Composition & Pedagogy

Kelsey Jay

[alejandrablogs]

StuDYING for Finals

I think music and studying can mix well, but it can also cause a lot of distractions. I, for one, prefer studying with music, but choose soft tunes and crank it up until I can only hear my thoughts.

Here are some of my study sesh playlist songs:

1. Down- Jason Walker

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvWCvYPsiuM

2. Have You Ever Seen the Rain- Creedence Clearwater Revival

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ou7P0QX25IY

3. Black Honey- Thrice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9GTEsNf_GU

4. Phantom Bride- Deftones

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSycaeY7qi4

5. The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot- Brand New

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0naRFSK2hQ

[kjmutrgv-blog]

You have some good music, especially some I have never heard of... really like a few ! Reblogging for later !!!

[lizzieelizondo286-blog]

Music is my getaway from everything in life. I just let the music flow. I love, love, love country music! I mean I like all kinds of music, but country is my favorite. Although my heart belongs to country right now I’m not in big a country phase. I also need upbeat music to keep me going and sometimes to dance out my stress. Yes, go ahead and laugh but it feels good after! Plus I know the words to like every song, so I am always, always singing my lungs out. Right now my favorite songs that are getting me through finals are the following:

Bruno Mars, That’s What I Like. Always on repeat!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMivT7MJ41M

I also really like The Weekend’s, I Feel It Coming.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFLhGq0060w

Calvin Harris, Frank Ocean, and Migos Slide. 

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFQqAZBOwfQ

A couple of country songs I’m into right now …

Maren Moris, I Could Use a Love Song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ-B9ntKOnw

Thomas Rhett Ft Maren Moris, Craving You

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooFnUCUI8Vg

Honestly… there are too many country songs that I LOVE and I cannot list them all because I would probably fill up your whole Tumblr feed. LOL.

[kjmutrgv-blog]

OHHHH my goodness I LOVE ALL THESE SONGS REBLOGGING FOR LATER !!! 

[kjmutrgv-blog]

Music ... Studying

I first off would like to say.. music is my favorite thing. I tend to hear it eveywhere I go, sometimes I wish when exams were given they would allow us to hear music or at least the melody. Regardless , I have a very diverse taste of music, country music is my heart and soul, as well all oldie music, but I do like hearing modern music as well. My top five favorite songs right now are :

Florida Georgia Line : God , Your Mama, And Me ft The backstreet boys .. YES, I know the backstreet boys !!!

The ChainSmokers and ColdPlay : Something Just like This 

Neon Noah : Dreaming with the Lights on 

Luke Combs : Hurricane

Wilderado : Wheat

[lizzieelizondo286-blog]

Writing, writing, and more writing

This week, our readings were actually very interesting because they’re relatable. Writing is something we all will do for the rest of our lives whether we like it or not. I found it so funny how most of us could recall our elementary days were teachers would make us write, “I will not talk when the teacher is talking” or something along those lines. But Roy Clark’s article, “I Won’t Use Writing as Punishment… I Won’t” is to remind us teachers that students start looking at writing in a negative way if it’s used as a punishment. As it is stated in Clark’s article, “the joy of writing is not dead in today’s children unless it is killed in the bud by adults.” I can say I agree with this because there is no one else to blame but the adults who bring writing out as a negative thing to children. Teachers who encourage their students to let their thoughts flow into writing are the ones who should be applauded for not ruining writing.

With the same topic on writing, the second article by Anne Lamott, “Shitty First Drafts” is something everyone in the world has gone through. No one has mastered their first draft, and that’s what makes it so important in students’ writing process. She states, “almost all writing begins with terrible first efforts” and if this were not true, then you would probably be a super hero genius. But on a serious note, I feel this is what gives students their story meaning and creativity. Within the first draft, students don’t know what they are trying to say exactly but have an idea. As they revise and develop their drafts more, they start finding their footing and create a good piece of writing. As a future teacher, I will highly encourage first drafts, and want to see them in my classroom a lot more so I can have my students observe their progress they have made along the way.

