Sunday, November 11, 2007
Post-Process Assignment
A post-process assignment that I have used it one that was developed for the Senior Project at my high school. Students had to choose a topic for which they could write an essay and produce a product. There were then several major deadlines that had to be met, including writing a letter of intent, finding a mentor, composing several drafts, spending a certain amount of time on their product, presenting their product, and giving an oral presentation which covered both their papers and products. The choice of topic was left completely to the student. The topics were as varied as the students. Some students chose to write about artists like Chegall or Rivera and then create works that mimicked these artists. Others studied animal reproduction and learned how to artificially inseminate cows or how to raise a healthy animal in a feed lot. Some chose a sport, like boxing or golf, and either learned it or taught others how to participate in it.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Composition Video Draft
WHAT AND HOW: With the spirit of Women’s Ways of Knowing as our structure, we will examine the evolution of the academic feminine voice through inter-generational interviews with female graduate students and female faculty members at differing career levels and examine “how they define powerful learning experiences and go about gathering knowledge and making meaning” (10). These interviews will focus on personal narratives of the search for the feminine voice, its place in the academy, the tools to unearth it in our students, and the means to preserve it.
To focus our discussion, the following questions will be posed:
1. Why did you decide to go to graduate school and did that decision empower you as a woman or did you feel devalued in any way because of it?
2. How would you define feminine voice and do you believe that it is different from academic voice? Why or why not?
3. Have you ever experienced or know of an experience of intellectual sexism in academe? If so, what was it?
4. “As one moves up the professional ladder, one observes and increasing defeminization – increasing cognitive and professional authority appears to correlated with decreasing femininity.” –Women’s Ways of Knowing. Do you feel you have or might lose all or part of your feminine identity to conform to the masculine world? Why or why not?We will also include data concerning the graduate program at Texas Tech as it relates to female graduates at the various levels. In addition, we hope to explore the gender make-up of the English department as well.
WHY: To document the evolution of the feminine voice in academia from different perspectives. Yes, some researchers have done so on paper, yet no one has considered the visual.
Research Project: Woman’s Ways of Knowing: Going beyond the B.A.
Group responsibilities:
1. Coming up with a decent title.
2. Creating time and work deadlines.
3. Setting up time to work together on the combination of individual work.
4. Writing the two-three page essay.
Individual responsibilities:
1. Each member will interview four women, graduate students or professors, using only the agreed upon questions. She should make sure the participants have signed a permission slip for use of the video in a class project. She will be responsible to set up the interview times, get all equipment ready, check for room readiness (Room 455 on the white wall), and prep the interviewee by giving that person the questions in advance. (This will take at least 5-6 hours.)
2. Each member will be download each interview, using the Macs in the MOO or Dr. Rice’s classroom, and the I-movie program, in order to have consistency and avoid incompatibility problems between programs and computers. Remember each download takes as long as each interview. A 30-minute interview takes 30 minutes to download. (This will take approximately 3 hours.)
3. Each member will be responsible for editing the interviews to fit time constraints. If we are making an hour video and have ten questions, total response for each question can be no more than six minutes (This six minutes would have more than one answer from an interviewee but cannot have all the answers from all the respondents.). Therefore, each member should only pick the very best answers to put into the videotape. (This may take 6-10 hours.) All interview editing must be completed before Thanksgiving if we want the entire video completed by the 29th.
4. Each member will be required to work with the other members to complete the project in the final editing stages. This may require an entire afternoon (or more) early in the week of Nov. 26, late in the week of Nov. 19, or over that weekend between the two, which is Thanksgiving.
Individual member responsibilities:
Vicki—Create intro, transition, and credit pieces. Find and underscore with music where necessary.
Janna—Provide research information about female grad students.
Beatriz—Demographics from various departments used.
To focus our discussion, the following questions will be posed:
1. Why did you decide to go to graduate school and did that decision empower you as a woman or did you feel devalued in any way because of it?
2. How would you define feminine voice and do you believe that it is different from academic voice? Why or why not?
3. Have you ever experienced or know of an experience of intellectual sexism in academe? If so, what was it?
4. “As one moves up the professional ladder, one observes and increasing defeminization – increasing cognitive and professional authority appears to correlated with decreasing femininity.” –Women’s Ways of Knowing. Do you feel you have or might lose all or part of your feminine identity to conform to the masculine world? Why or why not?We will also include data concerning the graduate program at Texas Tech as it relates to female graduates at the various levels. In addition, we hope to explore the gender make-up of the English department as well.
