Thinking about how I would structure my classroom for a composition course creates a dilemma for me. I had a great experience in my high school composition courses. I really responded to how it was taught and made a personal connection to the work I was doing. Originally, I wanted to model my classroom after the one I had loved so much. The readings I have done concerning postmodern techniques being used in a composition course have also seemed very appealing to me, but present a different classroom experience. James Berlin claims “in teaching writing we are tacitly teaching a version of reality and the student’s place and mode of operation in it” (235). Without dealing with the forces students are contending with I would be indoctrinating them with my own ideology and not teaching them the tools to understand and work with these systems for themselves. The problem is how can I reconcile these two teaching styles to fit into my version of a productive and successful classroom? The initial thing I would be concerned with when teaching a course such as this is how to get the students to want to do the work. I know that most kids do not want any part of schoolwork period, but how can I make the work interesting enough to get kids to at least have some kind of connection to their work? My first instinct would be to assign a short writing task with a few options for topics concerning the kids personal lives, family situations, or friends. James Sosnoski in his essay “Postmodern Teachers in Their Postmodern Classrooms: Socrates Begone!” attempts to create a series of writing assignments for his postmodern classroom. His first assignment would not be as concerned with the individuals issues, but he would have the students write about ... ... middle of paper ... ...for my teaching is to teach my students to understand themselves and how they fit into the systems that affect their lives in so many ways. How I am going to go about doing that I have not figured out quite yet. Works Cited Althusser, Louis. “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses.” Althusser, Lenin 127-86. Berlin, James A. “Contemporary Composition: The Major Pedagogical Theories.” Illinois: National Council of Teachers of English, 1997. 233-48. Clifford, John. “The Subject in Discourse.” New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 1991. 38-51. Jarratt, Susan, A. “Feminism and Composition: The Case for Conflict.” New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 1991. 105-123. Sosnoski, James, J. “Postmodern Teachers in Their Postmodern Classrooms: SocratesBegone!” New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 1991. 198-219.
Lazarus, Arnold, ed. A Glossary of Literature and Composition. Illinois: National Council of Teachers of English, 1984. Print.
Composition. Eds. Thomas E. Leahey and Christine R. Farris. New York: Pearson Custom Publishing, 2009. 189-194. Print.
Wagner-Martin, Linda. The Oxford Companion to Women's Writing in the United States. Ed. Cathy N. Davidson and Linda Wagner-Martin. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.
English Composition II has unexpectedly improved my writing into an academic level. As I studied various English reading and writing courses, this class “English Composition II” did not immediately caught my eye. However as I researched about the concepts of this class, the decision to make was not so difficult since I was lacking in critical thinking and the interpretation of works. Also as a Business Major, it made sense that the subject of English would be of interest to me and as a career requirement. During the first weeks, I thought that I would be fully prepared for this course after taking an accelerated course in English during the spring semester. However, after attending class for about a month, I certainly did not expect to learn an entirely new process of writing
While Murray emphasizes the emancipating affect that a process-oriented curriculum has on students, Andrea Lunsford explains how the process approach to writing--adopted by and aligned with the field of Composition and Rhetoric--frees not only students, but teachers and scholars as well. Theories governing Composition and Rhetoric break down boundaries "between disciplines, between the genres of reading, writing and speaking, between the theory and practice, between research and teaching." Janice M. Lauer and Andrea Lunsford similarly point out the cross-disciplinary nature of Composition and Rhetoric and how this creates and directs scholarship in the field.
Gitlin, Todd. “TheLiberal Arts in an Age of Info-Glut.” The Language of Composition: Reading, Writing, and Rhetoric. Ed. Shea, Renee H., Lawrence Scanlonn, and Robin Dissin Aufses. Boston: Bedford, 2008. 155-157. Print.
The first essay given in this course was about our whole composing process. This essay was hard to write about and I remember having several grammar mistakes. Sitting down and writing my process on paper,
Gee, James P . "Tools of Inquiry and Discourses." Exploring Language. New York: Pearson Custom Publishing, 2009. 440-451. Print.