I believe with writing being so important in school, teachers should be more aware as to how they promote it to students. We want to encourage them, not scare them and make them hate writing. We need to introduce it as a safe space for them to feel comfortable and at ease when they are writing. Most teachers don’t know what damage they are doing by turning writing into a punishment and looking down at first drafts.

[kjmutrgv-blog]

I too agree with you ! Writing is very important in everyday school work it just English class ... writing can be used and incorporated in all subjects ... like your said encouragement is key... yet how would you encourage them ? Is there a a better way to ease students into writing ?

[nayleaorta-blog]

Where to Start?

Shitty first drafts. We all have them. Anne Lamott writes that even the most prestigious,  respected, and famous writers have shitty first drafts. They are not writing angels that magically sit in front of a computer and spew out wonderfully written works of art. It just doesn’t happen. She lets her reader know that she is one of the many victims of horrible first drafts and her experience in having to write food reviews. She would collect her notes and have everything ready for her to start writing but she didn’t know how. She would occupy herself with other things, in a sense dragging her feet, before she began writing. The more I read the article the more I thought that she had set up a hidden camera in my room and documented my process of writing an essay. It was relatable. This reminded me of another article that we had to read for class which was “Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Adult Writers” by Nancy Sommers. In that article, Sommers mentions that student writers begin writing and revising at the same time. They do not feel comfortable or confident enough to just write whatever comes to mind without worrying about the grammar. To them, the student writers, it has to be perfect from the beginning. I think that the more you do something the more tricks you find to better yourself at that one thing. In the beginning, I’ll admit, I would focus more on the grammar of my paper rather than the content. Now, that I have had more experience in writing, I found an easier way (for me) to begin writing. I have come to learn to do as Lamott has described in her article. I type my ideas down and make it sound as if I am describing the topic of my essay to a friend or family member (by family member I mean my mom). I type as if I am having a conversation with someone and use slang or, sometimes, use curse words to get my ideas across. After I let out everything that I want to say, I leave it alone for some time, about a day, and look at it again and begin to delete what is not useful and elaborate more on what I do find useful for my essay. This is how I have written my essays recently, especially my Teaching Philosophy Statement. I think that a person must learn to write shitty first drafts because it is a skill that experienced writers have learned. Stop worrying about sounding perfect from the very beginning and let the ideas just flow, man. Peace and Love!! What is your process of writing an essay? Will you incorporate this article in your classroom to teach the students how to start an essay? I know I will

[kjmutrgv-blog]

I enjoyed your picture and ideas ! Yes we all have shitty first drafts ... I like your way of writing style as well .. you made me feel you were very connected to the reading as well as to the reader (me a shitty first draft writer ) overall I have gone through everything you stated and understand where you come from !

[kjmutrgv-blog]

Writing, Shitty Drafts, I will not use writing as a punishment

Response to: “I Won’t Use Writing as Punishment. I Won’t…” by Roy Peter Clark,Shitty “First Drafts Anne Lamott from Bird by Bird, “ and “Rhetorical Criticism of Online Discourse” by Brandon Jones. When reading “I Won’t Use Writing as Punishment. I Won’t…” by Roy Peter Clark, I realized throughout my education I have witnessed writing being used as punishment by teachers just like in the text. Luckily, as far as i can remember,  I have never been punished by having to write. A negative attitude was never an issue when it came to english, but it was with math. So I could relate to the concepts  “it was too old-fashioned or obsolete to reprint” (4). Clark exposed this is super old and the ideas are old but, we are still here and we are going to talk about, so I guess here we are  it's worth thinking about.. Own level of anxiety and confidence.  Anne Lamott from Bird by Bird states “Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere. Start by getting something -- anything -- down on paper. A friend of mine says that the first draft is the downdraft -- you just get it down.” Lot of practice ahead of us   and application at the same time confidence, at this point it has a relationship Self reflection : thinking about assessment and final assignment. Anne Lamott from Bird by Bird is very quotable. She expresses writing and how hard it is : tons of stuff about writing and culture and the vulnerability of self reflection. She expresses that writing is hard as well as finding self disclosure not saying the samething over and over again is not right most commonly assigned narratives a thing people do. Rhetorical Criticism of Online Discourse  By Brandon Jones states you always get back what you sow. Thing that happens when you teach, One way to write a position paper Composition form as a model See something kind of in the middle where we are at Author puts forward a reasonable argument draws sources and here's the thing about internet rhetoric. Contradiction in the begining … fine but hard to read Reason for no evidence and for contradiction Rhetoric and the internet : students have not followed or looked into internet See how further drafting can improve this piece have distance and topic and its self Don't know how to say the thing you are thinking about because it's hard to say Redundant : student writing.