WHY: To document the evolution of the feminine voice in academia from different perspectives. Yes, some researchers have done so on paper, yet no one has considered the visual.
Research Project: Woman’s Ways of Knowing: Going beyond the B.A.
Group responsibilities:
1. Coming up with a decent title.
2. Creating time and work deadlines.
3. Setting up time to work together on the combination of individual work.
4. Writing the two-three page essay.
Individual responsibilities:
1. Each member will interview four women, graduate students or professors, using only the agreed upon questions. She should make sure the participants have signed a permission slip for use of the video in a class project. She will be responsible to set up the interview times, get all equipment ready, check for room readiness (Room 455 on the white wall), and prep the interviewee by giving that person the questions in advance. (This will take at least 5-6 hours.)
2. Each member will be download each interview, using the Macs in the MOO or Dr. Rice’s classroom, and the I-movie program, in order to have consistency and avoid incompatibility problems between programs and computers. Remember each download takes as long as each interview. A 30-minute interview takes 30 minutes to download. (This will take approximately 3 hours.)
3. Each member will be responsible for editing the interviews to fit time constraints. If we are making an hour video and have ten questions, total response for each question can be no more than six minutes (This six minutes would have more than one answer from an interviewee but cannot have all the answers from all the respondents.). Therefore, each member should only pick the very best answers to put into the videotape. (This may take 6-10 hours.) All interview editing must be completed before Thanksgiving if we want the entire video completed by the 29th.
4. Each member will be required to work with the other members to complete the project in the final editing stages. This may require an entire afternoon (or more) early in the week of Nov. 26, late in the week of Nov. 19, or over that weekend between the two, which is Thanksgiving.
Individual member responsibilities:
Vicki—Create intro, transition, and credit pieces. Find and underscore with music where necessary.
Janna—Provide research information about female grad students.
Beatriz—Demographics from various departments used.
Process
Watching students gather for class, I can see a pattern. First, the students who are 30 minutes to an hour early camp out in front of the classroom. Some pick a seat, slump over and go to sleep. Some read, frantically trying to make up for work they didn't do the week before. Some plug themselves in to their Ipod, and just stare into space. About 10-15 minutes before class, most of the students begin to arrive, taking the last available seats, then the floor closest to the door of their classroom, then standing. They rarely talk. Many times it is quieter than a library.
Finally, the teacher arrives, opens the door and they pour into the classroom. A few stragglers come in right at the time class begins.
I often wonder about the really early arrivals. Why are they there so early? Do they have to get rides? Are they limited to certain kinds of transportation that makes them come so early? Sometimes the Ipod drones give me the creeps. That vacant stare as they listen to music make it seem like they are getting a fix rather than enjoying the lyrics or the composition.
Finally, the teacher arrives, opens the door and they pour into the classroom. A few stragglers come in right at the time class begins.
I often wonder about the really early arrivals. Why are they there so early? Do they have to get rides? Are they limited to certain kinds of transportation that makes them come so early? Sometimes the Ipod drones give me the creeps. That vacant stare as they listen to music make it seem like they are getting a fix rather than enjoying the lyrics or the composition.
Use your inside voice!
When we discussed true voice, I began to think about my own voice. I'm sure most of you think I have a pretty distinctive one, but I know that in certain situations, my voice changes. When I talk to my students, the voice is subtly changed to match the situation, as it is when I talk to my professors, or friends, or even service clerks. I think we all know that different situations call for different language and different voices. As an English teacher, I notice that when I tell people what I do for a living, they almost always respond with "Oh, I better watch my grammar."
Once when I was golfing, I joined a threesome of men to play the back nine holes. When they found out what I did, they immediately began to speak more formally. That lasted until the 11th hole when I hooked my drive into the gunch and uttered (Okay, yelled) a profanity. Things became much more relaxed after that.
We all have expectations of how we should use language depending upon the situation. I find no problem in having different voices for academic purposes, for use with friends, for business use. They are all my true voices.
Once when I was golfing, I joined a threesome of men to play the back nine holes. When they found out what I did, they immediately began to speak more formally. That lasted until the 11th hole when I hooked my drive into the gunch and uttered (Okay, yelled) a profanity. Things became much more relaxed after that.
