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.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