[fullbouquetwhispers-blog]

All different, all the same, and all exist.

The text I chose pretty much sums up in the picture above. Although “Locating Queer Rhetorics: Mapping as an Intentional Method.” by Don Unger, and Fernando Sanchez. Is not a topic on super heroes coming together to save the world like the characters in Marvel suggest. They are alike in the way that the article is touching on a topic that speaks to the people out there that are distinguished in a unique form. the LGBTQIA community. They are common people that can be found anywhere in the world, contribute, and live just like all else. In this article my understanding is that, the author set out a search intended to find “Queer Rhetoric” to answer a variety of questions. Starting by locating were on the map they would be, why, and what difference or contribution they make to the writing world. Even-thou fining queer rhetoric makes no difference to how writing is perceived (in my respectful opinion) at least not for an academic piece. There is no difference between a straight writer, and a LGBTQIA writer. Writing is writing at the end of the day, and every piece will be approached in different ways. It is interesting how this task came to be however, and how later I though it may be useful for this finding. While at the beginning I was asking my self why this article should be relevant, I was looking at it from a whole different view. Until I came to a part in the article that helped me understand how this articles’ research made sense. “queer rhetorics isn’t limited to this particular issue; it provides a flexible framework to serve as a basis for further action to “the broader community of composition professionals [who] might find encouragement from these experiences to enact such trans formative pedagogies in their own classroom.” (p. 98). I am all for this right here if looking for queer rhetoric somehow helps a student/teacher somewhere than it is totally relevant and important. Just like Marvel comic characters come together for the greater good of saving humanity. People too no matter what the gender or preference everyday come together for the common good of our future, “the generations in school right now.”

[kjmutrgv-blog]

I love the photo you used and the way you made it connect with your ideas. I truly agree with what you are saying and way to incorporate these frame works and ideas within a classrooms. The quote you used especially made me want to consider these ideas in the classroom.

[auroraluna1-blog]

Collaborative Writing

The article “Arendtian Framework for Collaboration” by Jessica Restaino talked about three major concepts natality, plurality and record. The author refers to “natality” as a writing experience which as in class we can connect it with collaborative writing. I believe, this is a must in a classroom because different opinions and experience interact with one another. Also, the wiki entries we currently do help us become stronger writers. I understood “plurality” as also being collaborative but more as expansion, and development of topics with use of technology. Thus, I can relate to the blog posting that we as students are doing for this course. I understood “record” as an act of self-disclosure to a document that can later be explored. All these are important for first year writing composition, because it forms a basis of thinking and writing among one another and we can relate ideas. In that sense, we write to a public and not a biography of oneself and opinion others in consideration when composing. Another article read this week was Writing Together: Collaboration in Theory and Praxis, by Andrea Lunsford & Ede Lisa (excerpts).In this article the two authors who wrote play a perfect example of collaborative composition. They discovered after a research analysis that collaborative writing is a way to reach goals. They refer to examples of business projects needing a collaboration to be of high importance. I can relate to their message because this world is not just about oneself but there are people around us. There is data from other resources we need sometimes to incorporate in our own composition to get a message through. This makes so much sense and the fact we are successfully doing it- through this course makes it even more understandable. Also, the fact we receive feedback from each other helps us understand others point of views.

[kjmutrgv-blog]

Your views and ideas make me question my own on the act of self-dislousure.  What other ideas do you relate to in forms of biased thinking? I do something form ideas based on biased approaches . Feedback is very important, to each of us so we can grow as individuals and consider the ideas they have given us as well as imbark are own. 