We all have expectations of how we should use language depending upon the situation. I find no problem in having different voices for academic purposes, for use with friends, for business use. They are all my true voices.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Service Learning
Service learning is one of the best ways for students to learn. Unfortunately, I don't feel that a 1301 Composition class is where that kind of learning should take place. In my view, 1301 is a basic course that students take to learn basic communication skills and techniques that are necessary for college. The three hours per week that is typical for this kind of course can barely cover the content they need. We only meet 1 1/2 hours per week. It's going to be almost impossible to overcome the lack of time available for service learning.
I've had students do many kinds of service learning projects, from making quilts for the homeless to organizing a walk-a-thon to raise money for cancer research. They were all worthy projects. The problem was that to be done well, they required huge amounts of time on the part of the student. A freshman with a full class schedule may not have the organizational and prioritizing skills to complete a successful project.
In addition, the tie-in to composition can be fairy difficult. If you want to teach students how to write an argumentative paper, it can be hard to combine that with a service project. In my experience, many students also mistake their research paper for a discription of their project. While this kind of description can be a necessary skill, it does not prepare the student to argue an issue, using support and examples from research.
I've had students do many kinds of service learning projects, from making quilts for the homeless to organizing a walk-a-thon to raise money for cancer research. They were all worthy projects. The problem was that to be done well, they required huge amounts of time on the part of the student. A freshman with a full class schedule may not have the organizational and prioritizing skills to complete a successful project.
In addition, the tie-in to composition can be fairy difficult. If you want to teach students how to write an argumentative paper, it can be hard to combine that with a service project. In my experience, many students also mistake their research paper for a discription of their project. While this kind of description can be a necessary skill, it does not prepare the student to argue an issue, using support and examples from research.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Theory. What is it good for?
The problem I've always had with theory, whether it was a theory of reading or writing, literature or education, is its practicality. How can I use this in my teaching, researching, or writing? If I can't see a connection fairly quickly, then I'm tempted to dump it in the "never going to use this again" file in my brain (This file is deleted as soon as I sleep or no longer need it for an upcoming test or paper.).
I know that I should have a thorough awareness of how composition has developed and why it has changed over the years. These readings make sense to me, even though their use to me is that I shouldn't make the same mistakes that have occurred in the past. If only our politicians could learn from our own history as easily. Nevertheless, much of composition theory seems more concerned with artifice than the art of teaching.
In a sense, studying theory is like looking at a beautifully crafted Faberge egg. The theorists have devoted hours of work to create a wonderful theory, built carefully using only the best rhetoric and practice. My problem is that I need to make an omelet, and while delightful to behold, the Faberge egg is neither tasty nor nutritious.
I know that I should have a thorough awareness of how composition has developed and why it has changed over the years. These readings make sense to me, even though their use to me is that I shouldn't make the same mistakes that have occurred in the past. If only our politicians could learn from our own history as easily. Nevertheless, much of composition theory seems more concerned with artifice than the art of teaching.
In a sense, studying theory is like looking at a beautifully crafted Faberge egg. The theorists have devoted hours of work to create a wonderful theory, built carefully using only the best rhetoric and practice. My problem is that I need to make an omelet, and while delightful to behold, the Faberge egg is neither tasty nor nutritious.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
The End of Composition
The goal of composition, I believe, is to communicate your ideas, thoughts, and beliefs to the reader. In the end, audience determines all. If the reader is only the writer, then the writing helps him/her to determine what he/she thinks or believes. If the reader is an outside audience, then the composition is only successful if the reader understands what the author wants to communicate. To take the premise even farther, the composition is only successful if the reader understands the communication and responds to it. That response doesn't have to be agreement. Some of the best composition has provoked the most controversy.
As to the means of achieving this goal, "There's the rub, Horatio." There are basic skills that are necessary, grammatical, organizational, and conventional. However, there are unlimited ways to get there from here, so to speak. Most people choose the path that works for them a majority of the time. The trouble comes when that path merges on the superhighway of academia. Most of our students I think are just looking for a way to exit as fast as they can.