They must form lessons that should aid students in understanding composition, definitions, transition words, and symbolism. There is no denying the significance these lectures bring; however, for some students, it is not enough to repetitively apply the mentioned rules to discussions they find disinterest in, deciding for themselves unwilling to participate in the conversation teachers beg for students to join. As mentioned, Fish proclaims that to diverge from teaching subject matter any other way that is not specifically academic, deviates too much and distracts from the correct process of intellectual thought. In his The New York Times piece, "What Should Colleges Teach?", Fish states his stance expressing one must "teach the subject matter" alone and not to "adulterate it with substitutes". He continues praising "the virtue of imitation," asking students to "reproduce [great author's] forms with a different content". Already, Fish demands from students derivative mimicry in which they must glean an understanding of another's process. I echo Fish's own question: "How can [one] maintain... that there is only one way to teach writing?" As students, we desire to express ourselves, and to follow the principles Fish speaks of, to "[repeat] over and over again in the same stylized motions", confines us from discovering the beauty and potential writing can bring. Rather, students are taught we must so closely follow fastidious rules and decorative wording, teaching English may as well, as Fish writes, "make students fear that they are walking through a minefield of error," and to use such a method makes students believe to write any other way will cause them to "step on something that will wound them", the odds of students learning anything are diminished (Stanley Fish, "What Should
When I scheduled my classes last winter, I knew I had to fulfill my requirements for general education and take English Composition II. I had heard from my oldest daughter that Comp II was no fun at all and when she took it, she was bored to tears. Not knowing any better, I took her word and prepared myself for a rather boring and uneventful semester of “robot writing”. The kind of writing that was dull and made one’s eyes cross from boredom. I soon found out that this didn’t have to be the case. Academic writing and research could be enjoyable and it was not at all boring.
...ll, Eileen E.ìThe Costs of Caring: ëFemininismí and Contingent Women Workers in Composition Studies.îIn Jarrat and Weslan (eds.)Feminism and Composition. New York: MLA, 1998.Part of course packet in Feminist and Critical Pedagogies in English Studies.Professor Emily Isaacs, Spring 2002, Montclair State University.
The question of the day is how was Barbara Bileks English composition class and how it helped me better myself as a writer. The class overall was a very informative experience and I feel as I learned a lot. Whenever the class started I considered myself a mediocre at best writer and thought that I would never improve. However, Ms. Bilek taught me to become a better writer by using many techniques that I did not know existed. In high school, we were not taught how to write academically because to them it did not matter. Anything that we had to say was just a paper for them to read and it could not change their minds or influence them in any way. College is different because the university is a research institute meaning that our work if deemed worthy, could be used throughout the university as an example of good quality work or as a new discovery for the modern world. This class helped me in three ways: improving my writing ability, helped in expressing my opinion, and making me a better person in todays society.
Stoehr, Louise E. “Perspectives on Discourse Analysis: Theory and Practice.” ebscohost.com. 20100825. Literary Reference Center. 20 December 2011.
Jaime Escalante, a great educator, once said, “The teacher gives us the desire to learn, the desire to be Somebody.” As a teacher, my goal will be to show students that each of them can be whatever they want to be, and not only are they capable of being good at what they do, they can be the best. To reach this goal, I must be an effective teacher, which I believe can best be accomplished by teaching in a way that is comfortable for me. Therefore, I will not base my classroom around one single philosophy; I am going to seek comfort by utilizing certain aspects of different educational philosophies, namely essentialism, existentialism, progressivism, and social reconstructionism.
My philosophy on education and learning is simple; to teach my future students to the best of my ability to achieve academic success. As well as getting to know my students well. Getting to know a little of their background can help make a difference in our teaching career. As a teacher, we care for our student’s educational needs and to achieve a full potential in their learning ability. I believe that education is an individual, unique experience for every student who enters a classroom. Having a passion for teaching and providing students with a proper education should always be a teacher’s top priority.