[kjmutrgv-blog]

Theory vs Identity

Within the four articles read during this week all I could think was “How do they all link and connect?  While reading “Palin/Pathos/Peter Griffin: Political Video Remix and Composition Pedagogy,”  by Abby Dubisar and Jason Palmeri Computers and Composition. And  “Locating Queer Rhetorics: Mapping as an Inventional Method,”  by Donald Unger, Fernando Sanchez. Writing Together: Collaboration in Theory and Praxis, by Andrea Lunsford & Lisa Ede (excerpts). “Writing Together: An Arendtian Framework for Collaboration.”  By Jessica Restaino. Power is seen as aman objective when coming to Unger and Sanchez – about sexuality and identity. On page 101 The authors express the ideas and studies affected the “order” and attention for queer and LBGT “Studies And queer scholarship, such as the Gloria Anzaldúa Rhetorician Award Presented graduate student or first-time attendee “whose work  participates in the making of  meaning out of  sexual and gender minority experiences” 

There was a seperations with age/culture and the practices being used in computers. Dubisar and Palmeri further extends the idea of the examination of remix texts and the power to the student. They state younger people are more likely to use digital texts and connections with the political activities “When we create and evaluate collaborative writing assignments, we must assess the viability of plurality at their center. This means thinking beyond course requirements to get at what students, as writers, need each other for. “ ( Dubsiar, Palmeri 89).  They suggest the requriemnts and ideas are and should be seen as the audiences to understand where the text comes from and beyond the requirements connected.  The question when connecting these two would be theory against idently. How and why is there a conection?

Is sexuality connected with writing studies? In Restanios article is stating the plurality and the framework , collaboration and whole for being and having greater worker.

[auroraluna1-blog]

New Media College Composition

Computers and Composition by Anne Frances Wysocki provided an insight of different assertions constructed from visual representations and research. The author used computer-based examples to describe differences in text format, and their context. The article is informative and is inclined towards teaching instruction. The author’s explanation of different approaches can help others apply more detail to composition plus consider it’s presentation. Published in 2001, the article caters to an audience from that era. Which explains the Cd’s used as examples of visual representations. However, the message can be related to present time, because it leans towards socio-media progression. The author provide extensive detail, providing enough information to make article/message creditable. Also, the included images help readers visualize and relate more to the paragraph. The second article: Speaking of composing written by Courtney L. Werner focused to the similar topic of new media. In this case a ten year research was presented to better comprehend the frame world of composing. The research article intent included enough detail for readers to push past a field identity, and move towards new media. Thus, it informs not to remain on previous composing frameworks, because after all “development” changes over time. I believe this article is similar to the first one, because it provides abundant resources to inform it’s message. Both articles are repetitive about same issues, they contain examples using either research or other author citations. The articles are clearly explained and provide examples to make message creditable to readers. 

[kjmutrgv-blog]

I enjoyed your ideas the the detail you have put into the ideas of new media. I like how you related these ideas into present time and incorporate the ideas that the development has counter. I would have liked to see more quotes to back up your ideas and representations. I do too feel that there is a deletion in the artless and the issues but, I somewhat feel it is important to the sense of knowing there is change and how to adjust to these changes. 

[lizzieelizondo286-blog]

Multimedia and Everything in Between

In this weeks two readings, I enjoyed reading Wysocki’s article more than Werner’s because as I was reading Werner’s, it seemed as she keep throwing different topics, just one right after the other. What I liked is how the two articles connect on the same topic and one references the other.

As Wysocki’s article presents us with two pieces of multimedia, she does a good job of keeping her main focus on just two of them, the Barmes CD and the Maeght CD. An important point I took away from this article is we as educators need to “expand or modify” certain categories that we incorporate in our teaching styles over visual aspects of certain texts. I find what she did with the page break or ladder in the beginning a really good way of getting the readers more involved in her topic. Presenting the CDs to illustrate the differences of the visual presentations was really interesting, especially since she added a lot of depth into her article. Giving her readers more things to consider between the two CDs being presented. 