As to the means of achieving this goal, "There's the rub, Horatio." There are basic skills that are necessary, grammatical, organizational, and conventional. However, there are unlimited ways to get there from here, so to speak. Most people choose the path that works for them a majority of the time. The trouble comes when that path merges on the superhighway of academia. Most of our students I think are just looking for a way to exit as fast as they can.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Teaching Philosophy
One of the requirements for all high school teachers before they begin to teach is to create their own teaching philosophy. The one I created fourteen years ago was filled with educationalese, jargon I never actually used in the classroom. Two years ago, I found I had to write my philosophy again. This time, I knew what I believed and understood about teaching. What follows (with a few modifications because I'm always learning) is what I wrote then. It still holds true for me today.
My philosophy of teaching is that the student has to learn. No matter how great the lesson looks on paper, if no one learns anything, it is worthless. I want to take my students to the next level, both in Bloom’s taxonomy and as human beings. I have learned that that no one has all the answers, and that there are some questions that have more than one right answer. Sometimes, students think that a teacher should always be right and never make a mistake. I disabuse them of this notion pretty quickly. I want them to know that teachers are humans and can be wrong. The most important thing they learn is to see an adult acknowledge his or her mistakes and deal with them.
As an English teacher, I have two loves, literature and writing. Literature is interpretive. Sometimes what one student sees, another does not. I want them to start examining what they know and see how that applies to their life. One of my principle goals is to expose them to literature that describes different worlds, ideas, feelings and beliefs, to broaden their perspective and to give them a sense of what life has to offer. When we explore writing, I want them to see the importance of clear, concise communication. They should understand how writing is a tool that they can use to improve their lives and their minds.
Some of the skills I have that I think help me put this into practice are a sense of humor, strong content area knowledge, the ability to adapt to the moment, and the use of innovative techniques. Students appreciate a teacher who tries to be funny once in a while, even if she is not. It helps build relationships to the students, especially if the humor is self-deprecating and not sarcastic toward them. Since I’ve read so much, I have strong content knowledge and students know if a teacher knows her stuff or not and respect it when she does. Adapting to the moment and using innovative techniques in the classrooms means that I won’t let a lesson just bomb because I’m committed to a plan that isn’t working. If I have a good idea on how to change a lesson for the better, I go for it, even if it means taking extra time or giving up a beloved activity.
My organizational skills have sharpened over the years as well as those of problem solving. I have found that I love to think on my feet, helping this student with a documentation problem, that one with finding a tutor, and another just convincing him or her that she can succeed with this project. I like to work with others and love to see how different teachers present material in many different ways with virtually the same results. I have high standards for my students, and the people I work with and I am almost never disappointed.
I don’t think I’d stay in teaching if it weren’t for the rewards. I love to see the light bulb turning on above a student’s head--that moment when he or she gets the concept, sees the character in a different way, or finds the perfect word. I want to reach every student. They may not all pass, but I want them all to learn. Sometimes that’s just the life lesson---that if you don’t do the work, you don’t get the reward.
I have learned that I want them to see how what I teach relates to their lives, and I work to make them open the file drawers in their minds and figure out what they already know about the subject and what they need to know. I’m still working on how to find out what they know and to go from there. I want to become more of a mentor than a professor. I want to know what they think, not if they can guess what I think. I’ve never had a student who couldn’t learn, only ones I couldn’t reach. The reward is in the reaching.
My philosophy of teaching is that the student has to learn. No matter how great the lesson looks on paper, if no one learns anything, it is worthless. I want to take my students to the next level, both in Bloom’s taxonomy and as human beings. I have learned that that no one has all the answers, and that there are some questions that have more than one right answer. Sometimes, students think that a teacher should always be right and never make a mistake. I disabuse them of this notion pretty quickly. I want them to know that teachers are humans and can be wrong. The most important thing they learn is to see an adult acknowledge his or her mistakes and deal with them.
As an English teacher, I have two loves, literature and writing. Literature is interpretive. Sometimes what one student sees, another does not. I want them to start examining what they know and see how that applies to their life. One of my principle goals is to expose them to literature that describes different worlds, ideas, feelings and beliefs, to broaden their perspective and to give them a sense of what life has to offer. When we explore writing, I want them to see the importance of clear, concise communication. They should understand how writing is a tool that they can use to improve their lives and their minds.
