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.