Altogether, Wysocki gives us the information without pressuring us into picking a side, and hopes she has persuaded us that words don’t work along and I believe her when she says this because it isn’t the only thing that sends the message across, everything in between that takes part. In the article when she talks about teaching students to be “readers of texts” it is something that will prepare me when I begin teaching. With all the technology surrounding us today, multimedia is an important part for students to fully understand. Not just see the pictures and words, but also to able to go beyond that and break it down just as they would a short story. We are doing this now because of the technology that surrounds us, and it is no longer CDs we are comparing, instead it is paper vs digital. Will students still be able to benefit from this and receive the same information?

[kjmutrgv-blog]

Lizzie ! I enjoyed your take on multimedia and the importance it brings . I would first like to start I'm not sure if students will be able to benefit from the information given ... but I can say future educators might . Although these articles are outdated they give insight to the beginning of multimedia and technology progression. Do you feel paper or technology is better ?

[kjmutrgv-blog]

Technology progression The two course readings, “Speaking of Composing (Frameworks): New Media Discussions, 2000–2010” by Courtney L. Werner and “ Impossible distinct : On form/content and word/ image in two pieces of computer based- interactive multi media” by Anne Wysocki. In Wysocki’s article she stress five major goals that are needed to designing a document , which are “To make a good impression on readers.../To help readers understand the structure and hierarchy of the information…./To help readers find the information they need.../To help readers understand the information.../To help readers retain the information…” (Wysocki, 210) She emphasises the importance of CD’s and compares them orderly and corrdoraly although she had a main argument. What caught my attention was the form of her writing and how she began to speak her paragraphs were in different sections. This article was not written in a “regular” format. "need for exploring new concepts and terms for the thick rich mix of visual potentials on screen" (161). Ultimately, this formulation pushes us to think about how visual elements or aspects of texts make those texts work in particular ways. This is just the beginning of technolgy as a whole being incorporated in a rhetoric classroom. Although she only spoke about CD’s and their differences and importance, this made writers like Werner to continue the ideas of progression in technology and knowing time is changing and so is technology. On page 66 Werner states the importance of the progression of technology , examining the “field’s composing frameworks by allowing digital and community literate practices and textual products to be a part of rhetoric and composition’s disciplinary purview. The composing frameworks the field draws on no longer constrict scholars to studies of academic or traditional print-linguistic texts” Werner further extends her ideas when she compresses the ideas of self reflection done with media discipline “they also require scholars to understand the social, technological lingo in order to incorporate new genres of social writing.” (Werner, 66) These articles although “outdated” have a new and stronger meaning to the importance of understanding of technology and how it has progressed so far. Knowing this we as future educators must be on our toes when it comes to technology and the fast pace progression.

[alejandrablogs]

After reading the articles from this week, future educators continue to further grasp the concept of a multicultural classroom. We have been seeing race, sexism, but now we are introduced to ideologies and pasts. 

For example, Hart and Thompson introduced us to a concept we sometimes see in our classrooms, but fail to notice our behavior since we are so accustomed to it, and might not actually see a fault in. Especially in college classrooms, we notice veterans sitting in the chairs next to us or in front of us. They must complete the same work we do, and show up to class in the same manner we do, and listen, read, and see the same things we do. However, there are things that are not the same within us- a past, an emotional past. 

As future educators, we must be open to understanding the past these individuals have had, and how they may be affected. We must continue to allow them their best chance to learn. Furthermore, these opportunities must be presented to all students who face a disability. As we have learned, just because a doctor declares it to be an impediment to do many things, it does not mean the student cannot learn or achieve their goals. It is up to us, as teachers, to be provide equitable learning methods and help each student grow and succeed.

[kjmutrgv-blog]

Alejandra , I like the way your ideas came through . I agree that as a future educator we need to understand these individuals and the ideas they have gone through . I feel if we just push them to the back burner we don't truly understand them and are willing to assess them. Yes there needs to be equitable learning methods and allowing and helping each student grow .