Some of the skills I have that I think help me put this into practice are a sense of humor, strong content area knowledge, the ability to adapt to the moment, and the use of innovative techniques. Students appreciate a teacher who tries to be funny once in a while, even if she is not. It helps build relationships to the students, especially if the humor is self-deprecating and not sarcastic toward them. Since I’ve read so much, I have strong content knowledge and students know if a teacher knows her stuff or not and respect it when she does. Adapting to the moment and using innovative techniques in the classrooms means that I won’t let a lesson just bomb because I’m committed to a plan that isn’t working. If I have a good idea on how to change a lesson for the better, I go for it, even if it means taking extra time or giving up a beloved activity.
My organizational skills have sharpened over the years as well as those of problem solving. I have found that I love to think on my feet, helping this student with a documentation problem, that one with finding a tutor, and another just convincing him or her that she can succeed with this project. I like to work with others and love to see how different teachers present material in many different ways with virtually the same results. I have high standards for my students, and the people I work with and I am almost never disappointed.
I don’t think I’d stay in teaching if it weren’t for the rewards. I love to see the light bulb turning on above a student’s head--that moment when he or she gets the concept, sees the character in a different way, or finds the perfect word. I want to reach every student. They may not all pass, but I want them all to learn. Sometimes that’s just the life lesson---that if you don’t do the work, you don’t get the reward.
I have learned that I want them to see how what I teach relates to their lives, and I work to make them open the file drawers in their minds and figure out what they already know about the subject and what they need to know. I’m still working on how to find out what they know and to go from there. I want to become more of a mentor than a professor. I want to know what they think, not if they can guess what I think. I’ve never had a student who couldn’t learn, only ones I couldn’t reach. The reward is in the reaching.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Facilitating Writing in ICON
Online grading is different in many ways from grading a paper by hand. It is harder to actually mark punctuation and spelling errors and marginal notes are impossible unless you spend quite a bit of time cutting and pasting. On the other hand, since everything is typed, there are no chances of misunderstanding handwritten notes or comments, and the instructor has to think carefully about what she is telling the student about his/her writing.
Are we facilitating writing in this way? I think that what I would prefer is more time with my students if we are grading this way. Although it is relatively easy for me as a grad student to only teach an hour and a half each week per class, I'm not sure if I can be an effective writing teacher in so little time. There is only so much that a student can get online.
One more concern that I have is this---what about process? We tell the students to have pre-writing, rough drafts, and final drafts when they write but because of time restrictions, I don't really provide opportunity for that. I know that at the college level, they have to learn to do the process on their own, but it still concerns me.
By the way, if anyone wants the recipe for the taco soup we had last week, I've posted it on the other side of the blog page.
Are we facilitating writing in this way? I think that what I would prefer is more time with my students if we are grading this way. Although it is relatively easy for me as a grad student to only teach an hour and a half each week per class, I'm not sure if I can be an effective writing teacher in so little time. There is only so much that a student can get online.
One more concern that I have is this---what about process? We tell the students to have pre-writing, rough drafts, and final drafts when they write but because of time restrictions, I don't really provide opportunity for that. I know that at the college level, they have to learn to do the process on their own, but it still concerns me.
By the way, if anyone wants the recipe for the taco soup we had last week, I've posted it on the other side of the blog page.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
The Big Three
As a teacher, I would have to say that the three most important concepts in composition are these: (1) the writer is able to communicate his thoughts or beliefs to the reader, (2) the writer communicates in such a way so that he/she is as effective as possible, and (3) the writer follows a process to make that communication happen.
To me, writing is not really therapy. I know many people who use it as such, but I don't personally like to use writing for that. I want my students to be able to be successful in the classroom and later in life, so I try to concentrate on making them see the importance of writing clear, concise prose that is relatively error free. I also like to look at ways of communication and how students can use different approaches and ways of writing to their advantage.
I learned the hard way that the vast majority of students need a specific process to follow to write effectively. While the process I use may not be exactly the same as I teach (because it works for me), the more traditional approach--prewriting, writing, revising, editing--seems to work best for my students.
To me, writing is not really therapy. I know many people who use it as such, but I don't personally like to use writing for that. I want my students to be able to be successful in the classroom and later in life, so I try to concentrate on making them see the importance of writing clear, concise prose that is relatively error free. I also like to look at ways of communication and how students can use different approaches and ways of writing to their advantage.
I learned the hard way that the vast majority of students need a specific process to follow to write effectively. While the process I use may not be exactly the same as I teach (because it works for me), the more traditional approach--prewriting, writing, revising, editing--seems to work best for my students.
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