Attempt at a Teaching Philosophy

I love to learn; I always have. I learn something new every semester from my students, and sometimes I think they teach me more then I teach them. I love working and learning in the academic setting. Although I can learn on my own and anywhere I work, the academic setting provides me a place to truly collaborate with others.

In some ways I have always known that I want to teach; I just didn't know what. This past year has opened my eyes to a whole new world of possibilities. I have never thought I was a "great" writer; although I have been told I am "good" writer (whatever that means). Teaching is a humbling experience. It taught me what my strengths and weaknesses are in writing, editing, and teaching.

I have so much more to learn, and I can't wait to learn it. I think some of the best teachers are the ones who are knowledgable in their subject area but also know that they do not know everything and continue to learn along with their students. I hope to never lose my desire to learn once I begin teaching full-time.

What to do when students can't/don't follow instructions

Here is the prompt/Scenario:
The instructor requires peer review attendance/participation and an instructor-commented initial draft needs to be included with the final packet of drafts/materials. The particular assignment discussed here also ends with a reflective writing component about the assignment.

Of the 22 students, 10 included an instructor-commented initial draft, and 12 did not. 10 included the reflective writing, and 12 did not. Finally, only 2 students included all components of the assignment, so it was not a case of the same 10 students getting things wrong. This was not the beginning of the semester, so including multiple drafts is not a new idea. Also, the instructor's syllabus allows for an F if all components of an assignment are not included, but does not mandate an F.

My Thoughts:
I'm not a hundred percent sure what I would do, but I will discuss a few options and my reasonings as to why I may choose that particular option.

Option 1: Come into class the next class period, firmly place the folders on the desk, and make a statement, something like: "If you can't or choose not to follow basic instructions on what must be turned in with your final drafts then I choose not to waste my time grading them. You may choose to resubmit your papers with the necessary elements and late points will be assigned according to the syllabus." At this point I would either continue on with the class or simply walk out. If I stayed in the class I would not answer any questions about what was missing, I would make them find out from fellow students who actually know. I don't know if I would actually walk out of the class, but I've heard about it happening before and have heard it can be quite effective. I would consider this option because I think it proves a point but at the same time it allows the students to fix what they didn't do. I want my students to succeed, but I don't want to be taken advantage of.

Option 2: Grade the papers and assign a certain number of points to the pieces of the puzzle (the drafts, etc.) and after I have given a grade for the piece, subtract the points they were missing for the other pieces to show them that it makes a difference and maybe they will remember next time. The downside to this is that if it hasn't been done before they may fight you on it, but at the same time, if you are consistent with the amount of points for each "piece" and apply it to everyone there isn't much they can really do and you could point out that according to the syllabus you could have given them an "F."

Option 3: Give the "F" to those students who didn't include all pieces with the final. If it clearly states in the syllabus that an "F" can be given to papers if all components are not there. At this point, students should "know the drill" so just because you may not have enforced it earlier doesn't mean you shouldn't now. I for one tend to be a little more lenient on the first few sets of papers handed in, but by now there is no excuse. Giving the "F" would teach them a lesson they may need to learn.

Those are my ideas although I am not sure which I would do. I would have to think about it and decide what message I want to send because each sends a different one. Something does need to be done, they shouldn't all just get away with not turning things in but it depends on what extreme it should be addressed.

Where do I go from here?

This last year has been an amazing experience for me. I always wondered if I would enjoy teaching because in other jobs I've ended up in some sort of leadership or teaching role and I always enjoyed it. When I coached gymnastics, there was nothing more rewarding to me than seeing one of my "kids" finally get something we had been working on. I just enjoyed the looks on their faces when this happened. It turns out that I love teaching and that I know without a doubt I want to get a Ph.D. so that I can learn more and teach what I have learned to others.