[auroraluna1-blog]

Literate Misfitting: Disability Theory and a Sociomaterial Approach to Literacy by Elisabeth L. Miller offers an insight on disabilities issues and the grounds that society has organized them. Society removes some barriers, but also restrict choices for the disabled. Both try to favor certain disabilities but not all cater to the classroom needs for literate practices. The social conception of “normal literacy” values can differ in some education classrooms. For example, a school may not have sufficient funds to cater to all disabled student needs. In that sense, a student may be send to another school miles away from their home. Also, a disabled student  may need a home bound restricted environment where a teacher needs to teach from their home. The article states that a person uses their body as a technology tool for advancement. It can be as simple as moving a finger through a text or as difficult as reading text over and over again. I believe an issue that still stands today from a pedagogy stand point is that teachers may not know how to cater to a disabled student needs. A disabled student by law has the right to attend a general education classroom. Therefore, a general education teacher may not be prepared for that situation. Consequently, the student might fall behind or not pass to next grade level. I believe, the article informs readers of an exciting issue that has existed and continues to exist. I found extremely interesting how the world invents things that caters to mass population but not for disabled population. Therefore, not considering if a disabled person would take advantage of such invention. Although, one can argue that some inventions cater only the disabled. The concept remains, because most things in fact favor a large population versus the disabled population which then transfers into the classroom.

[alejandrablogs]

Aurora,

you’re right, sometimes there are not sufficient funds to accommodate all students in all ways, but as teachers we do have certain tools or methods to use in order to help our students the best way possible. For example, Professor Hawkins has provided us with “Trigger warnings” which allows students to know beforehand if it is a trigger topic, and allows the writer to express their opinions without hurting someone else or arising conflict. I also understand it is difficult to work with so many students, accommodating each and every one, but for me that is one of the reasons i chose this path. I want to be the difference that i have not seen in current educators. It is possible, it is, difficult yes, but possible. 

[kjmutrgv-blog]

Wow truly see what you have written! It is true life for students with accommodations can be difficult , from the drives home to being ridiculed by peers could affect these students. Classrooms do in fact need these connections and ideas in helping students with disability as well as assessing their ideas in there way .

[kjmutrgv-blog]

Disabilities, Accommodations, Divergent  Misfits

Disabilities can vary when it may be a veteran to a person who has suffered a stroke, or even physical, they are there. Question is are we doing anything to aid and accommodate them to have the same standard of learning as a “normal” student. Kairos article stated something interesting that I didn't notice or observe until I continued reading.  The article stated “We are all TABs, Brueggeman and colleagues remind us, “temporarily able bodied” “(Brueggemann, White, Dunn Heifferon, and Chou, 2001, p. 369).  Bringing awareness to the disabilities, and accommodations needed for our veterans. Sadly, they are not the only ones who may be disabled or need accommodations. But, when do we know there should be a difference in treatment or accommodations when taking college courses especially English courses. There is a lot of pros and cons regarding this subject. I’m pondering this question as I read the article “An Ethical Obligation” by D. Alexis Hart and Roger Thompson which state and connect with the Kairos article as well as some ideas within Miller's article. Veterans are invisible and sometimes go unnoticed ,”Writing centers do not track veteran students who use their services, though several writing center staff members we interviewed indicated they were aware of veterans using their services. At least one program was piloting a veteran-to-veteran writing center model. “ ( Thompson, Hart 5) In Literate Mis tting: Disability Theory and a Sociomaterial Approach to Literacy by Elisabeth L. Miller says , “One of the greatest challenges in reading and writing that individuals encounter after aphasia is the need for more time to do the encoding and decoding work of reading and writing. That need slams against the fundamental expectations of neoliberal literate subjects: that they quickly and efficiently do the work of reading and writing.” (Miller, 46) Most “normal” people don't realize the hardships of people with disabilities reading and writing comes easy to one who has not encountered aphasia, these studies are slim and very little . This gives me a question or thought to ask .: “Do people truly care or consider “misfits” “divergents” or someone who is different ? The individuals need more time to be able to asses the work at hand. Does that give them an upper hand on “normal” reader and writers? I say no, in fact people should be aware and as a future educator know there are going to be students involved in their classrooms who need extra attention regarding their learning. I believe there should be value into helping veterans and as well as students with disabilities. This brings me to my next question : “Is it fair for these individuals to have “extra attention”? What do you think ?  

