Leaving class today the question Shipka posed replayed in my head like an unwanted Backstreet Boys song. I've thought, been taught, and read about the institutional problems concerning teaching composition today, but never analyzed. A student's process should not continually be ignored by the institution. Understanding and implementing the process that best fits the student seems the most logical way to produce efficiency.
In class today, many students including myself, expressed the want to "beat the system." I agree with Shipka in saying that something is wrong within the current structure if students are continually looking for ways to meet the requirements without "meeting" them. All the compostion teachers I've come across say that drafts and revision are the best way to write and teach writing. But I agree with Kasandra on this point. Just because I didn't physically write down my ideas, order them on paper in complete sentences, and do grammatical/structural editing (on a draft), does not make my writing any less valid. It just means I chose not to relate the institutional norm to my process.
So, if students beating the instituation has become the norm, then yes, a change needs to happen. But do teachers/professors have the time and resources to allow student to follow their own proccesses? In the public school arena no, maybe the change can start at the college level. To relate this to the English Comm/Tech department here at UMBC, ENGL 392 would be the perfect class to begin instituting change. I think the course should be required along with Engl 301 as the first classes required of a potential English major. Even though the class requires the traditional draft and revision (which could be modified), ENGL 392 provides an excellent setting and flexibility for students to identify the process which best suits them.
Williams and I Should Be BFF's
After reading the Williams's article I finally understood how I want to teach composition when I become a practicing teacher. He says "if our goal as writing instructors is to teach critical thinking, then we need to be careful about privileding a singualr method of representing knowledge," and suggests "that building a pedogogy on a combination of verbal and visual rhetorics empowers students to make connections among disparate, yet related texts and encourages them to weave together multiple forms."
Looking back on my schooling, teachers tried to encorporate different types of media into the classroom, but never connected the texts to literacy. The idea that many more connections can be made by encorporating and becoming literate in different types of "rhetorics" would really change the dynamic of the classroom, but for the better. As college students, teachers, and professors, we've dedicated our lives to the pursuit of knowledge. If we choose to follow William's model, students would be given the opportunity to critically engage with different new medias as well as the "old forms." This will help them become knowledgable of past and present which will give them the power to combine the two and astound the world with something new.
If I had the opportunity to engage with other types of media in high school, I would. I understand that time and lack of resources become the biggest obstacles preventing the interweaving of medias in classrooms, but that is nothing new. There are ways to work with what you have or don't have. Restricting students to just one type of rhetorical structure is "perilous" because it is close-minded and short-sighted; two qualities no one wants to see or experience in another person. Qualities that can easily be replaced if we recognize the importance and possiblity of William's suggestion.
Looking back on my schooling, teachers tried to encorporate different types of media into the classroom, but never connected the texts to literacy. The idea that many more connections can be made by encorporating and becoming literate in different types of "rhetorics" would really change the dynamic of the classroom, but for the better. As college students, teachers, and professors, we've dedicated our lives to the pursuit of knowledge. If we choose to follow William's model, students would be given the opportunity to critically engage with different new medias as well as the "old forms." This will help them become knowledgable of past and present which will give them the power to combine the two and astound the world with something new.
If I had the opportunity to engage with other types of media in high school, I would. I understand that time and lack of resources become the biggest obstacles preventing the interweaving of medias in classrooms, but that is nothing new. There are ways to work with what you have or don't have. Restricting students to just one type of rhetorical structure is "perilous" because it is close-minded and short-sighted; two qualities no one wants to see or experience in another person. Qualities that can easily be replaced if we recognize the importance and possiblity of William's suggestion.
What Voice
After class, I left unsatisfied. I've always placed large emphasis on my personal voice in writing. The class left me questioning that idea. What defines voice? Where does it come from? Who decides which voice belongs to what? Do I really have my own personal voice?
Originally, to me, voice embodied the individual expression of thought and ideas. But these concepts are continually tainted by societal pressures, personal choices, images, art, etc. Can voice be truely unique to the individual? I want to say yes, if only to assure myself of my individuality. The problem lies in the idea that voice remains intimately connected to style. The connection between the two raises another question; which should the young writer develop first, style or voice? How do students develop either concept?
In class, someone alluded to all the guidelines are to help students develop a voice. I don't think a person needs to participate in a formal educational setting to develop a voice. Writing is only one way to express the voice. Maybe I'm assuming too much by thinking that ideas can find voice through other mediums. Not all students are as interested and engaged in writing as us English majors are, and this needs to be recognized in the classroom and in the world as a whole.
Sorry, I know I've raised more questions than answers but I honestly can't answer these questions. Try as I might, my mind remains blank.
Posted by Megan Purcell at 12:54 PM 0 comments
Labels: What Voice?
Originally, to me, voice embodied the individual expression of thought and ideas. But these concepts are continually tainted by societal pressures, personal choices, images, art, etc. Can voice be truely unique to the individual? I want to say yes, if only to assure myself of my individuality. The problem lies in the idea that voice remains intimately connected to style. The connection between the two raises another question; which should the young writer develop first, style or voice? How do students develop either concept?
In class, someone alluded to all the guidelines are to help students develop a voice. I don't think a person needs to participate in a formal educational setting to develop a voice. Writing is only one way to express the voice. Maybe I'm assuming too much by thinking that ideas can find voice through other mediums. Not all students are as interested and engaged in writing as us English majors are, and this needs to be recognized in the classroom and in the world as a whole.
Sorry, I know I've raised more questions than answers but I honestly can't answer these questions. Try as I might, my mind remains blank.
Posted by Megan Purcell at 12:54 PM 0 comments
Labels: What Voice?
Impressed
Today I got served. Well, all who have had Shipka in a previous class got served. This was not the first time I saw or experienced Narissa's Happening/History project. Viewing the video again made me realize the need for me to push myself harder. The many different levels and angles incorporated into the project remains nothing less than amazing.
I really liked how everything weaved together to create a chain of events that influenced twenty something people's actions. I'm also really impressed that she was able to pull herself away from the project and give people tasks that would not reveal her identity. When I'm working on a project, I put as much of myself into it as possible. So that separation in her project really made it successful.
I want to see the interpretive dance one now...
I really liked how everything weaved together to create a chain of events that influenced twenty something people's actions. I'm also really impressed that she was able to pull herself away from the project and give people tasks that would not reveal her identity. When I'm working on a project, I put as much of myself into it as possible. So that separation in her project really made it successful.
I want to see the interpretive dance one now...
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