All semester (and year) long I've been trying to figure out what my pedagogy is and how I want to apply it. Well, I am still trying to figure that out. I came into teaching with a pretty good background in technical writing, and a love for technical writing (yes, I know, I'm strange) but now my focus is shifting. I had no desire to study Composition and Rhetoric and only did so because I had to for my GTA position, but it turns out that I actually like Comp/Rhet. I think Comp/Rhet and Tech Writing have more similarities than I originally thought but also more similarities than others may think. I think I mentioned this in one of my other posts, but it is still important. I have recently heard comments from people that "put down" technical/professional writing and make it sound as though it is completely different than other types of writing, but I don't really think that is the case. Yes technical/professional writing classes focus on the audience and are concerned with the product and writing for places outside of school, but why shouldn't it? In fact, why don't other areas of writing focus on writing outside of the academic realm? Most of our students aren't going to be in school as long as we are, so shouldn't we prepare them to think for themselves and write in a variety of different ways, both academic and non-academic? I recently read an article by Elbow and the gist of it is not that Academic Discourse is bad and shouldn't be taught, but students should be taught the process because every possible convention for every possible product cannot be taught in the Composition classroom - the process of observation must also be taught. I see a connection here with Comp/Rhet and Tech Writing.

When I pursue my Ph.D. I hope to find a program where I can learn more about Comp/Rhet and still keep my passion for Technical Writing; I want to find a way to combine the two (if that is possible). Now I have to figure out how to apply things from both these fields in my classroom. I cannot just forget my passion for Technical Writing but most of all, I want to empower my students to think for themselves and hopefully find joy and understand the importance of writing, all aspects of writing.

Technical Writing in the Composition Classroom

I have been struggling with incorporating my field, Technical Writing, into my classes. Through my composition classes I have learned a lot of theory and realize just how important process is in the composition classroom (considering we require students to write rough drafts and turn them in with their "final" drafts). As I have mentioned in previous posts, I see the importance of the process and I have my own process of composing. But, as a Technical Writer I am concerned with the final product. It drives me absolutely insane when I find mistakes in my own final products (although I know I am human and no matter what there are bound to be a few mistakes). All I know is that when I am editing and creating documents for clients, they don't really care what my process is, all they care about is the final product. For me not to emphasize this in class, I think, would do students a disservice.

I have had one class, outside of the English department that has asked me to turn in a rough draft of a paper. In the English department, instructors are lucky because they have the ability to look at the improvement of a piece and incorporate that into the final grade (if they so choose). However, in most other fields, all the teacher sees is the final product (at least in my experience) and grade accordingly.

I have yet to really figure out how to incorporate my passion for technical writing into my assignments other than stressing the importance of not only the process, but the importance of the final product. I do freewrites that prompt students to think beyond the walls of academia. I discuss with them the importance of writing in and beyond college. I do what I can to make it "real" for them. I have a lot to learn, but I am confident I will learn it and I will get better.

Sometimes I feel as though there is this divide between Technical Writing and Composition/Rhetoric. I may be imagining things, but from the things I have studied and read, there is a distinction. For example, I was at the 4C's this week and one of the presenters discussed a paper she does with her Writing I students. Instead of telling her students the importance of writing, she has them research it. The first semester she did this assignment she basically had them search their field and find out whether or not they would need writing and for what context. At the end of the presentation, someone asked a question along the lines of whether the assignment produced results that placed more of an emphasis on "technical writing." Although I do not remember the exact phrasing of the question, I was a little offended. It felt as though technical writing had no place in the English department and maybe even that it was inferior to composition. I may just be overly sensitive, but that is how the question hit me.

I think technical writing and composition can "learn" a lot from each other (for lack of a better way to explain this). There is a place for both. I have found through firsthand experience just why the two "need" each other. I have learned more than I have time to explain about technical writing by taking composition classes and teaching composition. I hope to continue my study and somehow combine the two in the future for I feel they both have a place in academia and in the English department. The thing I find strangest about the comment is that aren't we supposed to be teaching students to write not just in the composition classroom but in other settings, including the "real world" which from the comment is what I think was meant by "technical writing." Although I haven't come up with a specific assignment to incorporate my "passion" for technical writing, I still feel it has a place in and out of the composition classroom and vice versa.