[nayleaorta-blog]

Understand the Student

This week we read four articles and of the four I found the article by Shelley Reid, “Teaching Writing Teachers Writing” a bit more interesting than the rest. Reid mentions that in order to teach writing difficulty the teachers need to participate in it as well. Teachers need to walk a day in the shoes of their students, so to speak. Experience what they experience so that there could be a deep level of understanding the difficulties the student goes through. “Teachers who experience writing difficulty not only connect emotionally to their students, something they might do after writing what their students write, but they gain clarity about how students learn to write better.” (Reid, pg. 201). By teaching writing teachers in this way then they will be able to teach their students to perform at a higher level. The increase of the writing difficulty helps the students but we must not only focus on that. “If we are to productively increase writing difficulty and exploration, we need also to design assignments to help students participate in critical reflection.” (Reid, pg. 211). I have had teachers in the past that would assign essay after essay with little to no time in between to question as to why our writing style was “wrong.” I guess the teacher expected for us to improve by continually making us write essays and not spending time on reflecting on what we turned in. I have also known, from friends, of teachers who assign two essays during the whole school year because most of the time was spent on the reflection aspect. My niece’s English teacher, on the other hand, assigned a reflective essay at the beginning of the school year and when she returned the essays back to the students she took the time to have them revise their work sentence by sentence. It surprisingly did not take as long and by the end of the month or so the essay was “well written.” There has to be a balance with the difficulty of the assignments and the time the students have o reflect on them. By teaching writing teachers how to do so then they can show their students. Going back to what I stated at the beginning, we as teachers must place ourselves in the students shoes and think whether or not the teaching method I am using is beneficial. That way we can decide whether we are challenging the students and if they are understanding why they received a certain grade.  

[kjmutrgv-blog]

Your photo made me laughs and actually agree with the standardized teaching methods students have been assessed with . “If we are to productively increase writing difficulty and exploration, we need also to design assignments to help students participate in critical reflection.” (Reid, pg. 211) The quote you chose spoke to me as a future educator to be able to analyze and understand the student and their assessment of writing .

[lizzieelizondo286-blog]

Teaching Teachers, Teacher Things

There were two interesting questions we discussed in class today that reflect back on the articles. The first article, “Teaching Writing Teachers Writing,” by Shelley Reid is an eye opener for us future educators, to get us thinking about the course work we are going to be assigning our students. Reid discusses how teaching writing teachers “can extend their professional awareness and increase their pedagogical empathy” (Reid 198) to allow students to become “true learners” (198) in their field. I believe this is important to ensure that we are ready enough to teach our students to challenge themselves to perform at a higher level. By giving teachers assignments that prove to be deliberately difficult and critically reflective, we are educating teachers to be “ready to help their own students think critically, adapt to changing rhetorical situations,” (199) but we don’t want to discourage students, which is why I believe the most important thing to do is to help them “become confident, lifelong writers” (199).  Students often feel overwhelmed and don’t feel like they are getting their point across when writing their essay, and sometimes we as educators need a little reminder of what that feels like, or the work they are assigning is too much, just as some of the comments prove. As they mention this in the article it reminds me of one of my English courses in high school where the teacher would assign us another essay after we had just started revising the ones we turned in. It serves as a good reminder of what we are putting our students through and help them along the way. I like the strategy presented in this article, even though it seems a little intimidating. This also proves to help teachers see themselves and how they can improve their teaching skills.

Not only does teaching writing teachers benefit the students, but they themselves can benefit from it as well. When assigning exploratory, these pedagogy instructions can also “help teachers gain confidence as professionals in the field,” (210) resulting in further engaging with students. As teachers begin to reflect on their experiences as writers, it can help teachers find their purpose and answer the question “how are you learning to write?” (213) This proves to be beneficial to students and teachers as they can connect their theories to their own personal experiences to further challenge themselves. Should all future educators go through this course before stepping into a classroom? Would it hurt us if we didn’t? I think it would hurt us because we wouldn’t be able to better “develop flexibility and engagement” (197) in our field as students, learners, theorists, and most important, teachers.

[kjmutrgv-blog]

Wow Lizzie your take on these readings are very interesting . I agree with many things that you have developed . I especially liked the quote you used about how teachers should encourage and expand the confidence of students and writers "become confident, lifelong writers” (199).