composition

Aside from the Five Paragraph Essay (which you all now know I hate), I am also opposed to standardized testing. There are many intellectual reasons why I am against this form of assessment (see here for an example), especially for writing, but there are also broader, more critical reasons why I believe they should not be given. Standardized testing is essentially a ranking system, an educational class system. It put students "in their places." We are made to believe that the smart kids do well on the tests, go to the best colleges, and get the best jobs because they are "the best and the brightest." Those who aren't naturally the best and the brightest can become so by working hard and studying diligently. It has already been shown, however, that students of color, the working class, and women have traditionally done poorer on these exams, and it is not because they are any less intelligent, but because they cater to a white-male-middle/upper class dominant cult...

If your writing strategy is absurdly demonstrated as a cheeseburger, then it's probably absurd. The other night, I sat on Twitter talking to colleagues about the Five Paragraph Essay (which, yes, I do hate). The argument was about purpose and whether it was useful. I argued that the Five Paragraph Essay is like playing Hot Cross Buns; sure, you're making music, but it's only three notes, neither deep nor complex. The argument I got back was something along the lines of  "15-year-olds don't have much to say anyway." According to this colleague, their thoughts are simply not deep or complex (I am happy to say that my Twitter colleague eventually rethought this statement). I think this idea is at the core of some of our very real problems in education. We believe our students, simply because they are novices, have nothing to say. As a result, we fail to challenge them. Even worse, we fail to listen to them. Expediently Killing a Generation: An Intellectual Holoca...

September 11 -- Never Forget Sunday marked the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001. "Where were you when you found out?" was a question asked over and over. As a resident of central New Jersey and daughter of a downtown NYC business owner, the events of September 11 were very real and scary for me. I remember exactly where I was when I found out what had happened. It was the end of first period, US History, my sophomore year of high school, less than a week before my 15th birthday. A neighboring teacher told our teacher to turn on CNN. We saw the damage of the first plane crash, and we watched the second plane crash live. It didn't seem real. The gravity of it sunk in as the day went on. This was the scene I watched when I first learned about the World Trade Center being hit during class. Nothing of substance happened in school that day. In every class, we watched the broadcast. A friend and I hugged each other and cried. My cousin found me in the hallway, and we calle...

Just three weeks ago, I sat curled up in a ball, crying on the bathroom floor. My boyfriend ended our relationship rather abruptly, and at the moment, it was intensely painful. At the same time, I was working in the city, taking a summer class, planning my syllabus, and figuring out how to pay my tuition.... or rather trying to do all this. Focusing was a near impossible task. I would try to read for class and my mind would wander. I would try to type, and I'd be distracted by pictures on my computer. Every thing reminded me of him and the fresh wound that he had just inflicted. For a few days, my life stood still. But I'm not writing this post to reveal to the world all of the ups and downs of my love life. I have a purpose. While I was going through this emotional roller coaster, though, I thought of my students and their lives. This wasn't the first time I experienced a break up, and I know they experience them too. They experience lots of things that I'm sure hurt. ...

I picked up R. W. Burniske's book Literacy in the Digital Age just because it sounded interesting. Lucky for me, I was not disappointed. Burniske's book is all about redefining literacy in a way that meets 21st century students' needs. He takes lame, underdeveloped terms like "computer literacy" and "functional literacy" and revises them so that they become more complex and useful. Burniske explains: just as we must learn to read and write the alphabet to develop functional literacy, so too must we learn how to ‘read’ visual images, discursive practices, personal ethics, community actions, cultural events, global developments, and humanity in general. (2) The focus is no longer on a set of operational skills, but instead, a set of reading practices that enable students to navigate their complex worlds, worlds that require much more than an ability to read text or word per minute proficiency. Burniske advocates a set of eight literacies:  media literacy,...

Athens, Greece Whew! What a whirlwind summer this has been. I have just gotten back from Greece and a long weekend down the shore, and now it is time to get myself back into routine. I apologize to my lovely readers for being MIA for the last month and a half. Right about now, I'm starting to think about my syllabus (perhaps syllabi) and what changes I want to make to my course this fall. Making changes is both exciting and scary for me. I know you cannot get better without trying something new, but I do always fear the risk of complete failure. Here are some of the big issues I have been considering, especially after reading my last two semesters' course evaluations: 1. Technology What is the perfect balance? I have a hard time with figuring out the right amount of technology and kinds of technology to incorporate into my classroom. I want my students to have the edge when it comes to digital literacy, but I also see that some of them become overwhelmed by the idea of using ne...

Teaching FYW for the 1st Time After seven years in higher education, I have just ended my time as a full-time student. When I started my undergraduate program, I had no idea that this was where I would end up. That first year, after giving up journalism, I thought I'd be in publishing or public relations (in other words... making money as opposed to being the eternally broke graduate student). I always said that I never wanted to teach. Well, there went that statement out the window. As a silly freshman, I couldn't have imagined that I'd be pursuing a doctoral degree in English, focusing my energy on Comp/Rhet and Digital Literacy and New Media Studies. I had no idea that I would actually love working in a Writing Center and teaching Composition. Heck... I didn't even know Comp/Rhet existed! As I sit now to ponder the last seven years and their value, I also think about a recent interaction with a student, one who was questioning the worth of college. While I didn't...