20:50:01 +0000

In a purely academic and ideological stand point, I have to say I agree with Canagarajah. Language is mutable and multiple and any incarnation is chooses to manifests has value to communities and society. To ignore the multiple the utility in the variety of language, even within a single language, is very narrow minded and limiting as well as detrimental to one’s self on a networking level. In my own household I shuffle between at least four different types of English. Between my niece’s and nephew’s version of ‘English’ (a questionable breed that I blame on some form of miscarried texting), my little brother’s ‘gamer’ idioms, my own academic terminology, and then my grandmother’s Spanish all mingle in one household and in multiple heads, allowing for diverse conversation and connections. I would be cut off from any faction of my own family if I didn’t make strides to understand their language.
However, the possibility of teaching these in a classroom makes my blood run cold. I can’t imagine possibly condoning the use of my niece’s text speech were she adds duplicate os and ls to whatever initialized statement she’s trying to make. The whole point of shortening ‘laugh out loud’ to ‘lol’ was to make it shorter. Lengthening it with useless lettering is anti-productive! It would drive me beyond crazy to have to condone this speech or writing in a classroom. I see the utility in dialogue, as a way to enrich the reading experience, but beyond that it has no place in the classroom. Perhaps I am being too harsh, as this is a pet peeve of mine, what do y’all think?

Yancey and what drives the current composition classroom

katiesummerlin — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 20:38:55 +0000

Yancey’s article was a symphony of ideas, carefully arranged. I agree with her assertions that the forums for public writing, for writing “across space,” are larger than ever. The increase in the public participation of writing has to effect the composition classroom, or the writing classroom (and thereby English departments everywhere) becomes irrelevant. Some people are disgruntled that some writing courses are based on acquiring skill sets that are useful in a variety of disciplines and therefore might be labeled “service courses.” I look at service that a writing classroom might perform as an opportunity to inspire and convert, to impact society on a large scale. A class might do an Public Service Announcement, find a cause to sponsor, or simply connect with their communities.

The communities of the writing classroom Can be social media platforms, in my opinion. I am not going to wait for the academic validation that will come in a decade or two to praise what I know can be a good thing for everyone. Just the act of composing, of capturing thought process and putting it into text is a beneficial act for a person to do—whether it is several volumes or 140 characters or less. The creation and increase of a writing public means the increase of the reading public, which means the increase in a learning public—how can that be a bad thing?

Baron and the technology of the pencil

katiesummerlin — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 20:28:42 +0000

This Baron article about humanists and technology was my favorite article that we read in Bootcamp. Baron makes assertions that all sorts of objects that we now consider “naturalized” are technologies just like the newly emerging digital technologies. He uses the example of the pencil and Thoreau for the technology and the humanist (really funny, too).

Baron also asserts that new technologies are at first limited in access, then access is given only to initiates, then a few more….until the technology’s usefulness and applicability extends to the public arenas in general. And the price goes down. And the exposure goes up. Viewing technologies in this way creates a platform for discussion about the integration of new technologies into spaces like the classroom. The ability that new technologies have in terms of creating, manipulating, storing and disseminating texts with relative ease and convenience makes their integration into our lives seem like common sense.

Yes, with new technologies comes new problems that have to be mediated. New technologies can negatively effect other aspects of civilization…like cloning the sheep Dolly in Scotland. I don’t think that anyone actually objects that we have more sheep that weren’t birthed by their mothers, it is the implication of the technology that scares everyone. The science of ethics is all about making the hard calls, but running away and shutting down is not the way to address the advancement of technology.

Baaa baaaa Check out Dolly.

http://www.animalresearch.info/en/medical/timeline/Dolly

Reflections on the RWC

katiesummerlin — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 19:53:16 +0000

I was invited as an undergraduate to take part in a course that was going to train English majors to work and tutor in the Reading Writing Center on FSU’s campus. I chose not to take the course and I had no wish to work in the RWC. Now, I am re-thinking that position. Never taking the time to research deeper than one webpage, I didn’t realize that the RWC didn’t just work with students who have severe writing disabilities or do peoples’ work for them. I don’t mind working with any type of person, but I didn’t think that the RWC time-served was going to be constructive for my own personal and professional development. However, the class discussions and Scott Gage’s presentation really changed my mine. Working with students in the RWC is great way to exercise rhetoric, improve organization and expand the content of various types of writing. The discussion and growth of a writing assignment (with a variety of possible goals in mind) over time with an objective third-party? Who has interest in English and possibly an opinion?? For Free??? That sounds amazing—I just wish I had gone to the RWC in those early days of college writing.

I think that point is really critical for our assignments to the FYC Program, we have the ability to encourage and guide all students to the RWC. Those students that don’t need any remedial help can definitely improve their writing skills and then all students are aware that when they Do need that extra pair of eyes to re-read a draft—-they know where to go.

Week 2, Cynthia Selfe and “Not Paying Attention”

katiesummerlin — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 19:41:20 +0000

I have been desperately trying to look at the constructive points of Selfe’s “Not Paying Attention,” but I’ll admit it–I am having a hard time. Selfe asserts that it is a myth that “technological literacy will help all Americans,” and help provide equal opportunities to make money and have jobs. While I agree that there will is disparity between socio-economic classes, I would counter Selfe’s assertions with a big So What? Does that mean that trying to increase technological literacy or large-scale literacy education projects is bad? I don’t think that it making technological literacy a priority is a bad thing.

I appreciated Selfe’s detailed history of the political and economic conditions that brought this new digital age upon us. However, some of her representations of the disparities between ethnicity, gender, and class seem inaccurate. Selfe’s article is dated 1996 and I think that there were large gaps based on these demographic factors at this time. No society is without some sort of disparity, the perfect balance of interests and equalities as a goal is always just out of reach.

Also, speaking of illiterate populations, what about the Baby Boomers? They have the majority of economic power at this time and many of them cannot send an email and rarely use text messages. Perhaps there is a disinterestedness that isn’t factored into Selfe’s assertions about technologically illiterate populations?