Writing What We Teach

Although I see a great deal of benefit in writing the same assignments we ask our students to write, it is a rather difficult task (at least for me). It is not difficult because the types of papers are difficult - I have no doubt that I can write each type of paper that I ask my students to write. It is difficult because time is something that is not easy to come by (at least for me). I put a great deal of time and energy into my the classes that I teach and take. I love teaching, but when you are trying to write degree papers, study for comps, and write all the other papers and projects for your other classes, there is little time left to write along with my students.

I recognize the importance of being able to do so, and giving them solid examples definitely helps. Luckily this semester we have composing ourselves and I have found that in terms of introducing the textual analysis this time around it was much easier. My students read the examples in CO and read the article from Lunsford allowing us to break down what the author did in a textual analysis. My process is a little screwy sometimes and to try and show that and explain it to my students would probably scare them.

So, I don't really know what else to say on this whole "writing what we teach" except that I understand the reasoning behind it. I just wish I had more time (but don't we all).

The Importance of Product

In her article, “The Silenced Dialogue: Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People’s Children,” Lisa Delpit states, “Teachers do students no service to suggest, even implicitly, the ‘product’ is not important. In this country, students will be judged on their product regardless of the process they utilized to achieve it. And that product, based as it is on the specific codes of a particular culture, is more readily produced when the directives of how to produce it are made explicit” (90). This is where the product oriented side of wants to just say “Ha! I was right!” I can’t tell you (anyone who decides to read this) how many times I have tried to get it through people’s heads how important the final product is. Now, I realize we are human, and no product will be mistake and error free, however, this does not mean we should not work toward producing the best possible product.

It annoys me to no end when I get a paper that is not properly formatted from my 110 and 210 classes; I just don’t understand why it is so “hard” to format something. I have tried everything I can think of. I’ve taken them to the computer lab and shown them the quirks to fixing things in Word 2007. I’ve made handouts that outline everything they need to know about where things should appear on the page. And I’ve even shown them where to look in Hacker. The only thing I have left to do is take off points for it. My view on the whole format issue is that if you can’t follow simple instructions for how to format, then why should I believe you are properly citing things and so on. This is where the tech writer side of me surfaces.

I still think that the process is important. When I am put into a situation where my process has to be thrown out the window (so to speak) then it becomes hard for me to compose. I enjoy the act of writing; I mean handwriting things with pen and paper. Once I’ve composed a good “chunk” by hand I go to the computer. Very rarely do I compose strictly on the computer. I tend to handwrite, input the words into the computer, print and continue handwriting.

I think we need to teach our students to discover their process, what works best for them to compose a “document” or an essay. But we also need to teach them to pay attention to the product. Beyond the writing classroom, very few people see the process, so the final product is incredibly important. When I grade I am able to see the evolution of the piece and have the ability to grade accordingly, but others do not.

Techne and Praxis

While reading Teaching Technical Communication: Critical Issues for the Classroom by James Dubinsky, I came across the following, "Teaching is both a making (techne) and a doing (praxis)" (4). Even though I found this in a technical communication teaching book, this idea is applicable for the composition classroom. Dubinsky goes on to write, "Our [teachers] work involves more than teaching our students strategies or forms; it also involves asking them to consider the impact of those strategies and forms on public policy. We teach them to become user-centered practitioners, to take their audience and its needs into consideration always" (5). In the composition classroom, we teach students to write in a variety of ways. Part of our goal (at least for English 110), is to prepare our students for writing in academia. However, we should also be preparing them to write outside of academia.

In my experience, many freshman don't realize just how important writing is, even for a simple task of writing a job application. I have had the experience of sorting through job applications and I can say that those that were not well-written were not even considered. When I introduce the assignments to my students I try to find a way to relate to things outside the classroom, whether it is simply relating to what they may do in their field later in their academic career, or relate to beyond that.

I realize that my students are not going to leave my class enjoying writing the way I do, but if I can get through to them just how important it is in everyday life, I feel I have, at least, accomplished something.